The apartment she purchased in 2001 was meant to be her 'superannuation', but high-rise developments to the west and north of her home have contributed to its value dropping from $2.8 million in 2014 to $1.2 million in 2019 – a loss of $1.6 million. Before and after: A South Perth woman has lost her million-dollar Perth city views after another apartment block was built next to hers. Ms Moon said the latest nine-storey Quest tenancy to the north meant people sitting on their balconies had a view right into her lounge room. "You can't stop progress, I do understand that, and they say you can't buy a view, but I am entitled to my privacy and now I'm going to have to have my blinds down non-stop, so your whole quality of life is gone," she said. "There's windows looking straight into me, there's no frosting, there's nothing."

Ms Moon said she and the three other apartment owners in her complex engaged a campaigner to lobby on their behalf when the Quest hotel planning submission was being considered. Loading "We submitted, many times, an objection and it was just dismissed ... it was just a waste of time," she said. "[The developments] first started on Harper Terrace where they built right up to our walls, so my neighbour downstairs is blocked out from looking west altogether, and now they've built this in front of her, she can't see anything." And Ms Moon's view could be impacted again, with a narrow block between her complex and the Quest tenancy also due to be developed.

Initial plans mean it is not expected to be built higher than her fourth-storey apartment; however in South Perth, some developments have changed their height limit on numerous occasions throughout the planning approval process. The Pinnacles building shows the tension between the old and the new in South Perth. Credit:Emma Young In recent years, City of South Perth planners have rezoned areas of Labouchere and Mill Point roads, Melville Parade facing the freeway, and the connecting smaller streets, seeking to encourage development, enliven the area and meet the WA Planning Commission's housing density targets. But the level of developer enthusiasm to take advantage of unlimited height “bonuses” and the rash of apartment towers proposed at 30-44 storeys exceeded expectations and quickly sparked backlash. The apartment block to the west of Ms Moon's complex was approved at a time when the City of South Perth's planning scheme allowed for developments to have a zero setback. This is no longer the case.

New apartment design codes announced by Planning Minister Rita Saffioti in February now also provide further safeguards for residents, with minimum requirements for building separation, sunlight and ventilation being set. The apartment to the west of Ms Moon's complex was approved with zero setback. Credit:Emma Young SOCO Realty South Perth real estate agent Bill McKenzie, speaking generally about the area's local property market, said apartments had become more difficult to sell in recent years. "We are seeing properties selling for 20 to 30 per cent less than what they may have been selling for in the boom," he said. "People are losing their views and fundamentally of course, the value of their property is going to drop when they lose that, a lot of owners bought properties knowing one day they would.

Loading "Those people that bought properties, they may have been blocking someone else's view at the time, it's just what goes on." City of South Perth Mayor Sue Doherty said the council was attempting to balance the needs of long-term residents with state-issued density targets through its draft South Perth Activity Centre Plan and associated scheme amendment 61. "The draft ACP and associated scheme amendment 61 both pay serious attention to context and how buildings impact upon adjacent development, and the requirement will be developed to avoid the types of impacts that have occurred at 100 Mill Point Road," she said. A draft of both documents was submitted to council this month and endorsed for public consultation.