Average Apartment Size in Sydney

Updated 29 July 2026 · NSW Apartment Design Guide (Housing SEPP) minimums + typical current stock

Typical Sydney one-bedroom apartment

~55 m²

≈ 592 ft²

Two-bedrooms average about 85 m² (915 ft²). NSW law sets a statutory floor of 50 m² for a one-bedroom and 70 m² for a two-bedroom, among the strongest apartment space standards in the world.

Sydney apartments are more generous than most global-city equivalents, and the reason is regulatory. New South Wales enforces minimum internal areas through the Apartment Design Guide, so new apartments cannot legally be built below a set floor area. A typical one-bedroom sits around 55 square metres and a two-bedroom around 85, both a little above the legal minimum. The tables below give the statutory minimums and the typical sizes in both square metres and square feet.

Typical Sydney Apartment Size by Bedroom

Apartment type	Typical m²	Typical ft²	Range
Studio	40	431	35-45 m2
1-bedroom	55	592	50-65 m2
2-bedroom	85	915	70-95 m2
3-bedroom	110	1,184	90-130 m2

Typical sizes are approximate figures for current centrally located Sydney rental stock, not precise means; there is no single published Sydney-wide average by bedroom count. New apartments cluster near the statutory minimums below, while older one-bedroom units run about 45 to 55 m². Sources: NSW Apartment Design Guide; CoreLogic and Domain market reporting.

NSW Minimum Apartment Sizes (Apartment Design Guide)

The NSW Apartment Design Guide sets the minimum internal area that a new apartment must have. These are statutory floors, not averages, and they are the reason Sydney apartments rarely fall to the tiny sizes seen in Hong Kong or Tokyo. The internal area includes one bathroom; each additional bathroom adds 5 m².

Apartment type	Minimum m²	Minimum ft²
Studio	35	377
1-bedroom	50	538
2-bedroom	70	753
3-bedroom	90	969

Source: NSW Apartment Design Guide, which sits within the Housing SEPP. The former SEPP 65 provisions were transferred to the Housing SEPP on 14 December 2023. Minimum internal areas assume one bathroom; add 5 m² per additional bathroom.

Why Sydney Apartments Are Comparatively Large

Australia builds the largest homes in the developed world, and while apartments are far smaller than the free-standing houses that pull that average up, they still benefit from a strong regulatory floor. The Apartment Design Guide does more than set a minimum area: it also requires minimum room dimensions, ceiling heights, natural cross-ventilation for a share of units, and solar access. The combined effect is that a Sydney one-bedroom at 50 to 55 m² is usually a genuinely usable one-bedroom, not a studio relabelled.

The pressure runs the other way on price. Because land and construction costs are high, developers build close to the minimum permitted size, so the newest one-bedroom apartments are frequently at or just above the 50 m² floor. The all-types average floor area of a new NSW apartment was about 121 m² in 2019/20 (CommSec analysis of ABS building-activity data), but that figure blends studios with large multi-bedroom apartments and penthouses, so it sits well above a typical one- or two-bedroom.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average apartment size in Sydney?

A typical Sydney one-bedroom apartment is around 55 m2 (592 sq ft), with two-bedrooms averaging about 85 m2 (915 sq ft) and studios roughly 40 m2 (431 sq ft). These are approximate typical sizes; the statutory floor set by the NSW Apartment Design Guide is 50 m2 for a one-bedroom and 70 m2 for a two-bedroom, and new builds tend to sit close to those minimums.

What is the minimum apartment size in NSW?

Under the NSW Apartment Design Guide (part of the Housing SEPP, formerly SEPP 65), the minimum internal areas are 35 m2 for a studio, 50 m2 for a one-bedroom, 70 m2 for a two-bedroom, and 90 m2 for a three-bedroom apartment. These include one bathroom; each additional bathroom adds 5 m2 to the minimum. The internal area excludes balconies, which have their own separate minimum area and depth requirements.

How big is a typical two-bedroom apartment in Sydney?

A two-bedroom Sydney apartment typically runs about 85 m2 (915 sq ft), above the 70 m2 (753 sq ft) statutory minimum. Two-bedroom sizes range roughly from 70 m2 in compact new builds to 95 m2 or more in older or premium stock.

How does a Sydney apartment compare to one in London or New York?

Sydney apartments are among the more generous in the developed world, largely because the NSW Apartment Design Guide sets some of the strongest space standards anywhere. A typical Sydney one-bedroom at about 55 m2 is larger than a London one-bedroom (around 46 m2) and comparable to New York (around 55 m2), and well above Paris (about 32 m2) or Tokyo (about 25 m2).

Are Sydney apartments getting smaller?

New Sydney apartments have trended toward the ADG minimums as land and construction costs have risen, so the newest one-bedroom stock is often at or just above 50 m2 rather than the roomier 60 m2-plus units built in earlier decades. The design-standard floor, however, prevents the extreme size compression seen in some other global cities.

What is the average floor area of a new apartment in NSW overall?

Across all apartment types combined, the average floor area of a new apartment in New South Wales was about 121 m2 in 2019/20, per CommSec analysis of ABS building-activity data. That all-types figure is much higher than a typical one-bedroom because it blends studios with large three- and four-bedroom apartments and penthouses.

Convert a Sydney Apartment Size

Square Metres (m²)

Square Feet (ft²)

55 m² is approximately a one-bedroom flat in Paris.

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About the author

Oliver Wakefield-Smith

Founder of Digital Signet, an independent research firm publishing data-led property, planning, and conversion tools. Content is sourced from ONS, Nationwide, RICS, MHCLG planning data, and UK building regulations. Confirm planning and regulatory figures with your local authority or a qualified professional.

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