2 Sydney housing has been called the second most expensive relative to incomes in the world and a number of surveys list Australian homes as being the biggest in the world. Clearly there is a link between large size of dwellings and their cost. A serious question must be asked as to whether the unaffordability of housing in Sydney is partly driven by excessive size and amenity standards compared to other cities. To get a clearer reading on Sydney’s apartment standards we commissioned DCH Planning along with input from Turner Studio Architects and John Ferrarin Quantity Surveyor to compare the Sydney standards with those in Melbourne. The Victorian Government has recently reviewed their apartment standards and they looked in detail at the NSW standards outlined in State Environmental Planning Policy 65 and the NSW Apartment Design Guide (ADG). Victoria after much debate decided not to adopt many of the NSW standards partly on the grounds that these would have added costs. The final document, the Victorian Better Apartment Design Standards, only adopted some of the standards outlined in the NSW ADG. Significantly they did not adopt the NSW minimum area requirements relying instead on minimum room sizes. Victoria also did not adopt the NSW control that solar access to a living room is required for 3 hours in mid-winter and a number of other NSW standards were either reduced or not adopted. The impact of the recent Victorian Better Apartment Design Standards is to balance amenity standards to make sure affordability is an important outcome of government regulation. Our expert team who compared the Victorian and New South Wales standards found that if Victorian standards were used in NSW then $150,000 could be saved from the purchase price of a two-bed, two-bath apartment. THE AMENITY AFFORDABILITY TRADE OFF The Urban Taskforce is not against quality architecture or the need for good amenity. Our concern is that, particularly in Sydney, the cost of housing is so high that many young people and families cannot afford a home. We need to explore all options that could help make purchasing or renting a home less expensive. These options must include minimum sizes particularly if there is evidence that Australian homes are the largest in the world. They must also include the many well-meaning rules about sunshine, ventilation, set-backs, kitchen ceiling heights, car parking, circulation spaces, building depth and communal open space. GUIDES, STANDARDS AND RULES The planning system in NSW (and Australia) has a variety of well-meaning guidelines, standards, rule-of-thumb, design criteria and design guidance. Some of these can be very detailed like this statement “To maximise the benefit to residents of direct sunlight within living rooms a minimum of 1sqm of direct sunlight, measured 1m above floor level, is achieved for at least 15 minutes.” A recent NSW Planning Circular has stressed that the Apartment Design Guide “should NOT be applied as a set of strict development standards.” Although this does not apply to “non-discretionary development standards” and these include car parking, internal area and ceiling heights which all contribute to increased costs. The experience of many NSW developers is that the ADG is applied literally by many council planning officers. Much of this issue of URBAN IDEAS is based on a RESEARCH REPORT by HDC Planning, Ferrarin Consulting Services (Quantity Surveyors) and Karl May of Turner Studio for the Urban Taskforce in June 2017. Are excessive standards making Sydney housing unaffordable? The Urban Taskforce is keen to have responses to the proposals illustrated in this issue of URBAN IDEAS and we welcome comments to admin@urbantaskforce.com.au Chris Johnson AM Chief Executive Officer Urban Taskforce Australia Credits Cover image featuring The McCarthy Maisonettes on Parramatta Road, Annandale by Sydney architect, Tone Wheeler of Environa Studio Architects. "Our expert team who compared the Victorian and New South Wales standards found that if Victorian standards were used in NSW then $150,000 could be saved from the purchase price of a two bed two bath apartment."