One of the reasons building apartments in the inner cities is so challenging is demonstrated by a six-storey project in Lilyfield, a white, above-income, Greens-voting suburb in Sydney fighting off a couple of billionaire brothers from the city’s east.

The Roche family – estimated wealth: $1.6 billion – have been trying for seven years to replace a graffiti-blighted former bakery and factory in Balmain Road, about 5 kilometres from central Sydney, with 89 apartments, a small public square, and rental space for the local arts workers.