In the midst of the housing crisis, there are about 12 million empty bedrooms – but roommates Marjorie Johnston and Sabrina James think they’ve come up with a solution.
They found each other through a home-sharing scheme, and despite being a bit of an odd couple with a 72-year age gap, they have both thrived under the arrangement.
Ms Johnston continues to live in her own home and receives assistance with meals and weekly shopping, while Ms James pays subsidised rent amid Sydney’s competitive and expensive rental market.
She also learns from her housemate, who will turn 100 at the end of the year.
“Marjorie was alive during the Depression, right, so she has a completely different perspective on reusing and wasting things,” the 27-year-old said.
“As a single woman, Marjorie has some really good advice about dating men, so that’s helpful too.”
The couple have been together since February last year. They share dinners, and Mrs James makes sure Mrs Johnston takes her medication.
In contrast, the older woman was always a willing model for Mrs. James, whose hobby was photography.
Arrangements like theirs use a bedroom that would otherwise be empty, and may help relieve The housing crisis that pushed the national average weekly rent to a record $627 in April.
More than half of households own homes with at least two additional rooms.
Using the latest census data, a new analysis by housing advocacy group YIMBY Melbourne found there were at least 12.2 million empty bedrooms across the country — most of which were in owner-occupied homes.
The census asked households how many bedrooms they had, said Asanka Eba, census coordinator. Then, using household composition and a formula originally developed for the Canadian census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics calculated how many empty bedrooms a property had.
YIMBY looked at this data for various demographics, including ownership type and age group, to reach its conclusions.
Eba said they found that 82 percent of homeowners had at least one extra bedroom, and 53 percent had two or more extra rooms.
Rental homes were more likely to be occupied, with only 57 percent having one extra bedroom and 21 percent having two or more bedrooms.
The figure that particularly surprised Mr Iba was that nearly 1.2 million Australian households have three or more extra bedrooms.
Houses with empty bedrooms were more common outside cities, but affluent inner suburbs were also prone to having underutilized homes.
Mr Iba said nearly half of people aged 80 or over live in homes with two or more extra bedrooms.
Jonathan O’Brien, lead organiser of YIMBY Melbourne, said many older people live in large homes because the stamp duty discourages them from downsizing.
He also said there was a lack of local options for smaller homes due to restrictive planning rules, so older people often faced a choice between staying in the area they knew or downsizing.
He said governments should abolish stamp duty and impose a broad land value tax that would encourage downsizing.
Mr O’Brien said housing affordability should be measured by rents, not prices.
“The reason for this is that rents are a measure of how much younger, less wealthy people can afford housing,” he said.
“These are the people who are feeling the brunt of the crisis.”
Real estate data firm CoreLogic didn’t have statistics on empty bedrooms, but research chief Tim Lawless said YIMBY’s calculations appeared to be in the right ballpark.
He cautioned, however, that the census data is “a bit out of date,” as it dates back to 2021.
He said that house-sharing arrangements, such as those of Ms Johnston and Ms James, were a potential partial solution to housing pressures, and predicted that such arrangements would gain increasing popularity.
“I would be surprised if demand didn’t pick up, given how tight the rental markets are and how high rents are,” he said.
It was also agreed that the stamp duty does not encourage downsizing.
Some states have offered waivers for this reason, but Mr. Lawless said those waivers often required the home price to be below a certain price threshold, which was often very low.
In Victoria, for example, an eligible retiree can get a one-off concession when they buy a new or existing home, worth up to $750,000, to live in.
However, NSW and Queensland do not offer any specific stamp duty concessions for retirees, although those wishing to downsize to buy a unit in a retirement village will not need to pay tax in most circumstances.
Another hurdle was seen by Nicola McDougall, president of the Australian Property Professionals Association. Many people looking to move into new homes had only ever lived in detached homes, so moving into an apartment would not be feasible for them, potentially limiting their options, she said.
“It is only recently that developers have started to care about homeowners rather than building ready-made models targeting uneducated investors,” she said.
Retirement promotion may be better.
Yield Financial Planning specialises in advice for retirees, and managing director James McFall said the cost and hassle of moving was a major reason people were putting off downsizing.
This was particularly the case if they were likely to end up moving again to a care facility or retirement village within a few years.
People may also be putting off downsizing because of the impact on their pension, as the home was exempt from the assets test, meaning selling it and buying a cheaper place could mean they are entitled to less support.
“We’ve implemented this model several times for clients and found that sometimes even more value can actually be better,” McFall said.
This is because if a retiree buys a more expensive home, they will have less money in their bank account, and because the home is exempt from the assets test, they may qualify for more support.
“Sometimes the result of increasing the size may be that a person achieves their lifetime income goals, because they are entitled to more pension, but they also get the lifestyle benefit of a better primary residence.
“This could also lead to better drug outcomes for children.”
Home participation rate drops due to funding changes
Such schemes enjoyed a period of popularity a few years ago, but have become less common in recent times, said Rosemary Lawn, chair of the home-sharing body, Home Sharing Australia and New Zealand Alliance (HANZA).
This was due to the shift in funding for care, from funding organisations through grants, to funding individuals through the likes of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – making such schemes more difficult to set up.
“It always seems like this is a model that bureaucrats can’t necessarily understand, in terms of how to fund it appropriately so it can continue,” she said.
Hansa has a high success rate in matching participants, with only about one in 20 matches failing, Ms. Lawn said.
Hansa, along with another organization, was involved in helping facilitate home sharing for Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. James.
Housing sharing was also a solution that could be implemented relatively quickly.
“There is no need to build more rooms or build more housing,” she said.
“It’s so nice to be able to give and share.”
Ms Johnston said she decided to try house-sharing because she felt “cruel” having a large house near the harbour on her own, and would encourage others to try it.
“It’s so nice to be able to give and share, and the benefits are so rewarding,” she added.
“I felt like I could provide shelter for someone, and the opportunity to live near the port.”
Ms James came from a corporate job in Canberra, but wanted to do something in the care sector, and decided to study speech pathology.
I approached the Sydney rental market with trepidation.
“It’s very competitive, there are few places, it’s very expensive, and there’s a lot of scams out there,” she said.
Ms James said the potential for home sharing is huge, but it is important to make sure the owner and sharer are well aligned.
“It’s a completely different life experience than people of other ages. Marjorie is very unique for someone who is almost 100 years old, she is independent, capable, incredibly energetic, and incredibly active for her age, so it’s been a great pleasure,” she said.
“I think we take good care of each other.”
Ms. James currently plans to stay with Ms. Johnston for at least a year.
