Terraces and townhomes depend on design

GUEST OBSERVER

Robust demand for terraces and townhouses across Frasers Property Australias Sydney communities backs up calls made by NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes for more medium density housing in established suburbs to meet surging population growth.

Forecasts released yesterday by the NSW Department of Planning & Environment show Sydneys population is expected to jump by over 2.1 million in the next 20 years.

Sydney requires 726,000 new dwellings by 2036 and the Minister identified medium density and terrace housing in established parts of the city as the key to meeting this demand.

Demand for the traditional Sydney terrace design has grown, and Frasers Property has found a ready market for its entire stock of more than 200 terrace-style homes in the past year.

Its a product type Frasers Property has a lot of experience with. Over the past decade Frasers Property has delivered 1300 terrace-style homes throughout metropolitan Sydney.

Its clear that demand is there for terrace home product but the challenge is land availability and zoning. Projections of sharp population growth have resulted in many of Sydneys established suburban markets particularly the middle ring being zoned with a bias to high density apartments,said Mr Edgar.

In principle this seems a reasonable solution. However, strong terrace and townhome sales in our communities suggest that there is a big appetite for medium density product in the middle ring suburbs, and planning conditions that enable medium density housing would be welcomed by the market.

Existing planning conditions in many middle ring suburbs exclude townhouses and terraces because of minimum lot size requirements.

Socially and economically sustainable community design arises from a well-balanced mix of medium and high density housing, and there is demand for both.

Great design cant be compromised when creating a variety of housing types that will have enduring relevance for current and future generations.

When we launched a range of new townhome and terrace designs at Fairwater in Blacktown in 2014 we had more than 3,700 registrations of interest before we started selling. Every stage since has sold strongly.

We are finding customers are drawn to the charm and character of the terrace style home so we re-imagined the more traditional terrace design to cater for the modern urban lifestyle, with indoor and outdoor living spaces and greater natural light.

Frasers Property recently released 29 new homes at Fairwater including a number of terraces and townhomes starting from $668,000.

Tailors Walk in Botany is another case in point, where the re-imagined three and four level contemporary terraces are helping to maintain the character and charm of one of Sydneys most historic areas and proving extremely popular among young families and investors.

Creating a compelling terrace and townhome offering means designing to reflect the surrounding environment and recognising that variety is important, not just to buyers but also in terms of maintaining an attractive and functional streetscape.

At The Gallery at Botanica, for instance, Frasers Property is turning the historic Lidcombe Hospital site into a superb medium density development through beautifully restoring a number of unique heritage residences from the late 19th and early 20th century into one, two, three and four bedroom residences. There also will be a limited number of newly built homes.

The historic Lidcombe Hospital site benefits from a unique heritage environment, creating the opportunity and the need to design a variety of housing types that capitalise on the historic setting and satisfy demand for larger properties from growing and extended families.

To meet the expected population surge in Sydney, Minister Stokes also called for a design shift to bigger apartments and again, its a product in which Frasers Property has noticed a big increase in demand.

Were receiving significant interest in the three bedroom apartments in our communities as buyers increasingly respond to the relative affordability of larger apartments while not wanting to compromise on good design.

For example, at Centrale in North Ryde, with its close promixity to the on-site train station and a plethora of amenities, the three bedroom apartments are proving very popular.

Nigel Edgar is general manager Residential NSW for Frasers Property Australia and can be contacted here.