Those who have chosen a strata lifestyle are quick to point out the numerous advantages it has over alternative housing options.
They enjoy the convenience of low maintenance living, readily adopt a lock-and-leave mentality and thrive on the utilising the share amenities which require little from them other than to turn up and make full use of what’s on offer.
In fact, nearly two in five strata residents say they are completely happy with their current strata residence and wouldn’t change a thing.
But just as they are crystal clear on what they enjoy about the strata way of life, so too are residents united in what they’d change – if given half a chance.
In short, it comes down to just two issues: the need for more storage and frustrations around limited parking.
The AAA 2019 Apartment Survey Research Results, which gleaned responses from more than 3,300 strata dwellers across Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, showed that residents ranked more storage and more parking spots above more bathrooms or a larger kitchen space when it came to vetting what they would most like to change about their current apartment.
The results were consistent across each state, with the exception of Victoria where additional storage still came on top of strata residents’ wish-list but more parking bays slipped in as their third biggest priority behind their dream of their apartment being larger overall.
Nationally residents across all four states surveyed ranked altering the design of their kitchens a higher priority than undertaking a renovation of their bathrooms.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, not a single respondent surveyed wished their current abode was smaller while fewer than one in ten would change the positioning of their apartment within the complex if they were able.
But for the strata residents hoping their parking woes will one day be addressed there is some hope on the horizon with moves afoot by some councils and developers to improve parking issues and get residents thinking outside the box when it comes to alternative transport options.
In Miami developer brothers Carlos and Martin Melo have decided to take a stand against parking minimums by offering residents a $100 discount on their rent every month for not using their allotted parking spot in the garage.
Meanwhile a little closer to home, Melbourne developers who have taken advantage of the fact it is not mandatory for all apartments in a development to be provided with care spaces, have undertaken a variety of different approaches to keep purchasers of their strata residence happy.
In one particular development, those who purchased one-bedroom apartments in a block in South Yarra were given scooter parking instead of car parking. To help keep everyone on side those same purchasers were issued with a free Vespa.
A competitor development group went one step further by offering purchasers of apartments sold without regular carparking but with a scooter park, a free scooter as well as 12 months scooter registration and a helmet.
But it’s not just developers who are seeking to make changes. Just last month Brisbane Council suggested plans to require all new apartment buildings to have two car park spaces for all two-bedroom apartments, instead of just one.
The proposal came as a result of having residents highlight the issue of road congestion as apartment dwellers were frequently forced to use street parking.
The proposed amendment to the council’s City Plan has now been submitted to the state government for approval to move to community consultation.
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