Housing norms

[Farencue]

Hi everyone
Have finished reading the 2 housing threads in this forum which got me thinking.
I would like your thoughts on why most new homes built in Australia today are all the same, ie: 4 bed, 2 bath, 2-3 living areas,"alfresco", remote garage, "media room", dishwasher, aircon etc etc....te floor plans are all very similar as are the facades.
I call these houses "boxes on a block" and it really reminds me of a song from primary school that went along the lines of "little boxes on the hillside, theres a pink one and a blue one, ticky tacky boxes...." and the people who buy them seem to be sheeples.
Is it demand, cost, expectations,upselling or something else I havent thought of?

Why are FHB's buying 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom houses for around $420k (only that cheap IF you have the $21k FHB grant in your hand)?
Why arent there any builders out there building 3 bed, 1 bath, carport homes in a price range of $200-250k?
The answer seems obvious to this one I guess, but isnt there anyone out there who isnt all about greed in the building game? Surely there would be a market for the downsized, affordable home in today's financial climate?

As an aside, Im in NQ and after the recent floods, some old timers have written into the tabloids that pass for newspapers to remind people WHY houses up here were built on stilts in the early days. Sure are a lot of unhappy people up here at the moment braying for the gubbermints money to fix their flooded impractical houses.

Anyway thanks for reading and I would be interested in your thoughts.

 

[numbercruncher]

Why are FHB's buying 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom houses for around $420k (only that cheap IF you have the $21k FHB grant in your hand)?

Because the difference between that and a 3 bedroom 1 bathroom is insignificant in the over all cost - the more squares you build the cheaper they gets -

Perhaps rates payable and maybe even a enviromental levi should be charged on a per room basis .....

 

[stock_man]

I call these houses "boxes on a block" and it really reminds me of a song from primary school that went along the lines of "little boxes on the hillside, theres a pink one and a blue one, ticky tacky boxes...." and the people who buy them seem to be sheeples.
Is it demand, cost, expectations,upselling or something else I havent thought of?

Are you in the middle of watching the tv show weeds? (http://www.tv.com/weeds/show/28829/summary.html) That is the theme song referencing to the common look-a-like houses as you have stated.

But back to your post - calling people sheeples for building the common house is a bit much don't you think? I myself have just built a new house and I can tell you the difference between a 4/2/2 and a 3/1/0 was about $30K. You really would have to be stupid to build the smaller one considering that they are worth about $80K less in the end. Thats a loss of $50K potential in value. It really is simple economics.
In my personal experience, the house was 40% of the final cost (60% land) - no point in skimping I say.

Also, the cost of getting an independant builder to design and build a unique house can cost up to double - often for a smaller house. True it is unique and of probably better quality than a knock up project home from a big builder. But once again you would be spending a far whack extra of money.

Are you suggesting that every new house should be a 2 bed tin/fibro, with an out the back dunny?

 

[Farencue]

Are you in the middle of watching the tv show weeds? (http://www.tv.com/weeds/show/28829/summary.html) That is the theme song referencing to the common look-a-like houses as you have stated.


But back to your post - calling people sheeples for building the common house is a bit much don't you think?


True it is unique and of probably better quality than a knock up project home from a big builder.


Are you suggesting that every new house should be a 2 bed tin/fibro, with an out the back dunny?

1) No, I havent seen weeds.
2) No, I dont think sheeples is a bit much
3) You have answered my question here, thankyou
4) No, I cant see where I have suggested that anywhere in my post.

 

[Happy]

..

Why are FHB's buying 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom houses for around $420k (only that cheap IF you have the $21k FHB grant in your hand)?

Why arent there any builders out there building 3 bed, 1 bath, carport homes in a price range of $200-250k?

..

I wander what would it take to downsize and not risk that > low social economic < stigma and owners/tenants to fit the stereotype.

 

[tech/a]

As a builder.

There are project builders offering 2 and 3 bed under $300K in most states.
Divine being the most common coming to mind.

Project builders can buy in bulk and their subbies can construct the same design over and over,far more efficiently and cheaply than special owner designs.

In Europe they make house and Unit modules.
Ive seen an 11 story project completed using these products in 8 weeks!
Crane in position and bolt together.
The IKEA type house design---no its not IKEA.

 

[gfresh]

Unfortunately it seems the high cost of land really puts the minimum price of new homes where they are.. The price of marketing new developments must be pretty high these days too.

 

[stock_man]

I would like your thoughts on why most new homes built in Australia today are all the same, ie: 4 bed, 2 bath, 2-3 living areas,"alfresco", remote garage, "media room", dishwasher, aircon etc etc....te floor plans are all very similar as are the facades.

Its not just "Australia Today" that houses are all built the same.
As I look out the office window towards Ultimo, Sydney, all I can see is block after block of identical terraces. As you walk past them you can see they all have virtually identical floor plans. The only real difference is one has a red front door while the neighbour has a green one. These residences were built in the 1880s. Demand and price pressure were evident then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimo,_New_South_Wales

Maybe once demand and prices (especially the land component) normalise builders will start to offer more alternative constructions?

 

[Farencue]

Thanks for your replies - food for thought and also thanks for the link Stockman, very interesting.

 

[mullokintyre]

The construction of houses today in OZ has not really varied greatly over the past hundred years.
New tools and building methods have come along, but there is not really been a lot of changes in the materials from which houses are built.
The following Youtube video looks at large hopuses built by a giant 3D printer.
The material is form of concrete called lavacrete, its composition being a heavily guarded secret.
Not only has it revolutionised the design process, but the physical building process as well.
Quite a remarkable fat that is still in its infancy, so can be expected to grow as new processes are developed.
From slab to fully framed and trussed in two to three weeks using no more than three workers per house is significant.

Mick

 

[qldfrog]

The construction of houses today in OZ has not really varied greatly over the past hundred years.
New tools and building methods have come along, but there is not really been a lot of changes in the materials from which houses are built.
The following Youtube video looks at large hopuses built by a giant 3D printer.
The material is form of concrete called lavacrete, its composition being a heavily guarded secret.
Not only has it revolutionised the design process, but the physical building process as well.
Quite a remarkable fat that is still in its infancy, so can be expected to grow as new processes are developed.
From slab to fully framed and trussed in two to three weeks using no more than three workers per house is significant.

Mick

Even wo going that far, precast walls, prebuilt roof frame as used in warehouses could build a house in no time and then stick utilities,insulation and cover with plasterboard on the inside and you are cruising...
But you need major corporation building these, not an army of tradies and utes so employment in australia would collapse

 

[Dona Ferentes]

The construction of houses today in OZ has not really varied greatly over the past hundred years.
New tools and building methods have come along, but there is not really been a lot of changes in the materials from which houses are built.
The following Youtube video looks at large hopuses built by a giant 3D printer.
The material is form of concrete called lavacrete, its composition being a heavily guarded secret.
Not only has it revolutionised the design process, but the physical building process as well.

Well, I hope it's an improvement on Monocrete, a blight from past decades. Cold, transmitting damp, ugly unable to be reconfigured .

 

[wayneL]

Mrs and I noticed years ago the only really use about three or four rooms.

Bedroom to sleep in.
Family room to watch the idiot box
Kitchen for just about everything else

... And in summer the verandah.

(Apart from the loo, laundry and bathroom of course)

Everything else is just a complete waste of materials and only really exist for resale value for other people who will never use the rooms that we never use.

 

[Belli]

Well, I hope it's an improvement on Monocrete, a blight from past decades. Cold, transmitting damp, ugly unable to be reconfigured .

Ah yes. Memories. The wonderful Monocrete. Renovations required the use of a jack-hammer. Max temp inside during Winter probably about 3C. The lovely mould behind the false wall when I tore it down. Took ages to re-plaster the internal walls. Only plus side was it never moved simply because it was concrete slabs hung off a steel frame.

At a friendly meeting regarding Canberra's architectural housing history, some were extolling Monocrete as an interesting development which should be preserved. My comments was, having owned and lived in one, all except one should be blown up and the one retained as a shining example of how not to build a house.

Another interesting design was the Beaufort house, named after the WWII Beaufort bomber. Pre-fab manufactured after that war at the same factory which manufactured the bomber. There were a few in Sydney as well I understand.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

And the Tocumwal ... a prefab solution to housing shortages .

 

[Belli]

And the Tocumwal ... a prefab solution to housing shortages .

I'd forgotten about that prefab design.

Here is a pic of one.



And a pic of a Beaufort house.

 

[qldfrog]

I'd forgotten about that prefab design.

Here is a pic of one.

View attachment 154615

And a pic of a Beaufort house. View attachment 154616

actually like #2

 

[farmerge]

I'd forgotten about that prefab design.

Here is a pic of one.

View attachment 154615

And a pic of a Beaufort house. View attachment 154616

othing wrong with this kind of housing as long as the persons nose isn't stuck up in the air. Looks to be very acceptable housing, as long as the pricing isn't over the top.

 

[farmerge]

Ah yes. Memories. The wonderful Monocrete. Renovations required the use of a jack-hammer. Max temp inside during Winter probably about 3C. The lovely mould behind the false wall when I tore it down. Took ages to re-plaster the internal walls. Only plus side was it never moved simply because it was concrete slabs hung off a steel frame.

At a friendly meeting regarding Canberra's architectural housing history, some were extolling Monocrete as an interesting development which should be preserved. My comments was, having owned and lived in one, all except one should be blown up and the one retained as a shining example of how not to build a house.

Another interesting design was the Beaufort house, named after the WWII Beaufort bomber. Pre-fab manufactured after that war at the same factory which manufactured the bomber. There were a few in Sydney as well I understand.

Just need a few bum polishers to get their act together Australia wide and the pre-fab industry could be the housing shortage answer. Of course then there is the probem of some Shires not willing to have these blight their landscape.

 

[farmerge]

Mrs and I noticed years ago the only really use about three or four rooms.

Bedroom to sleep in.
Family room to watch the idiot box
Kitchen for just about everything else

... And in summer the verandah.

(Apart from the loo, laundry and bathroom of course)

Everything else is just a complete waste of materials and only really exist for resale value for other people who will never use the rooms that we never use.

WayneL never a truer sentence penned. Having moved from a 3x1 20 odd years ago to the present abode 4x3 with all the extras. Three quarters of the joint is not in use unless the mob decends upon us for a freebee stay where we then are expected to supply everyhing