A proposal to reduce costly car parking requirements in inner-city apartment buildings will be expanded to more areas following community feedback.
The Schrinner Council’s Inner-City Affordability Initiative was introduced in June 2024 to improve housing affordability and supply in fast-growing areas.
While Council approved more than 57,000 homes between 2019 and 2023, just half of those homes have been built, due to market forces such as high construction costs.
These stark figures show how tough it is to build at the moment and demonstrate why all levels of government must act.
With 96 per cent of all homes built by the private sector, clearly government alone can’t solve this crisis.
Industry experts estimate the cost of supplying an underground or podium level car park within a new Brisbane high-rise apartment building can easily exceed $100,000 per parking space.
Mandatory minimum car parking requirements were originally in place in Brisbane’s CBD and the Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct and were proposed to be expanded to parts of Fortitude Valley, Kangaroo Point, Milton, and Newstead in 2024.
More than 90 submissions were received on the proposed changes between 8 October and 5 November 2024, revealing community support for the Inner-City Affordability Initiative to be expanded.
An expansion of the City Core and City Frame parking areas is being proposed in response to this community feedback.
Under the changes, the City Core would extend to parts of East Brisbane, Kangaroo Point and Woolloongabba and the City Frame would extend to parts of East Brisbane, Herston, Highgate Hill, Red Hill, Toowong, West End and Woolloongabba
These expanded areas have access to high-frequency public transport such as Brisbane Metro the future Cross River Rail project as well as active travel bridges.
The changes implemented following community feedback strike a balance between supporting the growth of well-connected, inner-city areas while protecting Brisbane’s lifestyle and low-density suburbs.
Under the current minimum car park standards required outside the CBD, high-density developments need one space per one bedroom dwelling, two spaces per two bedroom and three-bedroom dwellings, 2.5 spaces for four bedrooms and above dwellings and 0.25 visitor parks per dwelling.
New high-density developments in Brisbane’s City Core and Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct, can have:
- Maximum 0.5 car space per one bedroom dwelling
- Maximum one car space per two-bedroom dwelling
- Maximum 1.5 car spaces per three-bedroom dwelling
- Maximum two car spaces for four bedrooms and above dwellings
- One visitor car space for every 20 dwellings
New high-density developments in Brisbane’s City Frame require:
- Minimum 0.9 car spaces per 1 bedroom dwelling
- Minimum 1.1 car spaces per 2 bedroom dwelling
- Minimum 1.3 car spaces per 3 or above bedroom dwelling
- Minimum 0.15 car spaces per dwelling for visitor parking
Minimum car parking requirements for high-density developments outside the City Core, Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct and City Frame areas are:
- 1 car space per 1 bedroom dwelling,
- Two car spaces per 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom dwelling,
- 2.5 car spaces for 4 bedrooms dwelling
- 0.25 visitor car spaces per dwelling
No changes to the existing car parking rates required in the City Core and City Frame parking areas are proposed.
The changes will be debated by Council on Tuesday 4 February, with State Government approval required before formal adoption into Brisbane’s City Plan.
Quotes attributable to Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner
“Brisbane is one of Australia’s fastest growing capital cities and we’re doing what we can to help deliver more homes sooner and relieve cost pressures.
“Our city’s growth is adding to housing supply pressures which are being exacerbated by labour shortages, construction costs and a significant increase in migration.
“It was clear when we consulted the community that car ownership in inner-city areas is reducing, and current parking requirements were adding huge costs to the construction of new apartment buildings.
“Car parking can be a prohibitively expensive addition to the cost of constructing new apartment buildings.
“That’s why we’re reducing car park requirements in more well-connected areas to help deliver more affordable homes in the right places sooner.
“Kickstarting the construction of affordable homes is the right thing to do with the limited levers our Council has to help solve the housing crisis.
Number of registered vehicles per property including motorbikes, scooters and heavy vehicles
- Bowen Hills – 29.2 per cent own no car, 52.6 per cent own one car
- Fortitude Valley – 28.7 per cent own no car, 55.3 per cent own one car
- Spring Hill – 23.8 per cent own no car, 53.2 per cent own one car
- South Brisbane – 21.9 per cent own no car, 60.6 per cent own no car
- Milton – 16.1 per cent own no car, 53.7 per cent own one car
- West End – 13.9 per cent own no car, 55.5 per cent own one car
- Kangaroo Point – 12 per cent own no car, 52.8 per own one car
- Newstead – 11.9 per cent own no car, 63.3 per cent own one car
Source: ABC Census 2021
