An Affordable Identity—Customisation Prior to Housing Construction in Australia

Abstract

This paper presents a study that explores an affordable housing scheme which allows customisation prior to construction for owner-occupiers. Due to ongoing concerns about the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affecting large populations, the demand for affordable housing is increasing. In particular, low-income households continue to struggle with unaffordable rents throughout major Australian cities. Assailed by this growing affordability crisis and deemed environmentally unsustainable, Australian suburbs are in need of revitalisation. The implementation of mass customisation solutions can heighten the sense of identity within a community and also significantly increase occupant satisfaction. However, presently, there is a lack of studies discussing the financial model and design of affordable mass customisation solutions for housing. To address that gap, this paper employs the method of case studies by analysing five relevant cases from the perspectives of affordability and customisation. The results of this study indicate that there is great room for future improvement in what is currently claimed to be defined as affordable housing, in terms of both affordability and customisation. These results will potentially assist and provide guidance to future architects, developers and planners.

Hybrid Study of Quantitative–Qualitative Analysis to Recognize the Most Cost-Effectiveness Criteria to Develop Affordable Mass Housing

“…The most important reason for selecting the cases was the project target group. Since one of the most important objectives of affordable housing projects is to meet the needs of the low-income group [7,8,42,[159][160][161][162][163][164][165], it was searched with this goal, and the following four projects were selected: Before, it was stated that to further check the validity of the identified criteria, it is necessary to analyze them in successful affordable housing projects. Thus, four projects were selected.…”

“…The most important reason for selecting the cases was the project target group. Since one of the most important objectives of affordable housing projects is to meet the needs of the low-income group [7,8,42,[160][161][162][163][164][165][166], it was searched with this goal, and the following four projects were selected: As mentioned in the data analysis in the last stage, 19 experts who participated in answering the questionnaires in the initial stages were asked to state the level of a ention to the final criteria in the selected projects and to say how much the percentage of this a ention affected the project's success.…”

“…Low-income households struggle with expensive rents. Because of growing affordability requirements and being environmentally unsustainable, most suburbs need revitalization [42]. Affordable means more than just economics.…”

“…It means a house for human habitation that is not overcrowded and unhealthy. Family expenses (housing, water, electricity, and gas) must also be considered to accurately present the actual cost [42,43]. The affordable housing definition within the National Housing Strategy requires the rent to be less than or equal to 30% of the median gross income.…”

Dwelling adaptation in a particular resident through patron-client relationship

“…The affordability crisis has prompted individuals to seek alternative solutions and take control. This is achieved through more creative customization of homes, management of finances, and expression of individuality (Carney and Yu 2022).…”