Developers can offer apartments with shared kitchens, bathrooms and open space as co-living is introduced in SA

Private balconies, bathrooms and kitchens can be dumped from some new apartment buildings for shared spaces, under massive changes aimed at cheaper homes.

German student Talita Becker in Waymouth St, outside her apartment building the Scape. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Private balconies, bathrooms and kitchens will no longer be required for apartments if developers offer shared spaces, under a massive change aiming for cheaper housing.

As traditional families dwindle in numbers, Planning Minister Nick Champion has approved a new policy also allowing taller retirement homes and ‘co-living’ homes for six or more people.

Developers can dump private balconies in favour of communal open spaces such as barbecue areas or rooftop gardens for apartment buildings, saving up to $32,000 a unit.

The communal open areas will be restricted to residents and must match what the private balconies for the five largest apartments would have offered – about 75sq m – plus a little more for each extra apartment, capped at 250sq m.

Student Talita Becker in Waymouth St, outside her building, the Scape. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Mr Champion said balconies were often “rarely used” and prone to leaking.

Costs associated with building and waterproofing balconies was usually about $2000 a square metre – saving between $11,000 and $32,000 without them.

The open spaces must provide protection from wind and rain, prevent overlooking nearby homes, and strict rules demand at least two hours of direct sunlight daily in the dead of winter.

Adelaide Uni property lecturer Peter Koulizos said developers would build only what they thought they could sell.

“If they feel an apartment without its own kitchen and a shared bathroom will work, they will build them,” Mr Koulizos said.

“The theory is (developers) will provide more public open space within the complex, whether on the grounds outside or meeting places on the ground floor.

“Some of these changes are radical for Adelaide, but so was selling apartments without car parks. Bottom line is, if developers feel it will work and there is demand, they will build it.”

Developers can breach maximum building heights by up to 30 per cent by including extras such as easy access to nearby parks, large “usable” rooftop gardens, childcare and other bonuses.

Balconies at the high-rise apartment at 29 Angas Street. Picture Emma Brasier

The changes also introduce ‘co-living’ in which people share a full kitchen, bathrooms and laundry. New minimum sizes set out how big common and open spaces must be.

The Scape student accommodation doesn’t have balconies, but instead had large, open space areas behind the black squares. Picture: Colin James

Mr Koulizos said while co-living was common overseas, it was new for Adelaide.

“We might have mature-age women recently divorced, their payout is not big enough to buy a dwelling on their own, and so they’ll all live in this sort of accommodation together. Doesn’t mean that they’ll live there forever, but at least that’s a good first step.”

UniSA economics student Talita Becker, 22, on exchange from Berlin, lives at the Scape student accommodation on Waymouth St.

She said she had no balcony at her apartment but often used the shared spaces.

“I think the community as a whole can benefit from shared living situations,” Ms Becker said.

“The sense of community is lost these days; we are so connected through technology but we are missing human interaction.

“We need more spaces where people can run into each other casually. I’ve met so many people through the shared spaces in my building.”

Other changes in the Accommodation Diversity code amendment

Larger aged-care and retirement buildings can now hit four to six storeys on 10,000sq m blocks – to allow people to age in their own communities.

After consultation, Mr Champion halved the threshold for six-storey retirement living from sites of 20,000sq m, meaning taller buildings can be on smaller blocks.

The government wants to get smaller families out of detached homes and into shared living to tackle SA’s housing crisis.

The state has an ageing population and single-parent families in SA are projected to grow by up to 36 per cent by 2046.

The State Commission Assessment Panel will oversee major aged care, retirement living and supported accommodation developments over four storeys, which Mr Champion said would be more efficient.

Local councils will be responsible for smaller projects on sites under 6500sq m – this threshold dropped from 10,000 after consultation.

“These changes will give developers more options to sell to a more diverse range of buyers,” Mr Champion said.

“We are giving South Australians real choice and flexibility in how and where they want to live. Our population is changing, and our housing options need to change with it.”

The change aims to complement the Future Living housing plan being considered for six metro councils, under which existing houses would expand to create multiple homes with shared kitchens or gardens without changing the streetscape.