Posted on May 18, 2015 by Stuart Simington

Government clarifies minimum apartment size rules

Minister Stokes has announced that the NSW Government will retain the rules mandating the minimum size of apartments but the new sizes will be less than specified in the current edition of the Residential Flat Design Code.

No doubt responding to  industry concerns about the impact on affordability of a recent Land and Environment Court decision that mandated apartment sizes larger than had been widely appreciated (see our previous post here), the Government’s announcement is said to ‘support good design, housing affordability and supply‘.

Going forward, the guideline for the minimum sizes are to be as follows:

  • Studios – 35m2
  • 1 Bedroom apartments – 50m2
  • 2 Bedroom apartments – 70m2
  • 3 Bedroom apartments – 90m2
  • Extra bedrooms – add 12m2 each
  • Bathrooms  in excess of one (1) – add 5m2 each

In making the announcement, the Minister also indicated that the government’s review of the RFDC was almost complete and would be released shortly.