Why NSW’s new housing law could make you a fortune

Hold on to your hats, because New South Wales has just made the biggest shake-up in housing policy in years – and the fallout will be massive.
 
Think of it as a giant game of Monopoly, except the board is real and the properties now surging in value.
 
Here’s a summary of the changes: The state can now swoop in and overrule local councils when it comes to land within 800 metres of a train station.
 
Translation: If you’re lucky enough to own land within 400m of a station, congratulations! You can now build apartments up to a height of six storeys. Not too shabby, right? If you’re between 400 and 800m, it’s a four-storey free-for-all.
 
And get this – 31 out of 33 councils affected by this change previously didn’t allow townhouses at all. Now, these council areas and their residents will have density, and lots of it.
 
But don’t feel too bad for the locals or the councils. They might want to throw a little celebration of their own. Why? The residents’ land values are about to double.
 
And those councils? Well, their budgets are about to get a lot healthier with all the new ratepayers flooding in. Hello, this means extra cash for new parks, libraries and maybe even infrastructure upgrades.
 
This is a no-brainer. We need more housing, and we need it near key infrastructure like train stations, bus hubs, shopping centres, hospitals, and universities.
 
Right now, countless train stations across Australia are surrounded by tiny 400sq m blocks with one lonely house on them. It’s like owning a prime beachfront property and putting up a tiny shed. Not exactly maximising potential.
 
Mark my words: This policy will be a total hit, and it’s only a matter of time before the rest of Australia – hello, Victoria, Queensland, and beyond – copies NSW.
 
But here’s where it gets interesting. Remember when I told you Australia’s greatest investor might not be who you think? (Spoiler alert: It’s Westfield).
 
And guess what? Thanks to this new policy, Westfield is about to build on its wealth.
 
Within a week of the policy announcement, Westfield was already flexing its muscles, announcing plans for giant apartment towers on top of its shopping centres. First up: Westfield Hornsby, where two 53-storey towers will rise above the mall. Meanwhile, Westfield Belconnen is getting a 28-storey apartment tower.
 
And that’s just the beginning. Westfield owns 42 shopping centres across 670,000sq m of prime land – lots of which is now sitting pretty in those re-zoned NSW transport hubs. In other words, Westfield is about to cash in big time. It’s like they had a crystal ball and saw this coming.
 
It is just another cycle of their strategy to buy land in prime areas and maximise the use of that land as the population grows around them.
 
So, what’s the takeaway? Well, Westfield has a 61-year head start – but we can still get in the game. Sure, we might not all have shopping malls to convert into towering apartment complexes (though that would be fun), but we can start securing real estate near the infrastructure that will house Australia’s growing population.
 
Think: trains, buses, highways, shopping centres, hospitals, universities, schools – everything that populations need.
 
Sure, the boat might have sailed already in NSW, but the other capital cities are about to follow suit. The opportunity is huge, and it’s ready for the taking.
 
So, if you want to get in on the action before it’s too late, start looking at those hotspots now – before someone else turns them into the next big thing.