Changing car parking requirements could shave about $70,000 off the cost of building a typical two-bedroom apartment in Sydney.
A report from the Grattan Institute revealed more than $1 billion is wasted on building off-street car parks that go unused.
Despite rules requiring new housing developments to include off-street parking, about 40 per cent of households in studio or one-bedroom apartments and 19 per cent of households in two-bedroom apartments don't own a car.
"Many people who live in apartments don't want or need car parking, but they are forced to pay for it anyway," Grattan Institute chief executive Aruna Sathanapally said.
Developers would still build parking spaces demanded by the market if parking minimums were removed.
But it would prevent the need to build more than $1 billion in unwanted off-street parking per year, lowering the cost of construction and making an additional 140,000 dwellings feasible in Sydney and Melbourne, the report said.
