There is a mismatch in Australia’s housing market, with around 12-million bedrooms sitting empty, at the same time as countless Australians are looking for somewhere to live. But it’s not as simple as moving people to the right sized homes, because in many cases, there aren’t any.
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00:00In the midst of a housing crisis, Australia has millions of empty bedrooms.
00:06On the surface, it seems like a potential solution.
00:10Five of those bedrooms are in Tony and Julie Papineau's home, which shows reality isn't
00:15that simple.
00:16We have a few bedrooms upstairs that are vacant, since the kids have all moved out.
00:22They've lived here about 20 minutes from the Perth CBD for the last four decades, but now
00:28it's too big.
00:29This is one of our guest rooms as well, and I've turned it into my drum room because that's
00:35my hobby.
00:36The problem is getting people like us out of here.
00:39Where do we go?
00:40We haven't got anywhere that compares, you know, this location is fantastic.
00:46As real estate agents in the area, they know they're not alone.
00:49Often I get asked when I'm talking to potential sellers, they say, well, if you can find me
00:55a nice three bed, two bath on a smaller block, I'd be more than happy to sell this property.
01:01But that's a difficult ask, and a difficult find as well.
01:05Across the nation, Winthrop is one of the suburbs with the most spare capacity.
01:09In other words, homes that are too big.
01:12About 54% of WA's homes have more than one spare room.
01:16Queensland comes in next at 48%.
01:19Across the country, the average is 45%, equating to about 5 million spare rooms.
01:26But there are only 300,000 households who say they need more space.
01:31That means it's not as simple as shuffling people around to get them into the right sized
01:35homes because many of those homes are just too big.
01:38Changing rules around stamp duty or subdividing blocks could help, but experts say neither
01:44is a silver bullet.
01:46What we need is an approach, a strategic approach, where there's some large scale redevelopment
01:51where you can create precincts with good amenities that can cater for the increase in traffic.
01:57That's tricky enough in an established suburb.
02:00I think if we look at a development like this today, we would say that we really did undercook
02:05it in terms of density.
02:06And even harder right now.
02:09Many apartment projects just aren't feasible due to rising construction costs and skill
02:14shortages.
02:15So the lesson is to deliver more housing choice.
02:18We need a much greater diversity of housing types.
02:23We need three bedroom houses, we need townhouses, terrace houses, as well as your apartments,
02:28both low and high rise.
02:30In the meantime, Tony and Julie will keep waiting for a home closer to their needs.
02:35I enjoy my drums here.
02:36I've got an electronic kit, I've got an acoustic kit.
02:38So we've made use of the rooms, but in a different way.
02:42US governments try to unpick decades of development, which has left Australia with too many spare
02:48rooms.