New homes will need bigger garages under proposed SA planning law changes

The government’s proposed planning law changes are aimed at accommodating increases in the population, housing density and South Australian buying habits.

Ben Slade with his partner, Claire Hayward outside their apartment in Woodforde, where streets are congested with cars. Picture: Matt Loxton

New South Australian homes will have to have bigger garages and more off-street parking spaces under a push to keep cars off suburban streets.

The state government will today unveil proposed planning laws that will make it mandatory for garages to have a minimum size of at least 6m in length and 3.5 in width.

The change, which is being released for public consultation, would also force homeowners to have at least two car spaces for homes with two or more bedrooms and one space for one-bedroom dwellings.

Property developers and builders who ignore the rules would be forced to pay a fee of up to $45,000 per garage into a taxpayer fund, which would be used to build more public parking and improve bicycle routes.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the changes would help ­alleviate parking congestion across the state.

“South Australians are sick of seeing their suburbs being overrun by cars often double parked on otherwise quiet streets,” he said.

“It is ridiculous that many modern garages are not built big enough to fit the most popular cars sold in our country, from dual-cab utes right down to SUVs.

“We’re going to fix it … by bringing our planning laws up to date.

“This is a sensible measure to protect our suburbs as our state grows.”

Off-street parking spaces can be driveways that are not enclosed, but at least one per property must be able to be covered in future to the new garage size.

The laws would apply to all residential developments within Greater Adelaide.

But the government said the CBD, North Adelaide and infill developments on public transport routes could be exempt.

New data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries revealed that SUVs and utes collectively made up 79 per cent of total car sales across Australia last year.

Nine out of the top 10 best-selling new cars in 2024 were SUVs or utes, with the Toyota Corolla the only small car to make the list.

Hatchbacks and sedans had the biggest dip in popularity, with the smaller vehicles accounting for just 17 per cent of all purchases – a 3.8 per cent decline from 2023.

Campbelltown Mayor Jill Whittaker, whose council called for the sweeping changes, said current building standards did not cater for larger vehicles.

“The need for housing, the increase in population and the love of cars means that parking has become a challenge as our streets were built for less traffic and less street parking,” Ms Whittaker said.

“Current minimum parking sizes do not cater for the many larger vehicles being purchased by many people.”

Originally published as New homes will need bigger garages under proposed SA planning law changes