Is Perth ready for the super skinny home? Source: Supplied
IS Perth ready for the skinny house?
At a recent forum in Perth the idea of a super-slim home with a 4.5m frontage — about the length of an average car — was put forward as a possible way of the future.
Just when we thought lot sizes could not shrink any further, Perth builders have already begun offering homes that are 5m wide.
But will the industry, as it has in Queensland, shed a few more centimetres and squeeze down to a 4.5m frontage?
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The Urban Development Institute of Australia WA hot topics forum Does It Fit? How We Deal With The Shrinking Lot Size was shown projects such as the controversial Fitzgibbon Chase development in Queensland with its narrow home options.
Builder Ausbuild's joint managing director Matt Bell said the Fitzgibbon Chase skinny homes were a big hit and gave first homebuyers the chance to move into an area less than 15km from the Brisbane CBD that would normally have been out of their price range.
Economic Development Queensland director of residential Peter Smith said the government development offered lot sizes from 45sq m.
The incredible shrinking home — frontages are shrinking but how small can they go? Source: Supplied
"From the outset, EDQ has looked at ways of being more sustainable," Mr Smith said.
In WA, the UDIA has found while the average lot has shrunk by more than 30 per cent in Perth in 20 years, while the size of the average house as a proportion of the lot has gone from a quarter to more than 40 per cent.
WA builders and developers have embraced narrow-lot design, with Subiaco and East Perth leading the way.
Revolutionary in their time, those 8m and 10m-wide frontages are now looking roomy by comparison to the next generation of narrow lots.
When is a home too skinny?
New "cottage row" single-storey homes with 5m frontages on lots of 150sq m at estates in areas such as Ellenbrook, Butler and Alkimos, are already on the market in Perth.
A Mitsubishi Pajero — it's longer than some new home frontages. Source: News Limited
As for the 4.5m frontage-frontier, modest family wagon the Mitsubishi Pajero is by comparison longer at 4.65m, according to Wikipedia.
But Hot Topics forum speaker, BGC Residential chief executive Kelvin Ryan, put in a word of warning.
"Everyone's saying that to hit affordability, we have to make lots smaller," Mr Ryan said. "Just because something's smaller and more affordable, doesn't mean it's value for money."
Developers and builders in Perth were given the go-ahead to build on lots as small as 100sq m last year.
Good things in small packages INSTITUTE of Architects WA past president Rod Mollett says innovative design can still happen on small lots — but 100sq m is as small as we should go.
Institute of Architects WA past president Rod Mollett. Source: Supplied
"Subject to the planning requirements that may apply and the target demographic, innovative design solutions can deliver very livable outcomes on very small lots, but 100sq m would, in my opinion, be as small as we should go to ensure reasonable courtyard space, access to light, etc," Mr Mollett said.
Even then, strict design standards would need to be applied. As for whether small lots deliver value, Mr Mollett said it came down to design.
"Good design will deliver the value required to attract buyers and, if mixed with more traditionally sized lots, will create interesting and diverse neighbourhoods," he said.
"Poor design will deliver exactly the opposite."
Mr Mollett said given urban sprawl continued, it was imperative that more innovative urban infill and subdivision planning strategies were adopted and it was more likely than not that WA would follow Queensland's lead to 4.5m frontages.
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