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Under the $1 billion program, the NSW government can commit to purchasing up to 50 per cent of off-the-plan dwellings in a project, reducing lender risk and enabling developers to secure construction finance earlier.
This latest commitment will support developments in Pyrmont and Westmead.
Thirty-eight of 280 new apartments in the $900 million Pyrmont Place project on Wattle Street, Pyrmont will be supported; and a further 13 of 30 new apartments, including six affordable homes, in the Elodie development in Westmead will also be guaranteed under the plan.
The scheme is designed to address one of the key barriers to project delivery – meeting presale thresholds required by banks before funding is approved.
Since launching in late 2025, the program has attracted strong interest from developers, with dozens of expressions of interest received and more than 500 homes already supported.
The NSW government said that 45 expressions of interest have already been received from developers across the state, one-third of which have already been invited to participate. It also said that the guarantee is being adopted by other states as well.
To date, presale guarantees have been issued to accelerate the delivery of more than 540 new homes, with further presale guarantee requests under assessment that, if approved, could unlock construction of over 130 new homes in regional NSW.
Director of Gaby Group (the developer behind the Westmead development), John Nehme, said: “The Pre-sale Finance Guarantee has provided much-needed certainty, allowing us to move forward with confidence and accelerate the delivery of new homes in Westmead.”
Planning and Public Spaces Minister, Paul Scully, said: “NSW needs new homes sooner. The Pre-sale Finance Guarantee is breaking down barriers and fast-tracking the start of construction for hundreds of much-needed homes for our communities.
“It’s great to have another two guarantees in place helping build momentum in both the scheme and the housing pipeline.”
A step towards development
Brokers working in development finance said they have seen presale requirements stall or stop many projects.
Speaking to Broker Daily, Jean-Pierre Gortan, managing director of brokerage Simplicity Loans and Advisory, said that while the guarantee was a step in the right direction, its scale and scope may do little to materially move the needle on housing supply in the state.
“The NSW Government’s Pre-Sale Finance Guarantee is well-intentioned and should help reduce funding costs by allowing eligible projects to access cheaper, bank-style capital where pre-sale requirements would otherwise be a constraint,” Gortan said.
He noted the scheme is most likely to support larger, well-located, institutional-grade developments in inner-city or premium markets, where end values are higher, and projects are already close to viability.
“In that sense, it improves funding efficiency rather than fundamentally changing project feasibility,” Gortan said.
“The drawback is that it is unlikely to bring a meaningful number of additional projects to market or materially address the housing shortage. In many cases, the guarantee will support projects that would likely proceed anyway, rather than unlocking developments that are currently unviable due to broader structural issues.
“The broader challenge is that the housing supply issue is not primarily a funding problem.
“The key constraints sit elsewhere, including lengthy planning and approval processes, elevated construction costs, labour shortages, and recent legislative changes that have made the use of third-party construction companies more expensive and risk-heavy.”
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