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.