common ground

Australia is in the grip of a housing crisis, says Melbourne architect Jeremy McLeod – and the situation is rapidly getting worse. “Not since 1947 have we seen in Australia such a low proportion of home ownership amongst people aged 35 and under, and that rate is still declining,” he says. “The wealth divide between Baby Boomers and Millennials keeps getting bigger. It’s an inter-generational theft.”

The problem, says Jeremy, is not that Australia has stopped building houses – but that new housing is geared towards wealthy investors and not owner-occupiers. “A large