26 August 2013
Some Sydney Councils are requiring excessive standards for new apartments that are adding $250,000 to the price of an apartment, says the Urban Taskforce.
“The recent exhibition of Botany Bay Council’s draft DCP includes standards well above those required by the State Government in SEPP 65 and this is making apartments more expensive than they need to be,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “Botany requires 100 sq. m for a two bed apartment while the State Government only requires 70 sq. m. With Botany apartment sales at around $7,000, a square metre this adds $210,000 to the cost of a two bed unit. On top of this Botany requires 2 car parking spaces compared to the State Government’s standard of one car space for a two bed unit and this adds a further $40,000 to the cost.”
“The end result of these much higher standards is to limit the supply of affordable housing and to therefore increase rental costs. This is borne out by recent figures produced by Housing NSW that puts Botany’s rent increase for 2 bed apartments over the last year as Sydney’s highest at 34.9%. The Sydney average increase is only 4.4%.”
“It would appear that Botany Bay Council is not interested in affordability and is trying to be more like the wealthy Eastern Suburbs as a place for the rich.”
“Even the State Government standards for apartment sizes are high compared to other states where there are less controls on size. The Building Code of Australia sets standards for minimum room sizes and the Urban Taskforce believes that there is no need for further regulation of apartment sizes.”
“Modern design of apartments with built in furniture has maximised the feeling of space and new urban lifestyles are now sharing amenities like gardens and gyms and using new technologies to access services. Our concern is that those setting the standards are out of touch with the new innovations in apartment living and the lifestyle that goes with this.”
“Every 10 square metres of space saved by good design can save $70,000 on the price of an apartment. If we are serious about affordable housing in Sydney then we must not have excessive standards that add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of apartments.”
“The Urban Taskforce believes that the new planning system in NSW must support housing affordability by leaving minimum room standards to the Building Code of Australia and then allowing the market place to determine the sizes of apartments to suit differing demographics and differing affordability levels.”
