With mounting housing and cost-of-living pressures across Australia, families in apartments are largely being overlooked by existing urban planning and property development policies, which is further exacerbating the lack of suitable and affordable homes in New South Wales. This is according to a new report released today by the James Martin Institute for Public Policy.

Planning for the inclusion of families with children in apartments by Dr Sophie-May Kerr identifies opportunities for policy reform to better cater to the needs of families raising children in apartments across New South Wales (NSW). Dr Kerr, Research Associate at the UNSW City Futures Research Centre and a JMI Policy Fellow, argues that Australian apartments need to better meet the needs and preferences of families with children.

“With 1 in 4 apartments in Greater Sydney now home to families with children under the age of 15, it is critical that more attention is paid to family-friendly housing,” said Dr Kerr. In some local government areas, this figure is as high as 1 in 2. “We need to see a shift in thinking from a focus on ‘housing’ to a focus on ‘homes’.”