Sydney housing crisis: Micro-lot housing rises as 6800 homes built on 270sq m lots

Shocking new data has revealed the death of the Aussie backyard, as “micro-lot housing” – with blocks of land as small as 250 square metres – become a stark reality for Sydney’s future.

Shocking new data has revealed the death of the Aussie backyard, as “micro-lot housing” –with blocks of land as small as 250 square metres – become a stark reality for Sydney families.

The Sunday Telegraph can exclusively reveal 6,800 free-standing homes across Greater Sydney have been built on “micro-lot” land sizes less than 270 sq m in size in the last five years.

Tristan Tipler pictured in his small backyard at Marsden Park. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Meanwhile, Australian Bureau of Statistics data confirmed a steady decline in average land sizes across Greater Sydney in the last ten years, with average lots sizes dropping 91sq m from 514sq m in 2012.

Before micro-lot housing developments were introduced to Leppington. Picture: Six Maps

The reality in Leppington today. Picture: Six Maps

Entrepreneur Dick Smith said a lack of affordable housing and “woeful” planning for the future of the city meant Sydney families were “being forced to raise free-range kids in battery house conditions”.

“There isn’t enough room to swing a bat in the average backyard in Sydney these days,” Mr Smith told The Sunday Telegraph.

Dick Smith at home in Sydney. Picture: Nikki Short

“That wonderful tradition – and a fundamental part of being an Aussie – was the reality of a quarter acre block, a tree for the kids to climb in the backyard, and a hills hoist.

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“For so many new families this will never be a reality.”

The Australian icon said Sydney’s shrinking land size should be “blamed on a lack of planning for enormous population growth, shocking immigration figures, and poor government planning”.

Cobbitty and Oran Park before micro-lot housing. Picture: Six Maps

Cobbitty and Oran Park now. Picture: Six Maps

“There isn’t enough space to plant a tree in these backyards,” he said.

“Is that what we want for our children and grandchildren?

“A future where they are worse off than generations before them.”

Mr Smith said the “rampant greed of billionaire developers was also to blame for battery hen house conditions”.

According to NSW Planning data, greenfield development where micro-lot housing has become increasingly popular include housing estates in Leppington and Oran Park in Sydney’s southwest, Jordan Springs and Ropes Crossing in the city’s west, as well as Elara, Box Hill and Kellyville in the northwest.  

Stuart Ayres CEO of the Urban Development Institute of Australia. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW chief executive Stuart Ayres said the rise of micro-lot housing was a “reflection of what buyers can afford”, telling The Sunday Telegraph detached homes were more feasible for developers to deliver en masse.

“What is crucial in greenfield development sites is a mix of housing types, large public amenities, communal greenspace, and infrastructure,” he said.

The former NSW Government Minister turned developer advocate said micro lot housing had its place in greenfield sites, alongside free-standing homes, terraces, and medium-density housing.

Box Hill in Sydney’s northwest. PICTURE: SIX MAPS

Box Hill now witht he introduction of microlot housing. PICTURE: SIX MAPS

“Developers are building more houses and smaller lots, but they are also investing more in community facilities and greenspaces as demand grows.”

Mr Ayres said positive examples of micro-lot housing could be seen at the Thornton development at the heart of the Penrith CBD, as well as small-lot housing in greenfield sites across Edmondson Park.

“Greenfield development shouldn’t be a traditional cookie-cutter subdivision of suburban lots – we have to find ways to increase the number of dwellings to see investments in infrastructure.”

Marsden Park in Sydney’s west. PICTURE: SIX MAPS

Marsden Park now. PICTURE: SIX MAPS

NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully said new housing data indicates the average home size has doubled since the mid-twentieth century.

“As the footprint of a home has changed, so too have lot sizes,” he said. “This reflects a range of things including evolving needs and preferences of homeowners.

“The Minns Government’s planning reforms are adjusting as expectations change and more people turn to living in apartments, terraces and townhouses.”

The Planning Minister said “good green and open spaces need to be incorporated” into greenfield and infill development across the state. 

Tristan Tipler and his partner Stevie-Lyn Ritchie pictured watering the grass in their small backyard at Marsden Park. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Marsden Park resident Tristan Tipler, 23, said house and land packages – with little to no backyard – was “the new normalin Greater Sydney”. “Prices for both homeowners and renters continue to rise, while homes and backyards get smaller.”