Strata Apartments Partial Answer to Sydneys Housing Problem 16/12/2009 Amidst a serious housing shortage, Sydney’s future will need to include an increase in high-rise living. No matter what we do, there is simply not enough ground space to allow for the growing number of people that will eventually live here, between the mountains and the sea.
Mr Richard Tooker, who heads one of our States largest strata management companies has watched Sydney’s expansion and concedes that planning authorities already see the future, but not perhaps from such a hands-on perspective as his.
“Here at New South Wales Strata Management we’ve witnessed this growth first hand. We see how young people and old alike are turning to medium density and high-rise apartments near transport routes. A survey has shown that three-quarters of apartment dwellers say such living suites them well. It is the wave of the future.
“Another large percentage say they would love to live in a free-standing home, but with home prices now rising at a rate of around one percent of their value per month, few have hopes of ever owning such a place.”
Today’s youth he says are well aware of environmental and social factors that make co-operative living near business hubs and within walking distance of entertainment or sporting venues so popular. These youthful buyers of strata apartments are already carrying the name ‘early adaptors’, the tag given by people trained in analysing such trends. They note that the ‘early adaptors’ are people looking ahead rather than back.
The Commonwealth too is getting into the act. A recent Federal funding condition for the improvement of cities has called for housing plans to tackle the growing housing problem. And Sydney, already faced with the highest population density of anywhere in the nation, will need to prepare for dramatic growth – said to be as high as 40 per cent – in as little as 26 more years.
Mr Tooker says it is ironic in the extreme that smaller size families have, for the past decade, been turning to McMansion size homes. The move toward larger homes, housing fewer and fewer people, sees people seek out properties of up to three times the size that were being purchased in the 1950’s. It is a drift that everyone acknowledges cannot be sustained.
“According to the figures, Sydney would require an extra 65,000 homes right now, and this is to accommodate only the existing demand. But these homes are not being built, and the number of people who need them is growing by the day.”
Both Mr Tooker and State and Commonwealth planners know that planning for the future means accepting the creation of more and more medium to high-density housing.
“What follows on from this is the need for a greater recognition of the role and purpose of professional strata managers. Public and private awareness of the necessary role of this management sector is part and parcel of overcoming what is, and what is increasingly a significant factor in ensuring that our current housing problems are adequately addressed.”
Mr Tooker said that any Owners’ Corporations wishing to investigate the use of such professional Strata Management services can contact New South Wales Strata Management direct on 9890 1841.
New South Wales Strata Management (formerly Gilmour Strata Management) commenced business in early 1991, as a member of the highly respected J A Gilmour & Sons group of companies. Licensed solely and specialising only in strata management services, the company has steadily grown to become one of the largest such organisations in New South Wales.
|
|
|
