‘Golden homes’ Sydney’s new must-have

Each local council is subject to minimum space requirements when building new apartment projects, and four councils out of the 33 in Greater Sydney have set higher square-metre requirements for their new builds compared to the rest of the city.

Plus Agency general manager Peter Li, who specialises in off-the-plan project sales, calls these local council areas the “golden four.”

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Artist impressions of the Hills Showground Village project where units could be up to 50 per cent bigger.

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Homeseekers have discovered that some local councils have bigger apartments compared to surrounding suburbs.

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“If you buy a new one-bedroom, two-bedroom, or three-bedroom apartment in one of these council areas, it will usually be larger than an equivalent apartment anywhere else in Sydney,” Mr Li said.

The four councils are the Hills Shire, Lane Cove, Burwood and Waverley.

Across most of Sydney, regulations require new studios be at least 35 metres square,

one-bedroom apartments 50 metres square, two-bedroom apartments 70 metres square, and three-bedroom apartments 90 metres square.

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Two bedroom units in the Waverley council had a minimum of 40 square metre restrictions compared to other areas which only required 35.

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“New two-bedroom apartments in Waverley must be 10 metres square – or 14 per cent – larger than what is required in most other council areas.”

Waverley City Council’s three bedroom units also have a 100 square metre minimum, compared to the majority of other councils that only require 90 square metres.

Suburbs in Waverley city council include Bondi,Bondi Junction, North Bondi, Bronte, Dover Heights,Queens Park, Rose Bay, Tamarama, Vaucluse and Waverley.

“Buyers want to have the best home they can afford, so they naturally seek out larger homes where they can find them,” he added.

However, the Hills had the largest apartments, according to Mr Li.

“Hills Shire is the best of the golden four. It’s where you can find the largest one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units.”

Two-bedroom units in Castle Hill could be up to 57 per cent bigger than two-bedders in other local councils with their requirements for new apartments, according to Mr Li.

New apartments in the Hills were likely to be bigger than other local councils according to Mr Li.

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The Hills Shire includes Bella Vista, Castle Hill, Kellyville, Kenhurst and Boxhill, among others.

“Not every new apartment in The Hills is larger, but about two-thirds of the new apartments in any building are,” he added.

This is due to the Hills Shire requirements needing a mix of floor plans in any new multistorey building of flats.

“About a third of apartments can be the regular size, another third can be 30 per cent larger, and the final third must be 50 to 57 per cent larger.”

Mr Li said the demand for bigger homes has shifted.

“About five or six years ago, developers sold smaller apartments for a higher dollar per square metre rate. One-bedrooms always had the higher rate, then two bedrooms, then three bedrooms,” he said.

“That has completely reversed. In the last two years, developers are getting more dollar per square metres for three-bedroom apartments, then less for two bedrooms, and even less for one bedrooms.”