Apartment life will play an important role in the future of Australian housing, but Aussies living in apartments are less satisfied with living arrangements than their compatriots in separate homes.
By the end of 2016, for the first time, more apartments had been built in Australia than stand-alone homes, and in the past 25 years the number of apartments in Australia had risen 78 percent to 1.2 million.
While apartment life is on the rise and will continue, Australians living in flats are not as happy as those living in separate homes, according to a recent survey by HSBC's (HSBC).
Seventy-eight percent of people living in apartments are satisfied with their living arrangements, compared with 88 percent of those living in separate homes. Melbourne's gap is the most significant compared with Sydney and Brisbane, with only 75% of apartment tenants willing to give in, while 91% of independent-housing households are satisfied.
(Mark McCrindle), a socio-demographic statistician, said 1/4 of Australia's housing stock was apartments and townhouses, a share that was even larger in state cities, accounting for 1/3, making their design particularly important.
According to BIS Oxford Economics and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australia's latest construction boom has been for investors, with 2/3 of apartments in Australia now owned by investors, compared with just 1/5 of homes.
"the overall positioning of the market has always been an opportunity for real estate investors," McClanton said. "apartments are designed for good occupancy and good yields-but it doesn't necessarily create a good community."
One of the key points mentioned in the apartment survey, he says, is their neighbors.
"in the apartment, you have more neighbors, they are closer to you, so if there are community life problems, they will aggravate. Because there are more tenants and more mobility, there will be less investment in the community. " He said。
Instead of sticking to investors when designing apartments, developers should take into account the needs of families and homeowners, prevent high turnover and be able to create communities, he added.
"within 20 years, townhouses and apartments will become mainstream-more Australians will live in vertical rather than horizontal communities." He added.
According to the survey, people living in apartments are less likely to be proud of their homes, with only 62 percent of homeowners responding positively, compared with 76 percent of people living in independent homes. In Sydney, just over half of the apartment respondents were proud of their homes.
To support higher-quality new apartments, the new state of government introduced a new planning guide in 2015, requiring one-bedroom apartments to be at least 35 square meters, while one-bedroom apartments have a minimum size of 50 square meters. In Victoria, there is no requirement for apartment size, but there is a more flexible design guide that focuses on daylight, ventilation and noise minimization.
Over the past two to three years, developers have mainly built one-bedroom, two-bedroom or one-bedroom apartments, said Bates (Chris Bates), a financier and mortgage broker.
"they sell to investors, and investors only want cheap apartments, so the specifications are not that high. If developers want to make a very high specification, investors will not buy it. " He said。
Investors will only buy cheaper options because they believe rents are the same regardless of the purchase price.
"if the apartment doesn't cater to investors, you see people living for a lot longer, not just a year, and then moving away because of rent increases or changes in personal life." Now, Bates says, people move much more frequently, and the more people move in and out, the greater the damage to buildings.
McClanton said that while developers need to reconsider their designs, Australians need to be more pragmatic about their future living arrangements. The study found that what people crave is not always compatible with apartment life. "people think the backyard is more important than the rooftop terrace, having their own parking space is more important than living near train Station." He said。
"but the apartment may not be your home forever, it may not meet all your needs-any living arrangement requires sacrifice." He said。