State backflips on medium density design policy

“With design rules mandated in the code, industry experts believed the cost of that house-and-land package would rise by $100,000.

“Given the impact of interest rate rises on borrowing capacity, it would mean far fewer West Australians could afford to enter the housing market.”

But WA Local Government Association president Karen Chappel said the deferral was short-sighted and the reworking of the policy to exclude R30 and R40 coded land would lead to poor design outcomes for infill…