It’s no secret that the great Australian property dream is slipping out of reach for everyday families. The nationwide housing crisis is showing no signs of relenting, with property stock hitting record lows and demand higher than ever.
The desire for a nice house on a modest block with a Hills hoist in the backyard and modern conveniences nearby remains deeply embedded in the Australian psyche, and governments and developers are squeezing more homes together to make it happen.
But those who do manage to get on the property ladder by securing a new-build in the outer suburbs face fresh challenges. This was highlighted recently by a resident living in Victoria who shared a photo illustrating their ongoing plight with a neighbour whose home is just 1mm away from their own.
The homeowner complained that the plants in front of their home are regularly trampled on, and their bins were used without permission, and asked for advice on how to improve privacy with their spitting distance neighbour.
Many sympathetic Aussies suggested planting new hedges or installing tall fences around the property’s perimeter, but RMIT researcher Liam Davies told Yahoo News it reveals a new “tension” emerging between neighbours.
Victoria aims to build 800,000 new houses over the next decade, with lot sizes being one of the major sacrifices. Source: Getty
New housing trend as block sizes ‘shrink’
Zero-lot boundary homes, like the ones pictured above, are a growing property trend whereby houses are built directly on the property line.
How close a house can be built to the boundary line is determined by local council and state zoning regulations, but in many regions, the garages at least can be built right up to the boundary.
This is the new reality for authorities to hit ambitious targets to build more homes. Victoria has set the ambitious target to fast-track construction and build 800,000 new houses over the next decade. But it means “the idea of a three-bedroom house on a quarter-acre block is not the reality” anymore, according to Davies.
“Lot size has shrunk significantly while the housing footprint increases,” he explained. He believes it reflects a demand for larger living spaces, but it comes at a price.
“What you see here is no perimeter gap or spacing between houses, with garages forming party walls between two properties,” he said.
While he argues that it is often the case that these new neighbourhoods, built on greenfield developments, look nice with service and parks nearby, the houses are “losing the backyard they used to have and the space around them.”
Australian homes are getting closer and closer to one another in overpopulated cities, as highlighted by a tradie on a worksite. Source: Supplied & TikTok/onlyframes
He believes it’s the cause of tension among neighbours.
“Your expectations of privacy change in different ways of living,” he said. “If you live in a block of flats, you just have more opportunity for others to look in your windows, and your expectation of privacy goes down,” he said. He argues that the more secluded a property is, the higher the expectation of privacy.
Calls to rethink how new neighbourhoods are built
Davies argues the new trend of house building is a “compromised” format and neighbours are now “rubbing up against each other”.
“At one level, this is a petty neighbourhood dispute,” he said. But he argues it could be a catalyst to rethink how homes are built.
Davies believes that higher-density housing could be the answer. “That doesn’t mean a 20-storey skyscraper, but maybe a smaller lot, and reduce the building footprint by going up,” he said. He argues this means you still have ample living space, can still play cricket in the backyard.
But two-storey dwellings are “more expensive” to build, and “affordability is driving” how homes are built. He argues that higher density would mean better access to amenities.
“It’s something we need to consider, otherwise we’ll get the worst of both worlds, which is what we’re looking at here. It’s not a great outcome,” he said.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
