The great Australian dream has backfired spectacularly, forcing multiple generations under one roof as Queensland home prices soar beyond the reach of single incomes.
New PropTrack data reveals searches for “dual-occupancy” homes have skyrocketed 385 per cent in the past year, while “dual-living” is up 100 per cent and “granny flat” interest has jumped 30 per cent — with demand exploding across Brisbane’s outer suburbs.
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This house with dual-living capacity at 5 Lupton St, Chermside West, is on the market.
The shift is becoming increasingly visible in suburbs such as Browns Plains, Kingston, and Marsden in Logan, along with Springfield, Forest Lake and the Ipswich LGA, where affordability pressures and larger lot sizes are driving uptake, according to exclusive analysis from PRD.
Pockets of Brisbane’s north, including Bracken Ridge, Bald Hills, and Chermside West, are also seeing growing demand.
The PRD research found 10 to 12 per cent of households or up to 800,000 Queensland adults are living with family under the same roof.
PRD Real Estate chief economist Diaswati Mardiasmo said multi-generational living had historically been more common among migrant communities, but was now being adopted by a broader cross-section of Queensland families — particularly those under financial pressure.
This five-bedroom property comprising two self-contained residences at 42 Therese St, Marsden, is for sale for $1.19m – $1.26m.
“Now, we are seeing multi-generational living becoming more integrated as a life choice within the general population — increasingly more so in metropolitan areas,” Dr Mardiasmo said.
“The reason behind multi-generational living remains the same over time — housing affordability, cost of living, caregiving — but in many cases, it has now transitioned from a nice option to have to ‘well, this is the only way we can make it work’.
“In short, for many, multi-generational living is now no longer an option or preference, but a necessity.”
PRD chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo.
Dr Mardiasmo said housing affordability pressures, migration, and shrinking public housing availability were the main contributors in Queensland, and by 2041, a third of all households were predicted to incorporate multi-generational living arrangements.
“There is now also an increasing emphasis on work-life balance, family connection, building quality time, self-care and mental health, preserving culture and mother-tongue languages, and sharing the workload,” she said. “Multi-generational living allows for this.”
Switchboard Finance founder Nick Lim said he had also noticed multi-generational living had shifted from being a cultural preference to a financial strategy.
This four-bedroom house with dual-living capacity at 33 Callum Plc, Bracken Ridge, is on the market.
“Five years ago, a family pooling households was usually a lifestyle decision,” Mr Lim said. “Now it’s increasingly a mortgage serviceability decision. One income can’t carry a Brisbane home at current prices, but two or three can, and lenders are starting to assess those structures properly, where they used to penalise them.”
Mr Lim said the situation was becoming more common for self-employed borrowers.
“A cafe owner or tradie running their own business often can’t qualify for a home loan on their own because of how banks assess variable income,” he said.
“When they combine with an adult child in PAYG employment, or with retired parents who own their existing home outright, the serviceability picture changes completely. The property becomes a vehicle for solving several problems at once.”
This property at 105 Lanes Rd, Wongawallan, is on the market and offers three separate residences.
He said Queensland was showing this pattern more than the southern capitals because prices had risen so much faster than local incomes.
“Younger buyers who would have bought solo five years ago are now structuring purchases with parents or siblings as co-borrowers,” he said.
“We’re seeing more enquiries specifically about properties with dual living features like separate entries, granny flat potential, or split layouts, because families want the financial benefit of shared ownership without losing privacy.”
Two Red Shoes mortgage broker Rebecca Jarrett-Dalton said she was seeing a “sharp rise” in multi-generational living and shared ownership scenarios.
This property at 2124 Maleny-Stanley River Rd, Booroobin, offers multi-generational living options over four separate properties and comes with a $13m-$15m price guide.
“New property designs are being developed with future multigenerational living in mind, incorporating features like pre-planned connecting doors and attached granny flats,” Ms Jarrett-Dalton said.
“Furthermore, new, innovative models are emerging in regional areas aimed at older community members, where they contribute a lump sum and receive a share of the capital gain upon exit.”
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Dr Mardiasmo said where and how Queenslanders lived was a key factor driving the trend.
“There is a concentration in areas that allow for such a living arrangement; usually places that have bigger blocks of land and/or housing topography, which tends to be in the outer areas,” she said.
“That said, there is an evolvement in the housing topography for multigenerational living. Families are finding different ways to do this based on the limitations of where they are living and what is possible.”
This property at 12 Aminga St, Fig Tree Pocket, boasts a main residence, a guest house, and a private studio, offering 11 bedrooms in total. It’s on the market now.
Traditional granny flats are also evolving into fully self-contained “granny pods” and dual-living designs, with separate entries, private zones and independent facilities increasingly being built in from the outset rather than added later.
“We are also seeing an increase in the number of dual duplexes being built, houses with separate entry, and granny flats on the same land site — with local and state governments releasing policies that supports this; as well as renovations where a separate entry is created,” Dr Mardiasmo said. “So, in a way, the supply side is also listening to this demographic change.”
Despite this, multi-generational living remains heavily tied to detached housing, with 89 per cent of such households in standalone homes — underscoring the limitations of apartments and medium-density housing in accommodating extended families.
Architects are increasingly asked to design homes that accommodate multiple generations.
Michael Bailey of Open Architecture Studio and Jasper Brown of Jasper Brown Architects were recently given a brief to design a multi-generational home in Newport for a couple and one of their mothers.
This property in Newport comprises two separate homes cleverly joined together to accommodate multi-generational living arrangements. Image supplied.
The resulting property appears as one large, waterfront home, but look closer, and it becomes clear it comprises two separate homes.
A subtle 2m boundary void and a break in the parasol roof is all that distinguishes them.
At any time, the houses could be split, fenced and sold.
Mr Bailey said cohabitating with offspring was commonplace nowadays and a residual upshot of the pandemic.
“Communal living is certainly a lost component of our society; to enjoy living with multi-generations of family and integrating living with work must be carefully considered and properly designed,” Mr Bailey said.
“There is an undeniable social focus to these two houses than you might not otherwise find in two houses that sit side by side.”
Mr Brown said the same plan could easily be replicated on a standard suburban block or pair of blocks in other parts of Brisbane.
“Several of the ideas that found their way into the final design of this project are a fundamental part of the ‘missing middle’ housing scenario,” he said.
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