Jennifer Maxwell knew change was coming to her suburban neighbourhood even before the developers came knocking in early 2015. There was talk of a Castle Hill metro station being built down the road, and council rezoning meant the park at the end of her street was slated for apartment blocks.

“It was hard to imagine back then,” Maxwell said. “This was a choice part of Castle Hill. It was a beautiful, quiet street. These houses were in top condition.”

So Maxwell and her husband, John, banded with 10 neighbours to sell their homes in one lot to a developer, making them among the first mega-lot site sales in Castle Hill.

It’s an option now being considered across Sydney as the state government’s low- to mid-rise housing reforms are rolled out across 171 suburbs, opening neighbourhoods to de

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