NSW will create cookie-cutter designs for terraces and mid-rise developments to slice a year from housing approval times.
Amid lacklustre home-building delivery and sharp rises in rents, government architect Abbie Galvin has been given the task of developing a so-called "pattern book" of pre-approved designs.
Established private-sector architects and the public will have a say on the designs, which will have an accelerated approval pathway.
The announcement by Premier Chris Minns on Thursday used the same model that once created affordable housing in some of Sydney's most-loved older suburbs.
"The terrace houses of Paddington are a great example," David Borger, chairman of development-positive lobby Housing Now, said.
"Great design should be affordable to mum and dad developers.
"A well-executed pattern-book design should work whether it's in Bondi, Blacktown or Bankstown."
Committee for Sydney chief executive Eamon Waterford said no one walked around suburbs like Surry Hills, which was developed by pattern book, thinking they were boring, or the houses too similar.
"This announcement will mean getting great new, dense communities built quickly - and that's a win for Sydney," he said.
The pattern book will cover terraces, semis, manor houses and towers of up to six storeys and include designs triumphing in a 2024 competition involving Australian and international architects and architecture schools.
Applicants will be charged with designing a best-practice Sydney terrace and mid-rise apartment for the 21st century.
"We want Australia and the world's best young architects to put in a nomination to design a structure our city will fall in love with," Mr Minns said in a speech on Thursday.
"The standard design will offer ease of approval; ease of construction; it will limit bespoke drafting or architectural plans and it will make cheaper component parts as manufacturers will supply specs of the book."
The change would end the need for architect competitions on every single development, Mr Minns said.
"This will ... slash approval times by up to 12 months," he said.
NSW has long been falling behind Victoria and Queensland on its rate of home-building.
As well as completing fewer houses on a per-capita basis, NSW last year also built fewer homes in total than Victoria, despite having 1.5 million more residents.
Meanwhile, Sydney rent prices have risen 10 per cent in the past year as supply dwindles.
Housing Now, which launched in September in response to anti-development voices, had argued a pattern book could be the impetus needed to develop 30 medium-density suburbs across Sydney.
The group sees those suburbs as necessary for NSW to achieve its goal of building 375,000 homes in the next five years.
