Redcliffe, WA 6104Home loan and property guide

Redcliffe location and character

Redcliffe is located in the City of Belmont, and the boundaries of the suburb are determined by Great Eastern Highway, Tonkin Highway and Epsom Avenue, together with the grounds of Perth Airport, which lie on the eastern edge. Those hard boundaries give the suburb a clearly defined shape and mean its character is shaped as much by what surrounds it as by what is within it.

The story of the name is ambiguous. Some claim it was named after steep red clay deposits that lined the banks of the Swan River when settlers first arrived, while others claim it was named after the ancestral home of an early settler.

The suburb was once a single property near modern-day Water Street, and the main house, Nulsen Haven, still stands today. The local primary school was built in 1908, by which time Redcliffe had been transformed from one property into many smaller holdings.

Transport and amenity in Redcliffe

Redcliffe station is on the Airport line, about 10.8 kilometres from Perth by rail. The Airport line is a branch of the Midland line that runs underground between Bayswater and High Wycombe via Perth Airport, is 8.6 kilometres long, and has three stations: Redcliffe, Airport Central and High Wycombe.

The line was known during construction as the Forrestfield-Airport Link and was built by a joint venture between Salini Impregilo and NRW. Construction started in November 2016 and tunnel boring started in July 2017, with boring completed in April 2020. Airport line services continue west of Bayswater along the Midland and Fremantle lines via Perth station to terminate at Claremont.

Transperth buses connect Redcliffe station to Rivervale, Belmont and the city, including high frequency routes 935 and 940. By road, Great Eastern Highway and Tonkin Highway bound the suburb. Belmont Forum is the nearest district shopping centre, and this guide does not describe school catchments.

Housing stock in Redcliffe

Redcliffe's housing combines older detached homes with substantial townhouse infill, and is weighted towards larger dwellings than its neighbours Belmont and Cloverdale. Apartment stock is effectively absent despite the station within the suburb.

At the 2021 Census, 1,459 of the 1,863 occupied private dwellings were separate houses, 391 were semi-detached or townhouse dwellings and only 10 were flats or apartments, so houses made up 78.3 per cent of occupied homes against 72.3 per cent nationally, while attached dwellings accounted for 21.0 per cent. Three-bedroom homes numbered 801 and four-bedroom homes 626, a higher share of larger homes than in Cloverdale.

Inspections vary with stock. Older houses raise roof condition, cracking associated with ground movement, original services and asbestos-containing materials in dwellings built before the 1980s, while strata townhouses raise levies, sinking fund adequacy and common property condition.

Who lives and buys in Redcliffe

The 2021 Census counted 5,030 residents in Redcliffe, with a median age of 38, matching the national figure, and an average household size of 2.4 people compared with 2.5 nationally. Adults aged 25 to 34 were the largest group at 792, followed by 766 aged 35 to 44 and 654 aged 45 to 54.

Renting leads, though less markedly than in neighbouring suburbs. The Census recorded 746 rented dwellings, 660 owned with a mortgage and 403 owned outright, so 40.6 per cent of households with a stated tenure rented, 35.9 per cent had a mortgage and 21.9 per cent owned outright, against 30.6, 35.0 and 31.0 per cent nationally.

Median weekly household income was $1,565 against $1,746, median monthly mortgage repayments were $1,733 against $1,863 and median weekly rent was $330 against $375. For a buyer, this is an inner-eastern market where a station within the suburb is the structural advantage, and the larger housing stock attracts families as well as investors.

Planning, the airport and local factors in Redcliffe

Development is controlled by the City of Belmont's local planning scheme together with the Residential Design Codes, which set density coding for each lot. Around a station, coding commonly supports higher density, so buyers should confirm the position for a specific address, particularly given that little apartment stock has yet been built despite the station.

Perth Airport forms the eastern boundary of the suburb, so aircraft noise is the defining environmental consideration. The airport publishes noise exposure information and Airservices Australia manages noise enquiries and publishes flight tracks. Exposure varies across the suburb depending on runway alignment and flight paths, and movements occur at night as well as during the day.

The Airport line itself runs underground through this area, and its construction was beset by several problems including ground disturbances caused by tunnelling and a sinkhole and groundwater leak during construction of a cross-passage. That history is complete, but buyers of property above or near the alignment may wish to raise ground conditions with a building inspector.

Buying in Redcliffe under Western Australian contract law

Established houses in Western Australia are normally sold by offer and acceptance. Consumer Protection WA explains that the signed form becomes a binding contract once the seller accepts, and that there is no mandatory cooling-off period, so conditions for finance approval and for building and timber pest inspections need to be written into the offer.

There is no mandatory seller disclosure statement in Western Australia, which matters particularly where aircraft noise is concerned, since a seller is under no general obligation to volunteer it. Independent enquiries and a visit at different times of day are therefore important. Transfer duty is assessed by RevenueWA.

Home loan considerations for Redcliffe property

Detached houses and townhouses on standard titles are accepted security. Where a property sits within a mapped aircraft noise exposure area, a valuer may comment on the effect relative to otherwise similar houses further from the flight path, though this does not usually affect acceptability as security.

Because the suburb is comparatively small at 1,863 occupied dwellings, comparable sales evidence is thinner than in Cloverdale or Rivervale, so a valuer may look to neighbouring suburbs and valuations can be marginally less predictable. Strata levies on the townhouse stock are counted in serviceability assessments, and with renting at 40.6 per cent investment lending is common.

Lending considerations for Redcliffe

• Perth Airport forms the eastern boundary, so aircraft noise is the defining environmental consideration.
• Aircraft movements occur at night as well as during the day, so a single daytime inspection may mislead.
• The suburb is comparatively small, so comparable sales evidence is thinner than in neighbouring suburbs.
• Only 10 flats were recorded, so apartment stock is effectively unavailable despite the station.
• There is no mandatory seller disclosure statement in Western Australia, so noise is unlikely to be volunteered.

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.