Exploring the potential for unbundling off-street car parking in residential apartment buildings

Unbundled residential off-street car parking, where spaces are purchased or rented separately to housing, has been shown to reduce car ownership and use, and improve housing affordability. However, there is little understanding of the potential for unbundling parking in the context of residential apartment buildings, including the characteristics of apartment residents who are receptive to unbundling. This research explores the potential for unbundling off-street car parking based on a survey of apartment residents (n=424) in Melbourne, Australia. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression modelling, supplemented by qualitative comments from survey respondents. Over one-third (35%) of apartment households were found to experience a mismatch between the supply and demand of their allocated off-street car parking, either having too much or too little parking relative to the number of cars they owned. Around 42% of apartment residents indicated receptiveness to unbundling off-street car parking, with 2+ car households being over 3 times more likely to be receptive to unbundling. Given the misallocation of off-street car parking relative to household car ownership in apartment buildings, the results imply that efforts could be directed towards unbundling off-street car parking from apartment housing, while carefully managing any associated risks. Future research could seek to explore the potential for unbundling car parking for other land uses and in other jurisdictions.