As Australia faces its most acute housing shortage in decades, industry experts are warning that outdated parking requirements are also undermining housing supply and affordability.
The Albanese Government’s $32 billion National Housing Accord aims to deliver 1.2 million new homes over five years. State governments are fast‑tracking planning reforms, with NSW pushing for more mid‑rise apartments near transport hubs and WA revising codes to encourage urban infill.
Yet, according to Danyle Saleika, Senior Design Specialist at Klaus Multiparking, one overlooked factor could still derail these ambitions: how we design for car parking.
“The way we handle parking is directly linked to how much housing we can deliver and where we can deliver it,” Saleika said. “It’s no longer just an urban design issue – it’s a housing supply and affordability issue.”
Many planning schemes still assume traditional parking designs which consume valuable floor area, drive up costs, and limit what’s possible on smaller or irregular sites.
With construction costs having risen more than 30% over the past three years and interest rates still a factor, these inefficiencies don’t help improve affordability.
Smarter parking no longer just an option in a denser future, it’s a necessity
Globally, cities are already integrating space‑efficient parking solutions that:
- Allow shallower or single‑level basements
- Unlock more above‑ground space for homes or commercial uses
- Make otherwise constrained sites viable
- Reduce build time and disruption
These systems can also future‑proof developments for electric vehicles, shared mobility, and automation, aligning with Australia’s net‑zero goals and growing council requirements for EV‑ready infrastructure.
“We’re still designing for cars the way we did 30 years ago, but the pressures on our cities and housing markets have changed completely,” Saleika said.
“The next wave of parking solutions will be as much about technology and flexibility as they are about space. We need to design for what’s coming, not just what’s here today.”
A call for earlier collaboration
Saleika believes the solution lies in shifting parking discussions to the earliest stages of project design.
“If developers, architects, and planners consider alternative parking approaches at the feasibility or DA stage, they can open up opportunities that traditional thinking would never allow,” she said.
“When we rethink parking, we’re not just freeing up space, we’re freeing up possibilities for more homes and better amenity.”
As housing targets loom and pressure mounts to make every square metre count, rethinking parking could help bridge the gap between policy ambition and real‑world delivery.
“When we reduce the space taken up by cars, we make more room for homes, green space, and better urban life,” Saleika said.
