The State Government has announced a raft of measures that are intended to allow owners and investors to make the most of development opportunities and reactivate Adelaide city’s older buildings.
For some time building stock within the Adelaide CBD has continued to age, with limited rejuvenation. This has resulted in vacancy rates for C and D grade buildings being at some of the highest levels recorded in recent years.
The new measures are intended to turn this trend around and reactivate the city’s older building stock as well as complement the State Government’s vibrant city strategy and support the City of Adelaide’s residential growth target of 50,000 residents by 2040.
The changes, which are in addition to State and Council tax and rates incentives, include:
- An amendment to the Development Regulations 2008 which removes the requirement to obtain planning consent for internal building work, including demolition, in the City of Adelaide (with the exception of heritage buildings).
- Simplification of Building standards, with the number of mandatory building performance standards for existing buildings reduced significantly under the National Construction Code.
- A new State Government publication known as Minister’s Specification SA: Upgrading health and safety in existing buildings to provide owners and developers with an understanding of the safety and health objectives of development legislation in relation to the upgrade of existing buildings.
- Certain initiatives specifically targeted at owners and investors of Core C and D grade buildings in the CBD who are planning to convert their office space to residential use, such as:
- waiving of development application fees; and
- an “Activation Coordinator” advisory service, which is free and intended to reduce assessment times for development proposals and facilitate agency and council referrals.
The property sector has backed the changes, which are considered to be a good starting point for the adaptive re-use of buildings and assist with increase of residential housing stock in the CBD
If you would like more information about the new incentives and how they may benefit you, please contact Kathryn Walker or someone from our team.