Small sites in the big city
N ot all of us have the luxury, or the budget, to build our dream home on a substantial block, nor in the country, where space isn’t as limited as it is in the capital cities. Sadly for many people, the long-held dream of owning a quarter-acre block is becoming increasingly unatainable, with most lucky to afford just a small pocket of land to call their own. As a result, house design has been adapted to suit the changes in land sizes.
“As lots become more expensive to develop, they become more expensive to purchase, so the cost per square metre (sqm) increases,” explains Nick Marino, NSW state sales manager of home building at Sekisui House. “To ensure there is affordability, house lots over time have become smaller.
Most residential lots in new housing estates in Sydney 20 years ago were on average around 700sqm, with an 18m-wide frontage. Today,
