One of the key features many people look for in an apartment are views and light or sunshine. While many are aware of the risk of it being taken away from them by a nearby development it is very difficult to guarantee it won’t.
One way to check the risk of a nearby development happening in the future is to check the planning scheme of the land in question or adjacent to you. You can do this online in Victoria at https://mapshare.vic.gov.au/vicplan/
Once you have the zoning you then you can read the details about that zone and what type of development it allows, but it starts to get a bit complicated, and unless you know your way around town planning you won’t get a straight answer. You can also search that local council website for any current development applications. You may also try a visit to the local council to speak to the town planners and get their view.
The other way to understand the risk of being built out is to look at the lot sizes of the adjoining land. Are they small terrace house lots or is there one large parcel of land with an office or warehouse on it? Developments are more likely to happen on larger blocks of land. It is difficult (but not impossible) for a developer to buy up lots of small house lots to create one large parcel that may be developed, whereas a large single lot of land can more easily be developed even if it already has a building on it.
Obviously if you overlook a road that is good protection but look on the other side of that to assess the risk of a development.
Parks are also unlikely to be redeveloped as are some other public buildings.
If you look onto another apartment building – the view may not be breathtaking, but you know what you have, and it’s not going to change anytime soon.
To some extent you can’t hold back progress or development and over time more and more developments will occur but it is important to understand the risk or likelihood of it so you don’t pay a premium for a view that is suddenly taken away.
