Brisbane City Council is scaling down mandatory car parking requirements in the inner city as part of efforts to make housing more affordable.
The Inner-City Affordability Initiative has been developed to improve housing supply and access in fast-growing areas of the city.
In a statement, the council said underground or podium level car parks in new Brisbane high-rise development often cost more than $100,000 per parking space.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the removal of minimum mandatory car parking would mean more people would be able to live in the inner city.
“With single adult homes now making up one in three Brisbane households, we urgently need more homes, but not as many expensive car parking spaces,” he said.
“By removing mandatory minimum car parking requirements under our Inner-City Affordability Initiative we can put downward pressure on the price of building and buying a new apartment in those areas of Brisbane with great access to high-frequency public transport.”
Areas to be considered under the plan include parts of Fortitude Valley, Kangaroo Point, Milton and Newstead.
“The Inner-City Affordability Initiative’s maximum car parking requirement mirrors what’s already in place in Brisbane’s CBD and recently expanded to South Brisbane under the Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct plan, which was supported by the State Government,” the council statement said.
“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.”
Under the current maximum car parking rates in place in Brisbane’s ‘City Core’ and Kurilpa, high-density developments require:
- Maximum 0.5 space per one bedroom dwelling
- Maximum one space per two-bedroom dwelling
- Maximum 1.5 spaces per three-bedroom dwelling
- Maximum two spaces for four bedrooms and above dwellings
- One visitor space for every 20 dwellings
The Inner-City Affordability Initiative will only be implemented in designated inner-city areas close to high-frequency public transport and “active” travel options.
“Our approach preserves Brisbane’s low-density suburbs and helps prevent urban sprawl, which contributes to congestion and causes significant transport and environmental costs,” Cr Schrinner said.
“We want to help create more well-connected communities where multiple cars per household are not necessary to get around.”
