New Resident

New Resident is a new kind of residential developer. Founded by architects, the company is on a mission to deliver affordable, architect-designed homes in Perth, Western Australia. Guided by transparent decision making at every turn, New Resident homes are designed for sustainability and backed by local finance.

Add to that, the company saves and breathes new life into existing character homes and refuses to cut down mature trees. Outright refuses. For New Resident – a healthy tree canopy, authentic neighbourhood character and less landfill makes a lot more sense than a few square metres. 

New Resident Homes are designed for a selection of Perth’s affordable and ‘walkable neighbourhoods’. We consider these our preferred suburbs.

New Resident’s list of preferred suburbs does change, however currently it includes:
– Doubleview
– Scarborough
– North Perth
– Hamilton Hill
– Highgate
– Inglewood
– Joondanna
– Maylands
– Mount Hawthorn
– Bayswater
– Victoria Park
– East Victoria Park
– White Gum Valley

If your preferred suburb isn’t on this list, or if you know of a property with a great character home with existing trees in need of saving – anywhere in the Perth metropolitan – please get in touch. Our New Resident Location Scouts are actively considering new locations that can deliver New Resident character and new homes.  

Affordability is at the heart of the New Resident model. The company truly believes architect-designed homes – and all of the benefits and features that come with them – should be more accessible and so more affordable. This ethos rewards not just the homeowners with sustainability and improved liveability, but also the neighbourhoods through retained character and architectural design, and the environment through retained tree canopies and low-carbon homes. 

For these reasons, we don’t overcapitalise on our locations. We strategically and methodically deliver projects in emerging walkable neighbourhoods that will have the features but not the price tag of their neighbouring suburbs.

New Resident Homes are ‘Net Zero Energy Homes’ which means they generate more energy through their solar panels – than they use to run things like heating, cooling and kitchen cooktops.

Research leaders in this field, CRC for Low Carbon Living, are unequivocal about the value of Net Zero Energy Homes:

“New research has validated Net Zero Energy Homes in Melbourne, Townsville, Canberra and Perth housing developments as achievable and affordable. Net Zero Energy Homes … offered approximately 88% annual energy cost savings, which is around $1,750 per year.”

Net Zero Energy Homes by New Resident save owners money through reduced utility bills. Across the first six years, this equates to an estimated $10,000 saved.

New Resident Homes are designed to incorporate many energy efficient features that far outperform a standard residential build. This ensures we can deliver you a Net Zero Energy Home through improved insulation, high performance glass (glazing), increased shading, efficient appliances and solar energy systems at a minimum. 

For more info on specifications, please contact New Resident.

New Resident Homes come standard with a 5 kw battery-ready solar energy system. 5 kw is suitable for most day-to-day electricity requirements in a small home, however bear in mind that a New Resident Homes are ‘Net Zero Energy Homes’.

As for batteries? Energy storage batteries are close to being worth the initial outlay, however the evidence states that we are just not there, yet.  Most homeowners are willing to hold off for a few more years until the price of batteries decreases further, and we support that position. 

For more info on specifications, please contact New Resident.

The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) is a star rating system (out of ten) that rates the energy efficiency of a home based on its design.

By providing a means of measuring a home’s potential heating and cooling energy use, NatHERS has raised the expectations for Australian homes to be more comfortable and more energy efficient through smarter design and architecture.

Want to know more? This video is a great place to start:

Here in Australia, the latest building code for residential homes requires a minimum 6 star energy efficiency.

Concerningly, a number of new homes being constructed are not meeting the minimum standards, and homes (like New Resident) that are 7.5 stars and above make up just 1.5% of Australian houses,  which you can read about here:

https://theconversation.com/australias-still-building-4-in-every-5-new-houses-to-no-more-than-the-minimum-energy-standard-118820

Net Zero Energy Homes are just like any home – except better. They are regular grid-tied homes that are so air-tight, well insulated and energy efficient that they produce as much renewable energy as they consume over the course of a year, leaving the resident with a net zero energy bill, and a carbon-free home.

A Net Zero Energy Home is not just a “green home”, an energy efficient home or a home with solar panels. A Net Zero Energy Home combines advanced design and superior building systems with energy efficiency and on-site solar panels to produce a better home – ultra-comfortable, healthy, quiet, sustainable and affordable to live in.

Many of us are doing our bit for the environment, from using a Keep Cup to buying local. You may not realise it yet, but building a home has a huge impact on the environment, and all those building materials come at a price – lots of carbon emissions.

At New Resident, we want to make sure that whatever carbon we emit during the construction of our homes is offset by clean, green energy from solar power throughout your home’s life. Reducing the carbon footprint of our homes is the reason why we use materials like recycled bricks and timber (and we also happen to think these materials are the coolest). To make sure we are reducing our footprint as much as we can, we get a report done on our designs by E-Tool called a ‘life cycle analysis’ or an LCA.  A life cycle analysis (or design) is an integrative design method that uses life cycle assessment to assess every single impact aspect of a product or process over its entire life span. This approach is sometimes referred to as “cradle to cradle” if it accounts for full recycling or “cradle to grave” if it ends in disposal.

We take sustainability seriously at New Resident, and all our homes achieve an E-Tool ‘gold medal’ standard or better.

But what does that mean??

Okay. The average Perth home owner emits 3,269kg of carbon each year. Now, compare that to the new owners of the architecturally refurbished, energy-efficient character home NR02 Scarborough B (by New Resident) – they will emit -38kg (negative 38kgs) each year. That’s about 100 times better on carbon emissions than the average Perth home owner!

New Resident Homes are completed with a fully landscaped waterwise garden by our local landscape architecture partners. Being ‘waterwise’ (or dry-tolerant) means New Resident gardens are designed around plants that are capable of surviving long periods without water, once established. Australian native plants are the obvious choice for a beautiful waterwise garden – being both an attractive and biodiverse native landscape that is possible with minimal irrigation.

Trees are also critical in a waterwise design, providing shade and lowering the temperature under the tree by up to 10 °C on a hot day. In hot climates, planting deciduous trees to the north, east and west of the house protect against our scorching summer sun. Even native plants often appreciate some shade from an open canopied tree, and we design New Resident Homes and their waterwise gardens around these beautiful existing trees already growing on our chosen locations, with the help of our local arborist partners.

Once New Resident has completed its pre-construction assessments and approvals on a newly acquired location – if it is in your preferred suburb and you are a subscriber to The Waitlist, New Resident will be in touch with an opportunity to purchase one of the architecturally designed homes.

As you may guess, New Resident locations will enter the market organically – as and when new locations become available and meet our exacting requirements. This means New Resident Homes are limited, location dependent and uniquely site specific.