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Indicator: HS-78 Housing demand

Data

Dwelling Types– Australia – 1991-2001

	1991		1996		2001		1991-2001
	N ('000)	%	N ('000)	%	N ('000)	%	% change
Separate House	4534	78.6	4912	75.6	5327	75.3	17.5
Medium Density	453	7.8	517	7.9	632	8.9	39.5
High Density	658	11.4	817	12.6	923	13.0	40.3
Total (occupied)	5765	100.0	6496	100.0	7072	100.0	22.7

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005, Canberra (unpublished data prepared by the ABS for SoE 2006)

Estimated additional demand for dwellings ('000s) Australia 2002-2011

State/Territory	Total	Separate Houses	Other Dwellings	Private Dwellings	Public Dwellings
NSW & ACT	335	216	119	310	25
Victoria	265	183	82	255	10
Queensland	306	214	92	293	13
South Australia	51	28	23	42	9
Western Australia	171	126	45	160	11
Tasmania	6	2	4	5.4	0.6
Northern Territory	15	9	6	12	3
Australia	1 149	778	371	1 077.4	71.6

Source: McDonald, P 2003, Medium and long-term projections of housing needs in Australia: final narrative report, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Canberra.

Housing Utilisation by tenure type
Australia - 2001

		Canadian National Occupancy Standard
Selected tenure of dwelling	Average number of persons per bedroom a	One or more spare bedrooms (%)	No spare bedrooms (no extra needed) (%)	Proportion of overcrowded dwellings (%)
Fully owned	0.77	84.9	12.8	2.4
Owned with a mortgage	0.95	77.4	19.6	3.0
Rented	0.97	56.3	35.8	7.9
Public sector rental	1.00	49.1	43.5	8.5
Private landlord	0.96	58.8	34.5	7.8
Other b	1.03	51.6	39.2	10.4
Australia c	0.85	74.5	21.3	4.2

^a - Based on counts of usual residents
^b - comprises employer landlords, community or co-operative housing groups, and other types of landlords
^c - includes other forms of tenure such as being occupied rent-free, being occupied under a life tenure scheme and other tenure types.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001, Australia in Profile: A Regional Analysis, ABS, Canberra.

• Asutralia in Profile: A Regional Analysis 2001 (PDF -19.5 KB) 

What the data mean

Demand for housing increased between 1991 and 2001 by 22%; the demand for high and medium density housing was higher (around 40% for both) than for separate houses (18%).

The demand for housing is reflected in the increase in house prices in all capital cities over the two decades from 1980 to 2004, with prices in Sydney showing the highest increases followed by those in Melbourne. This continual rise in house price was despite the variable changes in housing affordability.

It has been estimated that Australia will need an additional 1.15 million new dwellings between 2002 and 2011 (McDonald 2001). Two thirds of these dwellings will be separate houses.

Overall, 4% of households in Australia experience overcrowding as measured by the Canadian National Occupancy Standard measure. Overcrowding is largely restricted to the rental sector.

Issues for which this is an indicator and why

Human Settlements — Pressures created by human settlements on the environment - Patterns of settlement 

Demand for housing is an indicator of the pressure to build more housing, placing increasing pressure on the environment through the direct displacement of habitats and as a result of increasing other pressures of human settlements.

Other indicators for this issue:

• HS-06 Population density patterns in major cities 
• HS-30 Average size of new residential lots in capital cities 
• HS-51 Average floor area of new dwellings 

Further Information

Source: McDonald, P 2003, Medium and long-term projections of housing needs in Australia: final narrative report, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Canberra.

Australia in Profile - A Regional Analysis, 2001 

Housing Occupancy and Costs, Australia, 1997-98