A new planning policy will ensure South Australians will benefit from greater choice and flexibility in housing while boosting the development of critical aged care and retirement infrastructure.

The Accommodation Diversity Code Amendment, adopted by the State Government, will change the rules for building apartment-style homes and retirement living across SA.

Developers of apartment buildings will now have the option of investing in communal amenities like rooftop gardens and barbecue areas as changes allow for more common spaces over private balconies.

Importantly, these changes will mean costs will come down for developers and by removing the need for areas which are prone to fault because of waterproofing issues.

The costs associated with building and waterproofing often rarely-used private balconies are usually around $2,062 per m² based on typical designs, leading to a total cost for most apartments of around $11,000 to $32,000 based on average construction costs.

Increased building heights for aged care retirement facilities and supported accommodation will now allow for up to 4-6 storeys for larger developments, providing more options for South Australians to age in place within their own communities.

Following consultation, the Minister for Planning made the changes to retirement living more significant, halving the threshold for 6-storey retirement living from sites of 20,000m² to 10,000m².

Under the approved changes, the State Commission Assessment Panel will oversee major aged care, retirement living and supported accommodation developments over four storeys, ensuring efficient management.

For smaller projects on sites under 6,500m², local councils remain responsible, preserving community involvement and local expertise, however this threshold also dropped from 10,000 following consultation.

Strengthening the code amendment will support the provision of additional aged care beds, which is of critical importance to the State Government and has significant linkages to helping support our health system

The reforms for aged care, retirement living and supported accommodation complement recent changes to the State’s planning legislation that elevates supported accommodation, like aged care facilities, to the status where they are considered as essential infrastructure.

These new provisions are just some of the changes within the Accommodation Diversity Code Amendment which has been approved by the State Government in response to the changing make-up of South Australia’s population, in particular the rapid growth of single parent families and SA’s ageing population.

The Code Amendment will introduce a new form of ‘co-living’ accommodation for residences that rely on shared facilities, such as common kitchens or bathrooms.

New practice guidelines will encourage apartment developers to provide a better product to buyers, ensuring shared facilities and recreation areas are well-designed, well-located, of a high quality and accessible.

The Minister will now write to impacted councils, asking for feedback on where the overlay could best be applied.

Finding opportunities for more diversity in housing to support South Australia’s rapidly growing and changing population was a key component of the Premier’s Housing Roadmap.

South Australia has an ageing population and has marked a decline in nuclear families and a rise in constellation families. Despite this, most homes in South Australia are detached dwellings.

The aim of the Accommodation Diversity Code Amendment is to increase the number of well-designed, diverse, and affordable housing supply options across the entire state, to respond to these population projections and growth in single person households.