As governments chase housing targets, urban planners argue Australia is building too many apartment car spaces, with at least a quarter of residential spaces in Melbourne's CBD always vacant.
An ABC report in August 2024 examined whether building fewer car parks could help the federal government reach its target of 1.2 million new homes, focusing on Melbourne as a case study.
According to the report, at least one in four residential car spaces in Melbourne's CBD are always vacant. Off-street parking takes up around 9 per cent of all building floor space in the CBD, about 4.9 million square metres, and private parking in the city has more than doubled over the past 20 years.
The report said each basement car space can add roughly $100,000 to the cost of an apartment. Monash University senior lecturer Elizabeth Taylor said some places have "whole decks of multi-storey car parks that aren't being used".
The report noted that the national planning reform blueprint does not specifically address parking, even though parking rules affect how many homes can be built and what they cost.
For car space owners, the findings point to an underused supply in apartment buildings: residents with a spare or empty space may be able to rent it to someone nearby, while buyers should consider whether they really need a space bundled with a new apartment.
Photo: Canley / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Underground car park on the University of Melbourne's Parkville campus.