You will be up for quite a lot of money to remove the siding and replace with a material that can be rendered. It won’t be money well spent. Put the money into landscaping.

I think it will look weird with 2 different sides. I actually like the look of the duplex. Put the money into landscaping .

If I really wanted it to look good I'd arrange with owner of other duplex to spray the roof a better colour (it looks mission brown) and paint the siding a colour which wasn't a dull beige. The bricks are fine and probably the best thing about the facade.

It looks like a single house as you even have the same window treatments, I wouldn’t bother changing the siding but I’d paint it and change window fittings.

I'm guessing late 80's build ? Basically , you need to update everything on every side , including the neighbours , or else embrace what is there and work with what you have . As CP says , I reckon the bricks are the best feature .

The roof isn't great , but its workable and livable , likewise the aluminium windows . At some stage , swapping out the windows , painting them or even tape ( I'd go charcoal with each choice ) will add to the look .

If it was me , I'd do the upstairs siding in a lighter cream -- almost off-white . It will make the front fence look a bit yellowy , but the fence looks more modern anyway , so again its livable .

So that leaves the one 'disaster' area ( assuming you have lightened the upstairs siding ) -- those mission brown gutters and barge boards ! To me , blues and greens ( and browns ! ) won't work , reds and yellows and oranges maybe too bright , so go for the contrast -- go a mid metallic look charcoal ! It ties in with the roof tiles , makes the siding and bricks look more modern and 'clean' -- basically it works !

Landscape it you want ( I like living things around me ) but I don't think that will make or break this house -- the fence pretty much means a garden is only really for you -- not really seen from the street .

In front I would limit painting to the front fence, door and windows to create your separation and add a small canopy tree/bush, to front yard. Maybe add some wall lights onto front facade either side of window, or grow greenery up wall if that is your thing,
To change to render check council permissions if there is a planning permit in place.

Thanks everyone.

@User and @C P - the roof, gutters and boards etc are all grey already (though a lighter grey) so the lighting might be a bit off or something in these pics. It's about 10 years old this place.

Could be an option to repaint a darker charcoal perhaps?

@C P - What colour do you suggest for the siding?

Agree on the aluminium windows; they are everywhere and lots of sliders out the back so will be a pain to paint but will look into it.

@User - you suggested "tape" for the windows; can you tell me more about that? Is it special tape?

@Kate like the idea of greenrey up the wall - so that might be a bit of a vine type thing over the brick front...any suggestions on type of vine?

Thank you all for your input.

The whole style looks quite a bit older . Things like the windows don't help change that impression . As a temporary fix , even to see what it would look like , get half a dozen rolls of 99 cent electrical tape in black , and a sharp knife . It only lasts a year before it will curl on the edges , but if you use anything else like cloth tape , it leaves a lot of glue residue .

Most paints don't seem to last much longer on aluminum , fiddly to put on -- hence my super-budget tape suggestion haha .

If you look at the 'rear' pic you posted with the 'sun-room' , look at the downpipe on the left -- it definitely looks a brownish khaki , and thats the impression I got of the roof and trims and gutters . Doing all those in charcoal will make everything look more modern IMO -- mind you , imagine the gutters in a bright red if you really want to show you have style !

I agree it could look a bit strange if you do try and alter the facade too much, I think landscaping will give you the difference you are looking for, your backyard could look fabulous with built in seating large plants for a resort look

And the front you could add a corten steel element to pick up on the bricks or a water feature, circular planter on wall at entrance, new light fitting , could look stunning

Thank you!

Julie you have the best photos saved