Franklin, ACT 2913Home loan and property guide

Franklin location and character

Franklin lies in the southern part of Gungahlin, the fourth ACT town. Planning for the district commenced in 1987, and Chief Minister Rosemary Follett announced the start of construction in October 1991, when the district was launched with just 389 residents. The district's population grew from 23,466 in 2001 to 87,682 in 2021.

The suburb is named after the novelist Miles Franklin. Gungahlin itself takes its name from the homestead of the Crace family, who owned the land from 1877 until it was resumed by the Commonwealth with the establishment of the Federal Capital Territory.

Because Franklin sits on the light rail corridor, it has received apartment development that the outer Gungahlin suburbs have not, and its housing is accordingly more mixed.

Transport and amenity in Franklin

Franklin is on light rail Stage 1, which commenced services on 20 April 2019 and runs 12 kilometres from Gungahlin to the city with 14 stops, passing through Gungahlin, Franklin, Harrison, Mitchell, Lyneham, Watson, Dickson, Downer, Turner and Braddon.

Trams depart every six minutes in both directions during the weekday morning peak between 7.30 and 9.00, and every 10 to 15 minutes off peak, and the journey from Gungahlin to Civic takes approximately 30 minutes. Stage 2A, extending from Civic to Commonwealth Park, is under construction and is expected to be operational in early 2028.

The Gungahlin Town Centre, 10 kilometres north of Canberra City, provides the district's main shopping and services and is the northernmost of the five ACT town centres alongside Woden, Tuggeranong, Weston Creek and Belconnen. This guide does not describe school catchments, which the ACT Education Directorate can confirm.

Housing stock in Franklin

Franklin combines detached estate housing with a substantial apartment component built along the light rail corridor, which makes it one of the more mixed suburbs in Gungahlin.

At the 2021 Census, 1,299 of the 2,609 occupied private dwellings were separate houses, 955 were flats or apartments and 350 were semi-detached or townhouse dwellings, so houses made up 49.8 per cent of occupied homes against 72.3 per cent nationally, while apartments accounted for 36.6 per cent against 14.2 per cent. Three-bedroom homes numbered 712 and four-bedroom homes 709, with 381 one-bedroom dwellings.

The Census also recorded 164 unoccupied private dwellings out of 2,771 on Census night. Because the suburb was built from the 2000s onward, its housing postdates the period when loose-fill asbestos insulation was installed in Canberra, which is addressed further below. Inspections focus instead on site works, drainage, defect rectification within warranty periods and the approval status of anything added after handover.

Who lives and buys in Franklin

The 2021 Census counted 7,484 residents in Franklin, with a median age of 30 against 38 for Australia and an average household size of 2.8 people compared with 2.5 nationally. Adults aged 25 to 34 were by far the largest group at 1,938, followed by 1,484 aged 35 to 44 and 971 children aged 5 to 14.

Renting leads, with mortgaged ownership close behind and outright ownership very low. The Census recorded 1,198 rented dwellings, 1,078 owned with a mortgage and only 267 owned outright, so 46.6 per cent of households with a stated tenure rented, 41.9 per cent held a mortgage and just 10.4 per cent owned outright, against 30.6, 35.0 and 31.0 per cent nationally.

Median weekly household income was $2,383 against $1,746, median monthly mortgage repayments were $1,885 against $1,863 and median weekly rent was $460 against $375. For a buyer, this is a young market of recent purchasers and tenants, where an apartment near the light rail is the accessible product.

Leasehold title and estate covenants in Franklin

Land in the ACT is not freehold. It is granted under a Crown lease, and most residential Crown leases run for 99 years, with a buyer taking on the remaining term. In an apartment the lease position sits alongside the units plan, and both form part of the contract documents.

Every Crown lease contains a purpose clause specifying the permitted use of the land. Varying it requires permission from the Territory Planning Authority and attracts the Lease Variation Charge on the resulting uplift in value, which is the mechanism by which the light rail corridor has been developed at higher density.

In a greenfield district, a second layer applies. Land released through an estate can carry design guidelines governing facade materials, fencing, driveway finish and the time within which a dwelling must be completed. Those obligations bind a later buyer, not only the original purchaser, so the documents attaching to a particular block are worth obtaining and reading.

Buying in Franklin under ACT contract law

Under the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, a seller must attach a required set of documents to the contract before the property is advertised. Those include building and compliance inspection reports, building conveyancing inquiry documents, an energy efficiency rating statement, copies of all interests and encumbrances, an extract of the title, and the Crown lease with either the deposited plan or, for a unit, the units plan.

For an apartment, the owners corporation records, levies, insurance and minutes deserve close review alongside those documents, particularly in newer buildings where defect rectification may be in progress. A buyer is entitled to a cooling-off period of five business days, ending at 5pm on the fifth working day after it begins, and forfeits 0.25 per cent of the purchase price to withdraw during that period.

Home loan considerations for Franklin property

One thing buyers need not worry about here is loose-fill asbestos insulation. It was installed in Canberra roof spaces between 1968 and 1978, and Franklin was built from the 2000s onward, so the suburb postdates that period entirely. That is a meaningful difference from the inner north and Woden suburbs.

The constraints that do apply are strata ones. Some lenders set minimum internal floor areas, which the 381 one-bedroom dwellings can fall below, apply lower maximum loan-to-value ratios to small units, or limit exposure to a single development, which matters where the corridor has been built through a series of large complexes. Body corporate levies are counted in serviceability assessments, and special levies for defect rectification can arise in newer buildings.

With only 10.4 per cent of households owning outright, almost everyone here is borrowing, so lenders mortgage insurance or a place in the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme is frequently part of the funding. Where a buyer is building rather than buying established, a construction loan applies, drawn down in stages against the builder's progress claims on an as-if-complete valuation.

Lending considerations for Franklin

• One-bedroom dwellings can fall below lenders' minimum internal floor areas.
• Single-development exposure limits matter where the corridor holds large complexes.
• Estate design guidelines bind later buyers, not only the original purchaser.
• Only 10.4 per cent own outright, so almost every purchase involves borrowing.
• The suburb postdates the loose-fill asbestos installation period entirely.

Lender policy differs between institutions and changes over time. The guide to Australian lenders explains how credit policy varies, and the home loan guide sets out the main loan structures.