Each month, more than 1600 Australians are forced to demand sheltering services. More and more people are finding that owning a home has become an extremely expensive affair. Australia’s housing crisis is rapidly turning into a catastrophe. In this precarious situation, researchers and policymakers in Australia are actively trying to find a temporary solution by leveraging so-called granny flats.
Granny Flats For Rent – The Changing Definition
Granny flats are not meant for grannies anymore in Australia. More and more Australians – individuals and policymakers are urging the government to remove arbitrary restrictions on renting out granny flats to non-family members. And there is a good reason behind it.
- Only about 30% of Australians have complete ownership over their homes – with no mortgage whatsoever. In other words, 70% of Australians are either suffering from the heavy weight of mortgage or distressed with high home rent.
- As of Q2 of 2023, the house price to income ratio stood at 117%. This itself proves how property prices have gone out of hand.
- Generally speaking, home rent in Australia saw a jump of 11.8% in June this year versus June last year.
Yet, the demand in the housing sector hasn’t decreased. In this scenario, it becomes essential for Australian policymakers to hunt for alternative, cheaper ways to accommodate people – especially frontline workers who power the cities with their work.
Granny Flats Offer an Immediate Solution to the Housing Crisis in Australia
According to the report published by Archistar in conjunction with BlackFort and CoreLogic, granny flats offer an immediate solution to housing shortages across Australia. The trio has identified 655,000 residential properties that have the necessary space to build granny flats. What’s more, the report claims that 36% of the identified properties are well connected with the road-rail network, while 17% of them have hospitals nearby.
Other, more concrete solutions to the housing crisis need time to be planned and implemented. This is why building granny flats looks like the most promising solution.
The report has highlighted several reasons why building granny flats seems to be the most viable solution. The two major reasons are-
- If a house already follows all the town planning rules, there is no need for an additional permit or license to build a granny flat.
- Such flats can be built within a very short span. Assuming the property follows all the town planning rules, building a granny flat would require just 10 to 12 weeks.
Some Concerns Remain
Despite the undeniable benefits of building granny flats to ease the housing crisis, many Australians have voiced concerns as well. Veronica Morgan, on LinkedIn, equated building granny flats to sewing a fifth leg onto a dog. She believes that the existence of a granny flat in the backyard of the house would decrease the overall space and, as a result, the overall value of the property will be reduced. Barrie Harrop has concerns regarding the privacy and security of the main house once the granny flat is rented.
However, there are solutions to these issues as well. Wayne Wanders, on LinkedIn, suggested the use of portable granny flats that can remain completely detached from the main house and can be removed within a day. So, there is no concern in terms of the value of the property going down. Until a permanent solution is found and implemented, granny flats are undoubtedly a potent solution to Australia’s housing crisis.
