Development Plan - City of Playford - SA.Gov.au

3.0 HOUSING AND URBAN DESIGN TRENDS
3.1 Housing Types and Trends
3.1.1 Context
Emerging housing types and trends is an issue that was considered at some length as part of the
Northfield (Stage 3) PAR prepared by the Minister in 2005. Key commentary from the Statement of
Investigations remains relevant to this DPA, and is reproduced as follows:
Housing is a dynamic and evolving field in which notions about medium and high density
housing can change dramatically from one city to another and between locations within a single
city. In Adelaide, the delivery of housing has generally been described as conservative when
compared to other Australian cities, probably because of the high proportion of single storey
detached houses.
Other Australian capital cities, particularly Melbourne and Sydney, have historically
accommodated higher dwelling densities than Adelaide due to the different development
pressures operating in those cities. Higher population growth with consequential effects on
housing demand and land prices, influence the highest and best use of land. It is generally
recognised that such pressures do not operate at the same level in Adelaide and while this has
had an added benefit of maintaining Adelaide as one of the most affordable capital cities in
Australia, it may have also created a community less accustomed to and more likely to react
against higher density housing forms.
Even though detached houses predominate, allotment sizes for detached dwellings have
reduced substantially over time. Reduced allotments sizes has had other notable
consequences in respect to building heights (with a notable shift from single storey to two
storey houses), the provision of private open space and building setbacks.
Wider investigation undertaken for the LMC included a review of over 50 housing estates and
projects from around Australia, including South Australia. The purpose was to identify trends in
the Australian residential property market for potential relevance to South Australia and
Northfield. The main findings suggest:
• strong demand for inner urban / accessible locations;
• continuing demand for a ‘land only’ product;
• strong demand for master planned communities which provide a sense of community and
high estate amenity;
• increases in density through reductions in allotment dimensions and a shift in the mix of
housing types to more compact housing forms;
• increases in integrated housing developments reflecting the need for more sophisticated
design outcomes to deliver increased densities;
• the emergence of new and refined housing and land products which respond to the
demand for higher densities (eg. zipper lots, 4 packs, soho/shop top, rear access etc);
• the decline in household size gradually having an impact on overall dwelling sizes and
composition;
• the reduction in house and land affordability having a more pronounced impact on the
purchasing capacity of households in terms of housing size and type;
• the detached, mass produced single storey project home on an allotment providing
sufficient space to avoid boundary construction remaining the most affordable housing
product on a rate per metre construction cost basis;
• an increasing willingness to trade off housing type and size for an improved location;
• the trade off of private open space for public open space; and
Playford North DPA -23-
Jul 08
Final DPA 20 August 08.doc Version 3