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More than 350,000 Australians are living as part of a group household according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) — more than ever before.
While the ABS defines group housing as a household consisting of two unrelated people where all the residents are aged 15 years or older, they're also referred to as share houses.
Demand for this type of accommodation has skyrocketed amid an exceedingly tight rental market and affordability crisis — and it's left people looking for alternatives.
Some say co-living — housing where some spaces are shared with other residents — could be the solution.
But one planning expert believes the concept is a marketing ploy.
'Three separate income streams'
One property development company called Gallery Group promotes co-living as "good value" for singles and couples, comparing the concept to a workplace.
"In the same way a co-working space is split into private offices, in a co-living house, those private spaces are the bedrooms," the company's website says.
Each room is lockable, has an ensuite, and there's secure storage in the kitchen, turning a single-family home into "three separate income streams".
The developer coins it as "high income meeting capital growth" with the rooms available to rent across south-east Queensland, including in Deception Bay, Logan and Upper Coomera.
On the company's website, it states three self-contained rooms each rent for a "minimum of $275 per week", for a weekly total of $825, which is a "vast improvement on the same sized family home counterpart of $450 per week".
Co-living rooms are currently listed on Clique Living — which is connected to Gallery Group — at $300 per week, which would secure the owner $900 a week in rent.
Gallery Group isn't the only developer spruiking the returns — Heaps Good Homes, which lists co-living properties across Australia, say they're a "perfect combination of capital growth and maximum cashflow".
Victorian House and Land Specialists development group says a three-bedroom co-living property yields higher rental returns compared to renting it as a standard home, calling the concept a "lucrative investment".
New South Wales group, High Income Property Prosperity Solutions, suggests owners could use the "entire space [of a property] more effectively", saying it would lead to a "significant increase in rental income".
'Winding back expectations'
Mark Limb, a senior lecturer in urban and regional planning at QUT, believes the co-living properties are "basically" boarding houses.
"In Queensland, [this accommodation] is generally defined as a rooming accommodation, which is basically a boarding house," Dr Limb says.
Except, he says, it isn't offering the affordability that often comes with share houses.
"It's a rent maximisation thing," he says.
Dr Limb says people may be turning to this type of accommodation because the current housing crisis promotes the idea of settling for alternatives.
"A house that doesn't have a car park is going to be cheaper than one that does, but it's a different product," he says.
"Winding back our expectations … for the idea we're gaining housing affordability, is basically a race to the bottom.
"We want to have those options available, but we need to maximise quality, and we should be aiming to do that affordably."
Gallery Group did not respond to requests for comment. Heaps Good Homes, Victorian House and Land Specialists and High Income Property Prosperity Solutions have been contacted.
A missed opportunity for shared living
Australia's growing population means the approach to housing design needs to be rethought, says Stephanie Wyeth, planner in residence at the University of Queensland's school of architecture, design and planning.
"If [the developers] are doing new builds in established areas, with established homes, and they think there's a demand [for co-living], is it a missed opportunity in terms of future planning?," Dr Wyeth asks.
She says an alternative to single-family homes is what's referred to as the "middle product".
"That might be a three- or four-level apartment block, a triplex, or a duplex which gives you more flexibility over the long haul, and has more space for people," she says.
But Dr Wyeth says NIMBYism is making it more difficult for higher density options to be approved.
"Do we need to be a bit bolder while still managing the amenity of the local area … so in the longer term, people could actually purchase a unit rather than renting a room?"
Could co-living combat the housing crisis?
Executive director of housing advocacy group Q Shelter, Fiona Canigilia, says there is "no single solution" to the crisis.
"But co-living is an important innovation," she says.
Ms Canigilia says Q Shelter is working with older women to investigate how they can make co-living work for them.
"[They can] derive some social support, as well as affordability … to ensure that people who are a little more vulnerable can actually afford the place that they live in."
Ms Canigilia says it isn't just singles or couples who need options.
"There are hundreds of families at the moment, if not many, many more, who are living in emergency and temporary accommodation, while services including government are trying to help them find a sustainable home to live in that they can afford," she says.
"We need homes in a variety of different forms and tenures to make sure that family's needs are being met."
A 'capitalist response to a social problem'
According to Tim Dean, a senior philosopher at the Ethics Centre, the concept of co-living is "a capitalist response to a social problem".
He says most people generally agree it is a human right to secure accommodation.
"But when we look at this particular solution... it's speaking very much to the commercial benefit to the owner of that property, who is then renting it out," he says.
Dr Dean says when the housing market is examined from an "investment first" approach, it makes it more difficult for those still trying to get their foot on the property ladder.
But there are benefits to the co-living idea, he adds.
"One of the great dangers that I think a lot of countries are facing at the moment is that there are some of the population who just don't feel like they are members of the wider society," he said.
"They don't feel like the society cares about them, they don't feel like they belong, they don't feel like they have anywhere to go if they have issues."
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