It is hard to find a spare seat at the Sailes’s dinner table, with four generations living under one roof.
Australia’s housing crisis has seen 44-year-old Clint Sailes steadily renovate his home to accommodate more family members.
The Sailes family’s Bonogin home on the Gold Coast hinterland. (Supplied: Clint Sailes)
While it might seem unusual, it is a return to the past when double the number of Australians lived in standalone homes.
Over the past two years, Mr Sailes has added extra bathrooms and kitchenettes to his Gold Coast hinterland property.
The huge double-storey house backs onto bushland and has plenty of outdoor space to keep the peace between his 10 family members.
The Sailes family also has three dogs living with them. (ABC Gold Coast: Julia André)
He said he wanted to look after his ageing parents and save his kids from spending a fortune in Queensland’s most unaffordable rental market.
The median weekly rent for a Gold Coast property increased to $750 in March 2025, a rise of $50 compared to the same time last year.
Catherine Sailes says being near her family gives her peace of mind. (ABC Gold Coast: Julia André)
“It’s tough for kids these days, so whatever we can do to help them out early on in life we will do that,” Mr Sailes said.
Designing for 20 people
The Gold Coast’s housing crisis has become so bad that its residents are squeezing more family members into their space so they can enjoy the city’s enviable coastal lifestyle.
The latest Real Estate Institute of Queensland data showed the city’s March 2025 quarter vacancy rate was 1 per cent.
The Clares designed their home with adequate storage and office space. (Supplied: Clare Design)
It does not help that recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data indicated the number of new homes being built across the country is well below the amount needed to meet the National Housing Accord target.
Closer to the Gold Coast strip, Kerry and Lindsay Clare’s beachside home can comfortably sleep 20 people across two buildings.
The Clares’s home can be adjusted to become four private buildings. (Supplied: Clare Design)
The Clares live and work in one home, while their two sons, daughter-in-law, and granddaughters live next door.
The couple, who are both architects, have been celebrated for their design at the Australian Institute of Architects Queensland Awards.
The Clares focused on providing separate amenities for ease of living on the property. (Supplied: Clare Design)
The building has been designed with space and privacy in mind and the Clares can go days without seeing their sons, even though they are only a few metres away.
“There are plenty of different ways in and out of the site,” Ms Clare said.
She said sliding doors and windows meant rooms could be built out or closed off to suit different needs at different times.
A granny flat at the back of one of the dwellings is fit for guests. (Supplied: Clare Design)
“You need enough little social spaces, and what we’ve done here is make a lot of different indoor and outdoor spaces,” Ms Clare said.
“Everyone should have their focus on being able to provide flexibility in housing, but I’m not sure if developers can deliver it.”
Lindsay Clare and his wife designed their home to comfortably fit 20 people. (ABC Gold Coast: Julia André)
Changing how we build
Cohabiting with extended family members is not a new idea. Australians used to live with double the number of people in their homes.
The last census showed the average Australian household size had shrunk to 2.5 people in 2021, compared to 4.5 people per home in 1911.
Australians are fans of building large homes. (ABC Gold Coast: Cathy Border)
Griffith University researcher Heather Shearer said it was a worrying trend considering that, on average, Australians built some of the largest houses in the developed world.
The average Sydney home is more than seven times the size of properties in Tokyo, and Japan has managed to avoid falling into a housing crisis like Australia has.
Dr Shearer said building intergenerational homes was not a quick fix for the housing crisis, but could be part of the solution and combat urban sprawl.
Heather Shearer wants to see a change in the way Australians design homes. (ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)
“Our housing mix needs to be more diverse; we need more townhouses and duplexes,” she said.
“Can houses be designed for two couples or three generations where you can actually have privacy within the same house?”