Urbis uncovers the real missing middle

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There is a need to look at whether what we are producing is what we want for the future of Perth’s suburbs.

David Cresp View Profile

Middle ring suburbs also accounted for 52 per cent of 2018’s apartment building supply with fewer than 25 dwellings. Suburbs such as Innaloo, Rivervale, Midland and Scarborough were the top-ranking middle ring suburbs for this sort of supply.

Growth in market share in medium density has largely come from a decline in greenfield lands market share which has fallen from 51 per cent in 2014 to 39 per cent in 2018.

“Medium density housing is meeting a growing demand for more affordable housing in Perth’s middle ring areas. Our findings show there has been an increased focus on medium density housing in Perth. However, there is a need to look at whether what we are producing is what we want for the future of Perth’s suburbs,” Mr Cresp said.

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Key to successful medium density is fostering its development at sites that fit a broad spectrum of needs, offering lifestyle amenity, social and community links, jobs and transport.

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“Key to successful medium density is fostering its development at sites that fit a broad spectrum of needs, offering lifestyle amenity, social and community links, jobs and transport. If you look at medium density in the eastern states there is a strong presence of large-scale quality townhouse-style developments with fantastic lifestyle amenity.”

“The ability to increase density without losing tree canopy, open space and safe streets is important to the design of residential environments across Perth,” said Mr Melsom.

“There is a great opportunity for the private and public sector to work together to create a strong plan for good quality medium density development in the right places in Perth.”

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We need a joint effort from the HIA, the UDIA planners and developers to develop a medium density code and provide better built form outcomes.

Ian Holloway, All Things Residential

Residential Industry Consultant at All Things Residential, Ian Holloway, strongly believes that a Code for medium density building is crucial to achieving the best performance and quality in the sector.

“At the moment, the R-codes are totally out dated and this results in ad hoc housing outcomes,” said Holloway.

“We need a joint effort from the HIA, the UDIA planners and developers to develop a medium density code and provide better built form outcomes. There are some simple fixes that would benefit the sector short-term, such as looking at the current apartment code and giving townhouses the same plot ratio instead of site cover. This would reduce the fall back to the group housing solution.”