14 Are apartments the future? The McCrindle survey of apartment and house dwellers asked a number of questions around future expectations and preferences for future housing types. While current apartment dwellers were more supportive of the development of more apartments in future years there were a number of detached house dwellers who would consider apartment living in the future. TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE GROWING NUMBER OF APARTMENTS IN SYDNEY? Most of the statements raised issues that explained the particular values of apartments. Existing apartment dwellers more strongly supported the reasons for a swing to apartment living but the detached house dwellers were quite close to their apartment neighbours in their assessment scores. DETACHED HOME DWELLERS ARE OPEN TO LIVING IN AN APARTMENT 21% of detached house dwellers have never lived in an apartment but would consider living in one in the future. WHAT TYPE OF HOUSING WOULD YOU PREFER TO LIVE IN, IN THREE YEARS TIME? Detached house dwellers saw themselves as still being in detached houses (82%), while apartment dwellers were split between apartments (46%), townhouses (25%) and detached houses (29%). WILL SYDNEY BE BETTER PLACED IN FIVE YEARS TIME? Apartment dwellers were more optimistic about the future of Sydney with only 20% saying it will be worse compared to 29% of detached house dwellers. Many people were unsure where Sydney will be placed including Apartment Dwellers (42%) and detached house dwellers (41%). Clearly residents in all housing types need more assurance from Government and councils about the future of Sydney in terms of livability. To what extent do you agree with the following statements about the growing number of apartments in Sydney? VIEWS ON APARTMENTS AS A SOLUTION PATHWAY 21% have never lived in an apartment but would consider living in one in the future 50% have lived in a unit in the past 26% would never want to live in a unit/ apartment DETACHED HOME DWELLERS OPEN TO LIVING IN AN APARTMENT 87% 82% 85% 80% 78% 75% 77% 78% 72% 66% 66% 67% 39% 31% Yes, definitely/perhaps (apartment) Yes, definitely/perhaps (detached house) KEY Looking ahead to 3 years’ time, what type of housing do you think you will prefer to be living in? PREFERRED DWELLING TYPE IN 3 YEARS High density housing Low density housing KEY They are good for solo persons, young couples and small families They are necessary to accommodate a growing population They give people more choice where to live They are a lifestyle choice They are an affordable alternative to traditional detached homes They help individuals get into the housing market quicker They are helping reduce house prices 46% 6% 25% 12% 29% 82% High density housing (i.e. Unit or apartment) Medium density housing (semi-detached/townhouse) Low density housing (i.e. Detached or standalone house)