They’re often seen as the poor cousins to their more popular predecessors, the art deco apartments. Devoid of decorative elements such as plaster ceilings and detailed timberwork that characterised apartments built in the 1920s and 30s, mid-century apartments with their red and blond brick facades have long languished in the property shadows.
However, savvy home owners and investors alike are increasingly discovering the value in these modest properties built in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, both as comfortable environments to live – as well as safe places to park their money.
Co-author of Homes in the Sky: Apartment Living in Australia, Charles Pickett said these homes were constructed out of need.
“Most of them were built for tenants because during the [post-war] baby boom households were forming faster than the population and young people could afford to move out,” he said.
Made from concrete frames with brick infill and aluminium windows, they went up quickly and efficiently, with their solid brick construction providing both sound insulation and considerable thermal comfort.
Unlike their inter-war art deco counterparts, they also usually came with balconies as standard, with the metal balustrading often one of the few decorative elements.
Built to rent
Designed as an early form of built-to-rent housing, these new styles of apartment blocks were often placed alongside transport corridors in areas like Sydney’s inner west and inner south. Beachside suburbs such as Cronulla, Coogee and Bondi, as well as harbourside locales like Potts Point and Rose Bay, were also popular locations for small-time developers, offering buyers an affordable but desirable lifestyle.
Often in blocks of no more than a dozen or so homes, they also offered abundant natural light, with windows on more than one side.
“It was very basic stuff and quite affordable, but well designed with a strong emphasis on aspect and getting breezes and light,” said Pickett.
Fellow co-author of Homes in the Sky Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon said prior to 1961, apartments were either held under company title or you had to buy the whole block. The introduction of the Conveyancing (Strata Titles) Act in 1961 changed all that, placing home ownership within reach of the average Australian.
Butler-Bowdon said what followed was an “explosion” of apartment construction through the 1960s and ’70s.
“There were a lot of smaller developers who knew that if the location was right, they would do well,” she said. “There was a lot of speculation and profiteering at the time. They didn’t always have a good name, but they were generally well designed.”
Simply reliable
Eighty years on and mid-century apartments continue to find new fans.
Ben Horwood, principal at Horwood Nolan Real Estate, said their appeal for contemporary owner-occupiers and investors is clear.
“They are popular for three reasons: simplicity, reliability and quality,” he said. “You know what you are getting.”
The absence of what Horwood calls “frilly bits” – gyms, pools and, often, lifts – means strata fees are usually considerably lower than their newer counterparts. For investors, he said, mid-century apartments are the perfect “set and forget”.
“You won’t be getting letters from strata for $40,000 to replace cladding or to waterproof balconies,” he said. “Most people that know property and are experienced investors will look for these kinds of properties.”
Cool investment
When Shafiq Lalj was looking for an apartment last year, he zeroed in on a three-bedroom apartment in a 1960s block on Gilderthorpe Avenue in Randwick.
“What drew me to it at first was the light the apartment was getting compared to the newer apartments,” he said. “I had been looking around Randwick and Coogee for three bedrooms – there were a lot of two bedrooms and I wanted to separate myself from the rest of the market.”
Part of a boutique block of nine, the 90-square-metre apartment ticked a lot of boxes for Lalj, who works in private equity, both as a home and as a potential investment.
“The light was one thing, the other one was privacy, which was an even bigger drawcard, and the layout,” he said.
It was also in need of renovation, which Lalj expected.
“If you have 40 or 50 units in a block, it is harder to get strata approval because you need 45 to 50 per cent responses,” he said. “Here, there are nine. When I put the plans through to the strata it was approved within a week.”
Lalji was further reassured he had made a sound decision when the renovation got under way.
“I was [in the apartment] with my builder and it was 30 degrees Celsius outside,” Lalji said. “There was no air conditioning and the builder said: ‘Did you notice you’re not feeling hot?’”
Now, he plans to sell, with hopes of upsizing to a house. His apartment is guided at $1.35 million.
“But if I don’t get the price I want [at auction], I will either move in with my fiancé or rent it out.”
It’s preferable to his current home.
“Where I am renting right now [in a newer apartment], I can hear the neighbours through the walls,” he said.
The agent managing his sale, Angus Gorrie from Ray White Eastern Beaches, said many buyers have more confidence in mid-century apartments over some built more recently.
“They are more popular than ever because of what has been happening with the newer ones and the issues with things like waterproofing,” he said. “They’re not the prettiest, but they are the most solid.”
Sales agent for Adrian William, Norman Tran, estimates sales of 1960s and 70s apartments make up about two-thirds of his market in the inner west. He said they are particularly popular with first home buyers looking for an affordable, reliable home with lifestyle benefits.
“People like knowing that it is a building that has stood the test of time, and that means a lot to people at the moment,” he said.
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