Doubts cast over Brisbane City Council's townhouse ban

Experts have warned a planned ban on townhouse developments in Brisbane’s low-density suburbs, designed to protect the city’s character, could have unintended consequences.

But Brisbane City Council said it wanted the ban because residents made it clear they had had enough of townhouse developments changing the city’s character.

Townhouses, like these at Mount Gravatt East, may be on the way out in Brisbane's low density residential suburbs.Credit: Tammy Law

The council has been pushing for permission from the state government to introduce an amendment to the City Plan 2014 to stop new townhouse developments in such suburbs.

Last month, State Development Minister Cameron Dick gave the council the go-ahead to start community consultation on the proposed amendment, which will begin on July 29.

But why does the council want such a major change, and what could be the consequences?

The price of protecting backyards

Brisbane City Council city planning chairman Matthew Bourke said the change was to stop the rapid development of unattractive “cookie-cutter” townhouses in suburbs traditionally known for their big backyards and leafy streets.

Cr Bourke said the council had been particularly concerned about developers snapping up two or three older properties, demolishing the houses to reach the minimum block size of 3000 square metres, and putting highly concentrated townhouses in.

“We’re seeing blocks being amalgamated to get to the 3000 square metres, which is seeing more of those medium- to high-density type of developments in areas which are traditionally one- or two-storey homes,” he said.

“What’s really important is to make sure that we’re accommodating the growth in Brisbane around transport nodes and other infrastructure.

“We do that through our neighbourhood planning … where we engage with the community and listen to their thoughts and concerns.

“That’s the right way to facilitate that growth of the city into the future.”

But industry experts say the ban may be conflating two issues - poor design control and rapid infill development.

Ugly townhouses, urban planners say, are one thing. But that doesn’t necessarily mean townhouses should be banned.

Banning townhouses from low-density suburbs might help protect the backyards, but it might also drive up property prices and make it harder for young families and people moving to the city to find affordable housing in those suburbs.

Brisbane property economist Matthew Gross said the issues were multiple and complex, with “genuine and valid arguments” on both sides.

“Many of the townhouse projects have been done in the investment cycle, where they really lack quality,” Mr Gross said.

“You can go down some of these streets and there’s the same facade the whole way down, so there’s no architectural merit to them.

“You can understand why the general community are going, ‘I don’t want that in my backyard.’

“It adds no value to their own address - in fact, it probably takes away value.”

Mr Gross said that did not necessarily mean townhouses should be banned - instead, they should be around areas of high access to public transport and shopping centres.

“There is absolutely a place for townhouses in our suburbs, when they’re done well,” he said.

“Some of the nicest addresses in our suburbs are townhouses.”

University of Queensland urban planner Dorina Pojani warned the ban would be a backwards step in an era where cities across the world were encouraging higher-density living.

“I think any ban on compact development in the form of townhouses or apartment buildings will limit supply. It’s a simple question of supply and demand,” Dr Pojani said.

“Once you limit supply then you cause an increase in prices … then it means that the existing houses will cost more.

“These type of planning regulations, they’re a windfall for existing residents but they’re a wipeout for new residents who might want to live in the area.”

Dr Pojani said implementing better-quality design controls would be a wiser choice - or the council could simply “do nothing” and allow density to grow through the suburbs.

Dr Pojani pointed to California, where years of tight housing development regulations had caused a severe housing crisis to such a degree that the state was now planning to fine or sue cities that did not provide enough housing based on population projections.

She said questions around urban sprawl and infill needed to be thought through carefully and across the big picture, taking in long-term population projections.

“We’re a sprawling city, we can take a little more density,” she said.

Griffith University urban planning lecturer Tony Matthews agreed, noting townhouses were often the first place new residents could afford to move to before buying a house - often in the very suburbs being targeted by the ban.

Why not townhouses?

Townhouses are frequently decried as unattractive blights on suburbs, bland walls facing the road and contributing to local parking issues and congestion.

But they do not have to be.

Dr Pojani said townhouses were particularly popular in Europe, where design standards were high and townhouses could be quite beautiful.

They also mean less land is needed for more homes - for instance, townhouse developments that pass through the council are frequently for 20 or more homes on a block of more than 3000 square metres.

So why is the council conflating cookie-cutter standard design issues with “protecting the Brisbane backyard”? Why not simply introduce quality design standards?

The council uses neighborhood plans to implement standards in suburbs according to community wishes.Credit: Darren England/AAP

“A higher-quality design requirement could lead to a better-quality product and therefore less detrimental impact on suburbs, visually or otherwise,” Dr Matthews said.

“But one of the difficulties with planning in Australia generally, and not just specifically to Brisbane, is that the capacity of planners and planning departments to be very specific about what is or isn’t good for new developments is relatively constrained, particularly compared to other countries.

“Planners here in Brisbane or elsewhere have one hand tied behind their back - there is a point to which they can insist on certain design outcomes.

“But to sort of insist on a development-by-development basis for a high-quality design, or even to come up with a set of design guidelines for higher-quality townhouses in low-density suburbs, is actually a much trickier proposition to pull off in reality than a blanket ban.”

People want 'the Australian dream'

But the other reason for the blanket ban, he believes, is quite simply political.

Brisbane’s low-density suburbs are spread across the city, from Chapel Hill to Westlake, Holland Park and Salisbury, Wynnum West and Aspley.

The wide band of low-density suburbs consists of a significant number of voters and in leafy green suburbs known for their peace and quiet, townhouses are not popular.

“The low-density suburbs where you’ve got the detached houses still on large blocks, within the leafy suburbs, they’re always in high demand, and they always will be,” Dr Matthews said.

“And that’s fundamental to the Australian residential housing psychology. That’s what people still want - the Australian dream.

“I don’t think those suburbs are going to get left behind at all. Those suburbs have their own micro-economies in terms of their residential property markets.”

Cr Bourke said the feedback the council was acting on came from residents right across the city during the Plan Your Brisbane project in 2017.

But Dr Matthews said the feedback from the project showed residents were more inclined toward medium density development, suggesting from a planning perspective the ban was not entirely necessary.

“My feeling was largely this was a political move to appease a large voting block,” he said.

“Brisbane City Council has copped a lot of flack for allowing a lot of overdevelopment or what seems like overdevelopment in suburbs and I suspect are wary of that coming back to haunt them in the future.”

Cr Bourke said the council had obligations under the South East Queensland Regional Plan to meet dwelling targets, of which it was well ahead.

“That’s why council is able to take this decision to protect the low-density residential parts of our city,” he said.

Cr Bourke said the opposition to townhouses in Brisbane’s low-density suburbs was “from every suburb, every demographic”.

“One of the key things that came out of that engagement with the residents of Brisbane was they didn’t want to see the character of their suburbs [lost],” he said.

Public consultation on the proposed ban begins on July 29.