Amy, Ella, Lemmy and Brad. Amy Lee and Brad Eagland built a two storey house in Armstrong Creek, prioritising interior space over a backyard. Picture: Alan Barber

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For young parents Amy Lee and John England, building their dream home in Armstrong Creek met with both risks and challenges, but it has paid off.

The couple has just been handed the keys to their second, bigger build, after purchasing their first home in 2019 and building during the pandemic.

But the couple were forced to sacrifice backyard space for their two children Ella and Lemmy when building their two-storey home due to the competitive market space.

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Ms Lee said when they were getting ready to purchase a block of land, the prices kept rising between $10,000 and $15,000 for each release.

“It was a race against time; it felt like land developers were taking advantage of us,” she said.

“We had to compromise a little bit and go with a smaller block – we now have a home built that can grow with us.

“John and I see us being here for the foreseeable future; we’ve got additional rooms in our new homes that are being used as a theatre room that could be reconverted into a bedroom and two studies.”

Ella, Amy, Brad and Lemmy. Amy Lee and Brad Eagland built a two storey house in Armstrong Creek, prioritising interior space over a backyard. Picture: Alan Barber

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The family is joining a rising group of homebuyers who are choosing to go up a level to gain space in their new home amid the shrinking size of residential lots in new housing estates.

Anthony Garrubba, national general manager at Burbank Homes said it’s a trend that’s been around since the Covid pandemic, but has become more entrenched in the subsequent years, particularly as block sizes continue to shrink, although land prices continue to squeeze young buyers.

“We’re seeing customers come in that have just been requesting double storey floorplan. It’s just purely because they get more floorplan,” he said.

“They can double the footprint of house on the same size block of land.

Building two storeys gave the family more living space as the price of residential land continued to rise. Picture: Alan Barber

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“It’s great value because going from a single-storey house to double-storey house doesn’t mean you’re paying double – it doesn’t work like that.

Mr Garrubba said people were looking for two key things – more living spaces and more bedrooms, but in a way that has seen the builder go back to the drawing board on its designs.

“Almost every single one of our floor plans has got a guest bedroom option to the ground floor because it is such a popular option for customers that are buying double storey homes,” he said.

Mr Garrubba said household numbers were also increasing as kids were staying at home with their parents longer, but older generations were also moving in with family.

“And we’re also seeing multigenerational living is real. It’s very real.

RPM Real Estate Group research shows a rise in people contemplating building two-storey homes. Picture: Brad Fleet

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“We’re seeing kids that are moving out. They’re buying their second home and their parents are coming to live with them.

“They’re living downstairs and the kids and grandkids are living upstairs.”

Victoria has seen the biggest shift in double-storey builds, which have doubled in their proportion of all new home builds.

RPM Real Estate research showed a rising trend in buyers contemplating building a two-storey home in Victoria, although the majority of people still favoured building over one floor.

But Burbank’s own figures show double-storey builds have risen from 31 per cent to 59 per cent.

The trend aligns with recent ABS data showing the average size of new homes in Victoria on the rise in recent years.