The draft Future Living Code Amendment seeks to enhance housing diversity by providing housing options for smaller household types and responding to the ageing demographics of the state’s population by providing greater opportunities for ageing in place.
The changes are proposed to apply to Established Neighbourhood zones in the following council areas:
City of Unley
Town of Walkerville
City of Campbelltown
City of Burnside
City of Prospect
Alexandrina Council.
The Code Amendment seeks to facilitate the delivery of a new model of shared housing or ‘co-located housing’, which responds to existing context and incorporates high design quality.
Co-located housing is anticipated to deliver the following attributes and design/siting outcomes:
no wholesale demolition of the existing house on the site, but rather its retention, alteration and extension
reconsideration of private open space in favour of larger areas of shared space
permitted overlooking within the allotment, with the maintenance of existing privacy for neighbouring properties
newly created dwellings not being subordinate to the existing dwelling, but rather creating a flat hierarchy of dwellings sharing the one site
accommodating different age groups and household types.
This Code Amendment assists in delivering outcomes from the following initiatives:
‘Planning for a New Future’ Symposium held in 2018
Cohousing for Ageing Well Project which concluded in August 2020
Feedback from the Phase Three (Urban Areas) Code Amendment introduced in March 2021
Creating greater diversity in the housing market and providing more affordable options for the community is one way the South Australian Government is taking action to tackle the housing crisis, as highlighted in its Housing Roadmap released in June 2024.
Outcomes
The Minister for Planning has decided to divide the code amendment into two separate parts, adopting Part 1 on 26 April 2025.
Part 1 – introduces new policies into the Planning and Design Code (including the new land use definition, new Co-located Housing Overlay, and amendments to the Established Neighbourhood Zone, overlays and general development policies)
Part 2 – introduces where the Co-located Housing Overlay will apply to the Established Neighbourhood Zone, following the six participating councils’ consideration of the approved policy.
A number of changes have been made to the Code Amendment in response to feedback received during consultation, which are outlined in the engagement report.
For more information visit the YourSAy website.
