As Western Australia moves to unlock higher-density housing around train stations to address rapid population growth and housing affordability, Yaran Property Group is already delivering the solution. Long before recent State Government reforms to accelerate transit-oriented development, Yaran has focused on creating affordable, well-designed apartments within walking distance of major transport hubs. With a proven track record across Wellard, Rockingham, North Coogee and Kenwick, Yaran’s developments demonstrate how smart density, reduced car dependency and close collaboration with government can translate policy ambition into real housing outcomes.
Business News, 13 January 2026, Claire Tyrrell
There has been a mixed response to the state government’s proposal to override the planning authority of 10 local councils in a bid to deliver more housing.
The move was announced largely to encourage greater density around train stations, or as the government put it, to “unlock more land for housing around transport hubs”. It came as the completion of Metronet nears and focuses on delivering transit-oriented developments to support the state’s rapid population growth. Transit-oriented developments, commonly referred to as TODs, incorporate a mix of residential, retail, commercial and community spaces close to a transit station.
TODs are nothing new more broadly but have struggled to take hold in Western Australia. Industry professionals say Subiaco Square, developed in the 1990s, is the state’s only true transit-oriented development. In its latest announcement, the government identified 10 precincts – Ballajura, Bassendean, Claisebrook, Cottesloe, Glendalough, Morley, Mosman Park, Redcliffe, Swanbourne and Carlisle/Oats Street – as key areas with potential for TODs. The government is set to roll out improvement plans over 10 local government areas, determining the allowable density within an 800-metre radius of the above train stations.
The announcement sparked pushback from many of these councils, with some arguing they were blindsided by the move. Planning Minister John Carey has flagged similar moves in other locations, particularly along the Midland rail line.
As he announced the move to override the local councils, Mr Carey said some councils lacked the ability, the will or both to implement the changes needed to deliver housing.
On the ground
TODs have been on developers’ radars for several years, with recent examples demonstrating the understanding within much of the property industry of the need for this product.
Such developments outside of affluent areas have been rare, however, given the mismatch between what buyers will pay and the cost of building an apartment. That is starting to change as dwelling values increase.
SKS Group’s $130 million Cockburn apartment project, comprising 243 apartments across three buildings, exemplifies this trend. The project, due to start construction early next year, was initially flagged as a build-to-rent development, which would add to SKS’s BTR tower already under construction in Cockburn. But recent market conditions have led the developer to pivot, launching the first stage (50 units) of the project as build-to-sell.
“We are starting to see the Cockburn market has picked up in terms of values, which was the main trigger [for changing it],” SKS chief financial officer Eugene Lim told Business News. Mr Lim added that the federal government’s recent policy allowing first homebuyers to get into the market with a 5 per cent deposit was also a catalyst for going down the build-to-sell path.
“That gave us the confidence that, if we launched that product, there would be very strong demand,” he said. The first stage of SKS’s Cockburn project, dubbed The Boulevard Residences, comprises a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Within metres of Cockburn Central train station, the project is designed to cater to key workers and young professionals. The remaining stages will include some micro-studio apartments as small as 30 square metres. Mr Lim said these were likely to be build-to-rent dwellings, as it was difficult to get banks to secure individual loans for anything smaller than 35sqm.
The recent launch has been well received, with about 100 expressions of interest in the project, which advertises a $437,000 starting price. A feature of TODs is that they often have limited car parking due to their proximity to transport hubs. As Mr Lim explained, this helped keeps these projects affordable.
“The biggest key for us is they City [of Cockburn] have been quite supportive on the number of car bays,” Mr Lim said. “Some of the studios don’t have car bays, which we thought initially could be a big risk because [of] the Perth mentality … but things are starting to change.“People start to compromise. They’re saying, ‘Okay maybe I don’t need a car bay, or maybe I can deal with smaller units’. “And we guessed right; demand so far has been very strong.”
The Cockburn project includes 149 car bays across the 243-dwelling development and one semi-basement car park. Having fewer car bays means developers can avoid expensive site works to dig basement car parks, and reduces the overall site area for a project, thus reducing its cost.
Yaran Property Group general manager Marco Buonaiuto said cars placed a significant cost burden on individual apartment owners.
“We’re firm believers [that] one of the hidden costs of housing affordability is a dependency on vehicles,” he said. “I think, on average, WA households have … two cars per household. That’s a lot of money just tied up in vehicles. “If you can get rid of one car, at least, that means you’re saving quite a bit in your back pocket.”
The state government highlighted Yaran Property Group’s proposal to bring 111 apartments to Wellard across four buildings. The South Perth-based developer purchased a 10,793sqm site opposite Wellard Train Station for $6.7 million in October, paving the way for its development. In a media statement about the transaction, the state government said the divestment of the site would increase transit-oriented living options in the area. The developer plans to start construction early next year, with the project made up of 26 two-bedroom apartments and 85 one-bedroom dwellings.
Yaran has a long history of delivering affordable housing with over 70 projects on its books.
Mr Buonaiuto said its Rockingham project, of 181 apartments across seven buildings completed in 2019, closely resembled its proposed Wellard development. The company has also delivered a three-storey building in North Coogee at DevelopmentWA’s Shoreline estate. Yaran is also set to roll out a 66-dwelling project in Kenwick close to the train station.
The project, currently under construction, includes 14 two-bedroom specialist disability accommodation units and 52 standard one-bedroom units. Yaran is known for its work in the SDA space, but Mr Buonaiuto said the company’s focus was shifting to pure affordable dwellings.
“SDA properties, they generally value a little higher than then non-SDA properties because they’ve got a higher income earning potential,” he said. “Those 14 SDA apartments in the Kenwick project help boost the profitability of the project to make it viable, because we have to find different ways and think outside the box to generate a commercial margin to enable us to go ahead with the project.”
Mr Buonaiuto said that, given Yaran had delivered 300 SDA dwellings over the past three years, it was comfortable with that level of exposure to the market. “We want to shift our attention back to standard residential development,” he said.