Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

It's official, ABS data now reveals that we are the greediest in the world when it comes to average floorspace:

We are bigger than the US for the first time. Our newly built homes are 7 per cent bigger than those in the US, double the size of those in Europe, and triple the size of those in the UK...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009 ... ion=justin

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

Aaaarrgghh! Just more space to clean and more place for clutter to collect. Public housing have always built according to a basic formula x sqaure feet per person give or take a bit and adjustments for wheel chair access etc.. Not sure exactly what the ratio is off hand. It does seem a bit excessive doesn't it? Most of the newer homes have the tiniest blocks too and you may as well be in a unit because of the proximity to neighbours. Can't really do a lot with a backyard the size of a handkerchief.

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

G'day magnoliabloomberg

What a lovely name .

Did you check the comments attached to the article? A quick straw poll of the 100-odd posted before it closed suggested about 85% are in favour of smaller houses, while 15% are in favour of bigger. Rather impressive statistics, however...

The reason why we have ballooned out in the phat-house stakes is because 90% of all new homes in Australia are constructed/marketed by 'volume' builders. It all starts when often productive farming land (the very same land we should be retaining in order to feed the urban hoards in a post-fossil fuel world) on the peri-urban belts that surround our sprawling megalopolises, otherwise known as 'greenfield' sites, are greedily carved up by so-called 'developers' with nothing other than a profit in their sights. Once completed, these 'dormitory' suburbs are the epitome of crass - wall-to-wall McMansions, no consideration given to solar orientation, no eaves, houses bristling with industrial-size air-conditioning units, and each filled with enough electronic components to put a spaceship on Mars! Very little thought is given to community infrastructure, such as rapid transit lines, walkable neighbourhoods, community gardens, etc. When asking developers (and believe me, I have asked a few) why they build such anti-ecological monsters, invariably they shrug their shoulders and say, "Mark, that's what the punters want". Of course, I always argue that the average home-buyer has not a clue what they want, other than what is rammed down their throats via mass-marketing media outlets.

For a brilliant insight into the dire situation of our sprawling suburbs, SBS (Jenny Brockie) did a great job of presenting the issue (see: https://news.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/ ... transcript). For a solution-orientated outcome, note the comments of Professor Peter Newman, as he calls for thousands of eco-villages to be incorporated into our current urban fabric in order to act as demonstration sites for a sustainable future.

Cheerio, Marko.

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

I really find that hard to believe having seen many US homes. Perhaps if you took big cities like New York out of the calculations you would end up with a different statistic.

It would also be interesting to look at average suburban block size.

A fairer comparison might be Australia compared to say, California.

Maybe a lot of people have lost their homes in the recent Great Bankers Swindle?

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

Mandala town, mandala town, mandala town.....
One day...

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

My little 8 x 10 m place is plenty big for me . Could easily live comfortably in much smaller .
What is the smallest allowed size enforced by regulations ?

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

Many Chinese families share a small-garden-shed sized home
I guess some live in city- doorways or in the 'Long Grass".

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

G'day aroideana

If you can satisfy your local building authority by meeting all the criteria for a 'habitable dwelling', you can live in a shoe-box.

I once lived in my swag for 9-months straight - most carefree time of my life.

And what about the 'little old lady who lived in a shoe'?

Cheerio, Marko.

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

Thanks for the reminder, eco.

Mandala town, mandala town, mandala town...

Marko.

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

Don't worry too much. Come the powerdown you'll have all this excellent housing for whole communities to live in :mrgreen:

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

Yes, the comments were very interesting. Thanks for the heads up about Jenny Brockie's programme. I will watch it later. Yes! So much good town planning opportunity has been squandered. Property developers in this state (and most others I assume) have had way too much sway over local councils and government and are no better than vandals most of the time. They never live in their own future ghettoes. Always a mansion in the Eastern suburbs for them.

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

the size of houses just infuriates me ......... we have 96 sq m and I have to fit in a wheelchair arround that !

I think all these McMansions should be demolished and the materials be recycled into sustainable housing -butthen maybe even the materials would be useless as they are built with such rubbish ...........

building Macmansion is about arrogance and vanity I hope I live long enough to see them sink under the rising sea level !!! preferably with their arrogant wanker occupants in them LOLOL

frosty

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

G'day
judging by the endless new housing developments going on in my neck of the woods this doesn't surprise me in the least.
In America it is the wealthy that live in big houses over here it's anyone with a job.
Australians on the whole seem to be completely oblivious to how luxurious our lifestyle is compared to the rest of the world - including USA and Europe.
We are at the pinnacle of consumerism, the top of the pile - it's gonna be a long way to fall.
Big houses aren't bad per se, it's the crap materials they're made out of, that they have to be heated and cooled all year round. and that entire families can live together without ever having to spend time in each other's company!
cheers

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

Do the comparisons include the huge basements/cellars that most USA homes have? Especially common in Colder States.

 

Re: Australians Live in World's Biggest Houses

I've been living in my van for the last 29 months. It's less than 4m x 2m, and I've been sharing it with a fairly large dog! I'm now buying what would be regarded as quite a large house in the UK, but my plan is to make a simple bedsit around 6m x 4m for me, and let other people live in the rest of it! What's the point of wasting time, money, effort and resources buying and maintaining a big space? Life's too short.

 

not a good look

Could it possibly be that if we allow deductions for those of us that live in sheds, paddocks, bush humpys, and swags etc
from
'those that would bring shame to our nation' bloating the stats,
the look might be a bit more respectable?

I guess not or the 'Yanks" would use their homeless;
Still, we could counter with our indigenies....

....this, all because we don't have an effective 'shaming mechanism' to dissuade the 'money' from such acts of ignorant (or evil) greed.

I can not escape the rationalisation that anyone smart enough to get rich is also smart enough to know of their. 'environmental footprint'. ....So they know what they are doing, and still do it,,,,,this is provocative, is it not?

i'll work on it, and get back to you.

regards,
Kimbo

 

G'day Kimbo, nice to 'see' you again. In answer to the above, I should hope so. The original post was presented with the hope that it would engender debate.

Concerning the methodology: The conclusion is drawn from raw data extracted from the latest figures of new dwellings constructed, both from the ABS and the American (given that they used to hold the mantle) equivalent.

Yeah, my friends who willingly (and unwillingly) live in humpys do not readily factor into this equation. But I am sure you are right when you suggest that there are equal numbers (per capita) of people living in similar conditions in the USA who would also fail to be counted.

Either way, the fact remains, we are the greediest when it comes to square metres of 'floorspace'.

A couple of beauties:

Cliff Top Luxury...

A Magnificent Testimony To Outstanding Contemporary Design...

What hope have we got?

Cheerio, Marko.

 

In a similar vein, and this comes from within the development industry...

Crying poor? Count your rooms and houses, and think again
Author: Ross Gittins
Date: December 16, 2009
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald

...This means our new homes are the largest in the world, with an average floor size of 215 square metres, compared with 202 in the US and 196 in New Zealand.

Even industry is starting to get it - if not in energy efficiency, at least in terms of size.

Marko

 

yeah, these big house guys shit me,

on my 'entire rural locatio 135 ac' i live in just a scraped out hollow and a shed.

chortle,

regards,
Kimbo

 

where the ABS gets their stats from


I don't know where the ABS gets their stats from. This shows US homes at 218 sq metres in 2006

it would also be interesting to know the median size of homes not just the average.