A leading policy group is calling for fewer car parks and more parking restrictions and meters around Aussie apartments as part of a $1bn housing crisis fix.
Slashing carparking for new apartments and putting in more restrictions and meters on street spots are being touted as surprise ways to help fix Australia’s housing crisis.
Respected policy advocacy group the Grattan Institute has estimated the nation is building more than $1bn in unwanted and unused carparking alongside new homes every year.
While they argue ditching minimum parking requirements for developments in major capitals would cut thousands from the cost of building a new home, the report notes it could also provide more space to build homes in as it could cut more than 86,000 unnecessary carparks from new developments in the next five years.
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They estimate their axing would free up $5.2bn in construction resources, enough to build an additional 9000 homes.
Their research noted that 2021 Census data found 40 per cent of studio and one-bedroom apartment households did not own a car, nor did 19 per cent of those living in two-bedroom units.
In 58 per cent of the nation’s three or more-bedroom apartments, the residents reported owning one or fewer cars.
Grattan Institute chief executive Aruna Sathanapally said the status quo was leading to a “wasteful mismatch” between the carparking that was needed and what was mandated.
Grattan Institute chief executive Aruna Sathanapally has made the controversial call to cut back on the nation’s car park spots for new apartment complexes.
“Many people who live in apartments don’t want or need carparking, but they are forced to pay for it anyway,” Ms Sathanapally said.
“Letting Australian homebuyers choose the carparking they need will make housing cheaper, get more homes built faster, and create more walkable, cleaner, and better-designed cities.”
The report argued mandatory carparking was adding $62,000 to a residence’s cost to build in Melbourne, $70,000 in Sydney, $95,000 in Adelaide, $113,000 in Brisbane and a whopping $137,000 in Perth.
It also claimed close to 40 per cent of the two capitals’ existing off-street parking is sitting vacant at night, indicating the two have more carparks than cars to fill them.
Report co-author Ashleigh Chang said cutting back carparks for apartment approvals could reduce prices in multiple ways, first by not having to pay for the feature.
Making better use of existing off-street parking, and building fewer new car spots, could help address the nation’s housing crisis, according to the Grattan Institute.
Longer term, the move could also help make more developments viable sooner — allowing builders to create more housing and limiting the growth in home values caused by shortfalls in their supply versus demand from a rising population.
“This is one of the small wins you can get when you are so desperately in need of homes right now,” Ms Chang said.
The report also suggests disconnecting off-street carparks from apartments on titles could also make it easier to sell them to those who will actively use them.
Its most controversial call is to better manage on-street carparking through permits, time limits and charging for it — which would also help boost local council coffers.
Ms Chang said these ideas were more intended for areas with significant demand and where congestion could be an issue for on-street parking, and not necessarily for outer suburban areas where car use was more ubiquitous.
REBAA president Melinda Jennison believes the idea has merrit, but warned pushing to boost car park meters and restrictions could be going a step too far.
Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia president Melinda Jennison said the historic view that you need a car was evolving as the nation’s population changed.
“But there would probably still be a premium placed on those units with a carpark, and you would expect a discount on those that come without one,” Ms Jennison said.
“And we have got to look at ways to make high-density development more feasible.”
However, the buyer’s agent said encouraging more parking restrictions and parking metres was probably too big of a shift at this stage — and could lead to people compromising on choosing housing that suited their needs and instead looking to other locations in response to parking in the area.
Urban Development Institute of Australia national president Oscar Stanley said while it would be necessary to “tread carefully” in some parts of the new home market when cutting carparks, it was worth considering that in 10-20 years time people’s use of cars could change.
UDIA national president Oscar Stanley has argued we should also be considering how Australians will live in the future — and if we will use cars as much as we do today.
“Will we all have one car? Two cars? Or will we subscribe to a car service?” Mr Stanley said.
“So where apartments are being built near public transport, it’s good policy. And we should be looking at every possible scenario to drive costs down as that’s the problem holding back every apartment build market in the country at the moment.”
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