1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2007  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/01/2007   
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Contents >> Housing >> Housing utilisation

HOUSING UTILISATION

While Australian households are becoming smaller on average, dwelling size (as indicated by the number of bedrooms) is increasing. The average number of persons per household has declined from 3.1 in 1976 to 2.5 in 2003-04. In the same period, the proportion of dwellings with four or more bedrooms has risen from 17% to 27% and the average number of bedrooms per dwelling has increased from 2.8 to 3.0.

In 2003-04, most households enjoyed relatively spacious accommodation. For example, 85% of lone-person households were living in dwellings with two or more bedrooms; 73% of two-person households had three or more bedrooms; and 31% of three-person households had four or more bedrooms. Over a fifth (22%) of three-bedroom dwellings, and 8% of four-bedroom dwellings, had only one person living in them (table 8.3).


8.3 ALL HOUSEHOLDS, By number of bedrooms and number of persons - 2003-04

One
bedroom
Two
bedrooms
Three
bedrooms
Four or more
bedrooms
All
households(a)
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000

Lone person
277.7
676.9
825.9
163.5
1,962.1
Two persons
75.8
620.4
1,397.6
529.0
2,625.3
Three persons
*8.7
136.3
686.6
375.5
1,207.1
Four persons
n.p.
63.2
620.2
538.6
1,223.0
Five or more persons
n.p.
*9.0
239.3
468.9
718.4
Total
364.2
1,505.9
3,769.6
2,075.4
7,735.8

(a) Includes bed-sits and dwellings with no bedrooms.
Source: ABS data available on request, Survey of Income and Housing, 2003-04.


The Canadian National Occupancy Standard is widely used internationally as an indicator of housing utilisation. The measure assesses the bedroom requirements of a household by specifying that:

  • there should be no more than two persons per bedroom
  • children less than 5 years of age and of different sexes may reasonably share a bedroom
  • children less than 18 years of age and of the same sex may reasonably share a bedroom
  • single household members aged 18 years and over should have a separate bedroom, as should parents or couples.
Households living in dwellings where this standard cannot be met are considered to be overcrowded.

Only 2.7% of Australian households in 2003-04 were assessed as needing one or more extra bedrooms to meet this occupancy standard. The proportion of households experiencing overcrowding was highest among households with five or more members (16%), and among households living in one-bedroom dwellings (6%).

In contrast, 77% of households had one or more bedrooms above the number required to meet the standard. The proportion of households with spare bedrooms was highest among two-person households (89%) and among households living in dwellings with four or more bedrooms (91%). While having spare bedrooms indicates a capacity to accommodate more people in reasonable comfort, it does not necessarily mean that dwellings are not being fully utilised. Households may put these 'spare' rooms to various uses (e.g. study, office, gymnasium, craft or hobby room, children's play room, guest bedroom or store room). Some may provide each child with a separate bedroom regardless of their age or sex.

In capital cities, the proportion of households with one or more spare bedrooms ranged from 68% in Darwin to 84% in Perth (graph 8.4). Outside of capital cities, the proportion of households with spare bedrooms was higher - possibly associated with higher proportions of separate houses in these areas. Conversely, overcrowding was more common in capital cities. In 2003-04, 3% of capital city households were in need of one or more bedrooms compared with 2% of households in the rest of Australia. Sydney and Darwin had the highest overcrowding rate (4%). These cities also had the highest proportions of flats, units and apartments.

8.4 HOUSEHOLDS WITH ONE OR MORE SPARE BEDROOMS - 2003-04



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