![\"Elicia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/99e15489b36819455466cb1eb8a8b93e5433078b.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nOpposition leader Jess Wilson\u2019s housing proposal, announced on Wednesday, focuses on increasing apartment developments. It targets a \u201ccapital city zone\u201d around the CBD \u2013 including Southbank, North Melbourne, Fishermans Bend, Parkville, Fitzroy and Collingwood \u2013 despite a glut of 8000 new and unsold units in metropolitan Melbourne.<\/p>\n
ABS data shows the average cost of building semi-detached, row and townhouses is significantly less than apartments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree storeys is a sweet spot,\u201d Dan Honey, chief creative officer at property developer Molonglo, said. \u201cAnything taller [requires] lift cores, basements, complex fire engineering and compliance, heavy structures, cranes, and a different type of builder \u2026 all adding to cost and risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molonglo is selling townhouses off-the-plan at a Brunswick former shopping arcade the firm planned to develop into apartments, until it became clear that would compromise design and buyer affordability.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew apartment end prices have increased dramatically for the buyer in recent years, while developer margins have decreased,\u201d she said. \u201c[Townhouses] allowed us to pursue the spatial and material qualities we value\u2026 without pushing costs beyond reach.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elicia Wallace lives in a three-storey, two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse in Moonee Ponds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elicia Wallace found living in a townhouse offered unexpected benefits.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui<\/p>\n
The 49-year-old and her 11-year-old daughter downsized from a single-storey, fixer-upper Edwardian house.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just didn\u2019t have the appetite to renovate another house, to be honest. I just wanted something new,\u201d the construction project manager said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI have quite a busy hectic life, like everyone. Having a 20-minute shorter commute into the city, and being home with my family is way more important than having a big backyard that I might use once, twice, three times a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well as halving her utility bills thanks to insulation and modern appliances, Wallace said the ability to create \u201ckid zones\u201d was an unexpected benefit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my previous house, we were all on top of each other. Living in a townhouse… I can sit downstairs and watch TV, she can go upstairs and have her own space,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Wallace is now selling, looking for a larger home as she and her partner move in together. But she\u2019d happily stay in the complex if a larger home became available.<\/p>\n
Her agent, Nelson Alexander\u2019s Ryan Currie, said townhouses provide a long-term alternative to apartments, and have benefits over a detached home.<\/p>\n
\u201cA good little single- or double-front period family home is definitely everyone\u2019s dream, but people also need to consider: old period homes need maintenance,\u201d he said. \u201cA townhouse… you\u2019ll probably have a lot less to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chamberlain Architecture & Interiors director Glenn Chamberlain said townhouses were well-established in Victoria, which allowed for innovation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to think about how you tessellate the different spaces into a form that is quite rigid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Solving problems like how to bring light into a space that may only get sun from one direction, navigating storage and maintaining generous dimensions, are challenges that can lead to more interesting designs, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEither apartments are going to improve \u2013 a little bit of extra storage, a little more space \u2013 or townhouses are going to become more and more viable as an alternative to detached homes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Honey agreed, adding labour costs, insurance and compliance demands were \u201cnudging the market back toward a form Melbourne has always known\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opposition leader Jess Wilson\u2019s housing proposal, announced on Wednesday, focuses on increasing apartment developments. It targets a \u201ccapital…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-508643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}