Brisbane City’s move to cut in half minimum car parking requirements for inner-city apartment projects has been welcomed to make apartments more affordable.
In 2024, at a Property Council Breakfast, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced the Inner-City Affordability Initiative, including plans to expand minimum car parking requirements in the Brisbane CBD and Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct to parts of Fortitude Valley, Kangaroo Point, Milton, and Newstead.
Changes passed will expand upon this with the City Core extended to parts of East Brisbane, Kangaroo Point and Woolloongabba and the City Frame extended to parts of East Brisbane, Herston, Highgate Hill, Red Hill, Toowong, West End and Woolloongabba.
Proposed changes reduce parking in the City Core and Kurilpa Precinct to a max of 0.5 spaces per one-bedroom, one per two-bedroom, 1.5 per three-bedroom, and two per four-bedroom+ homes, with one visitor space per 20 homes.
In the City Frame, minimums are 0.9 for one-bedroom, 1.1 for two-bedroom, 1.3 for three-bedroom+, and 0.15 visitor spaces per home. Outside these areas, parking rules stay the same.
Property Council Queensland Executive Director Jess Caire said that the changes followed the release of the Property Council’s On the edge report last year, which highlighted the dire state of the Brisbane apartment pipeline.
“The Property Council applauded Brisbane City Council’s Inner-City Affordability Initiative when it was first announced at a Property Council lunch last year and welcome the expansion of the initiative which will help drive down the cost of building inner-city apartments,” Ms Caire said.
“On the edge outlined that escalating cost pressures have dried up Brisbane’s apartment pipeline and initiatives like this are exactly the type of response needed to get it flowing again and improve affordability.
“As outlined in our research, car parking is estimated to add an extra $100,000 to the cost of an apartment for at grade car parks and more for basement car parks. This decision by Council will reduce those costs, helping to make apartment projects more feasible and ultimately more affordable.”
Ms Caire said that while Council’s car parking reduction was welcomed, responding to the housing crisis would require a concerted effort across all levels of government.
“Solving our housing crisis needs all tiers of government to pull every lever they have available, and while this initiative is a welcome start, more needs to be done,” she said.
“The recent state government budget update highlighted Queensland’s concerning fiscal position and just how important private investment is to build the housing and other infrastructure Queensland needs.
“To do this we need to show the world that Queensland is open for business and looking to attract the investment needed to respond to our population growth.
“This includes reviewing how Queensland’s prohibitive foreign tax settings are applied to Australian-based companies leveraging international investment to deliver local projects.
“We look forward to working with all levels of government on this review and further initiatives to attract investment to Queensland.” Ms Caire said.