By Megan Gorrey
It is the rarest of Sydney sights: more than a dozen vacant residential lots in a sought-after pocket of inner west suburbia hitting the real estate market, ready to go under the hammer in one fell swoop.
The Department of Defence is selling a 1.9-hectare parcel of flood-prone land in Haberfield that has been empty and stuck in bureaucratic limbo since the army stopped using it more than 20 years ago.
The lots were first auctioned off in 2003 but have remained vacant, largely due to flooding concerns.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Residents and the Inner West Council had pushed for the site to be transformed into public housing or parkland, but were rebuffed by the department, which insisted it had to be sold at market value.
Seventeen of the Hawthorne Parade site’s 21 blocks, ranging in size from 500 to 1044 square metres, are scheduled for auction on Thursday. A central triangle of land will remain undeveloped.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne said: “What is going up for sale, and what has been approved, is fairly large homes, which is not the most immediate need that we have.”
Real estate agent Michael Tringali, of McGrath Estate Agents, said the undeveloped lots were expected to fetch between $1.6 million and $2.85 million.
“It is absolutely super rare to find a release of 21 vacant parcels of land within 8.5 kilometres of the CBD.”
The site, known as the Haberfield Army Reserve Depot, has a long history. In 2001, the former Ashfield Council gave development consent for the land to be subdivided into 21 lots, including one site dedicated to the council for public open space.
But it has been locked in limbo since 2003, when the Defence Department sold 21 lots at auction for $18 million, only for the buyers to discover that a subdivision certificate had never been issued.
All but four buyers rescinded their offers. The certificate was dependent on Defence installing a drainage system to ensure the land – which is situated below sea level and prone to flash flooding – was habitable. In 2021, council staff approved the construction of drainage works that paved the way for the subdivision to finally be registered last year.
All but four of the buyers at the original auction in 2003 rescinded their offers. Credit: Rhett Wyman
Haberfield Association army land convener Brett Burton said the site was affected by “three major issues”: “Unknown contamination, known flooding, and insurance.
“The flood remediation works reduced the maximum flood height by 15 per cent. It still floods.”
The drainage works that were approved by council will reduce flooding on the site by a maximum of only 20 per cent. The council says the site has been remediated of contaminated soil and is suitable for residential use, while Defence says all blocks are safe to build and live on.
The council said flood modelling conducted for the subdivision showed “no increase in hazard to the subject and surrounding properties”. Seven properties would need to be built on concrete piers.
A Defence Department spokesman said it had upgraded the site’s stormwater drainage system and existing internal roads and fixtures, and completed environmental and heritage investigative works.
“Prospective purchasers have access to a range of due diligence materials that demonstrate all conditions for the subdivision have been met,” the spokesman said.
“Prospective purchasers will need to comply with council’s planning and environmental requirements upon seeking development application approval for their future build.”
Haberfield, which was planned as a “garden suburb”, is a heritage conservation area. Under the council’s rules, only single-storey homes can be built and at least half the block must be landscaped.
Haberfield was planned as Australia’s first “garden suburb”. Federation-style homes on large blocks predominate.Credit: Steven Siewert
Referring to the suburb’s signature Federation-style houses, Tringali said: “It’s so special because you know what you’re going to have next door, and the big McMansions won’t be popping up and ruining your privacy.”
Given the task of delivering 7800 new homes in the inner west local government area by mid-2029, Byrne said the standalone houses to be built within the heritage suburb represented a “very modest development” given Sydney’s housing supply and affordability crisis.
“Haberfield is one of the most expensive suburbs in the inner west because the lot sizes are so large. You regularly see homes on the market for more than $4 million.”
Byrne said there was more intense demand from buyers and renters for units with one to three bedrooms. “That’s not going to be delivered here,” he said.
The department said residential development had been identified as the “optimum outcome” for the Haberfield site, and it would contribute to the Commonwealth’s policy of unlocking surplus land for housing.
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