Affordable Homes Axed for Scarborough Approval

A nine-storey residential tower has been approved in the Perth northern beaches suburb of Scarborough after decision-makers rejected a contentious council requirement for eight affordable apartments in the 67-unit project.

Representing QS Developments at a meeting of Western Australia’s metro inner development assessment panel this month, Armando Rossi said a City of Stirling approval condition requiring the affordable apartments was “a sledehammer trying to deliver what’s a nuanced outcome”.

“The things that have been happening in the market ... mean that any product, even at cost price, doesn’t tick the parameters that our affordable housing providers can afford to pay for the project and then it becomes a viability [issue] for us as a developer,” he said.

“The city’s been very supportive and concise with their directions during the process that we’ve gone through, so we’ve been able to modify product, move quickly and then the time-value of money has actually played an important role in this.”

If built as now approved, the project, slated for a 3000sq m block at 24-26 Brighton Road, would comprise 15 one, 30 two and 22 three-bedroom apartments.

Rossi said QS had approached social housing providers—none had expressed interest in taking on the eight units and to “try and create an affordable product by discounting and dropping price” would be prohibitive.

But City of Stirling planner Shaun Wheatland said the size and scale of the $35-million project warranted imposition of the 12 per cent affordable housing requirement, which is applicable to apartment projects in beachside Scarborough.

He said QS had not told the city that finding a social housing provider for the was unlikely, but that other developers had approached Stirling’s planners and were in the process of clearing similar conditions to the one recommended.

On behalf of QS, Urbanista urban planner Andra Biondi said that, after negotiations with the City, 20 per cent of the project’s homes were now of one bedroom. 

“We’re of the strong view that this satisfies that intent to provide affordable housing,” she said.

Panel member John Syme said the city’s policy for Scarborough allowed “considerable discretion” to offset any perceived loss of profit associated with the controversial condition.

“The margins for apartment buildings at the moment are very slender,” he said.

“The ability to get a viable project off requires pretty solid and robust markets and there’s not a lot of difference between construction costs and selling costs in the current environment.”

Associated with the city’s condition was an advice note requiring QS to disclose commercial arrangements including who the purchaser of the affordable units might be. Syme said the advice note was “totally inappropriate”.

▲ A rendering of the Scarborough project's communal open space.

One of two Stirling city councillors on the panel, Suzanne Migdale, commended QS for submitting an application to help mitigate “the extreme shortage of one bedroom apartments, which unbelieveably to me, by today's standards fall into affordable housing”.

“I think that on balance we really need to understand how challenging it is for those that are partaking in development in our fair state today,” she said.

“With all of the rules and regulations that they face and the cost of building today, it is certainly not an industry for the faint-hearted.

“On balance this is a great development and I support it.”

The development application, minus the contentious affordable housing condition and advice note, was unanimously approved by the panel.

The project will require demolition of two houses and also include basement parking, communal open space and a 368sq m commercial gym tenancy on the ground floor.