Experts want abandoned and empty homes made available to ease housing shortage burden
Abandoned or derelict homes have been floated as a potential answer to Australia's housing crisis. (Supplied: Jason Vassallo)
Anyone who has driven across some part of regional Australia has seen one and done a double-take.
Sometimes it's a homestead that's fallen victim to the ravages of time, or a quaint cottage overcome by weeds with some itinerant sheep its only tenant.
Or it could be a well-kept but otherwise empty home, blinds permanently drawn and door forever closed.
Australia is dotted with hundreds of thousands of these abandoned or empty homes and buildings.
Each is livable, to varying degrees.
Some housing experts believe the unused dwellings could be the answer to Australia's ongoing housing crisis.
University of Melbourne property lecturer Piyush Tiwari said abandoned and empty homes could give Australia's housing supply the shot-in-the-arm it needed.
"While there is talk of [the] housing supply shortage causing rent rise and affordability crisis, there is a stock that is artificially [available] outside the market," Dr Tiwari said
"If … vacant stock is pushed in the market, it could address the demand-supply gap that we see today."
Where are they?
Experimental data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last year estimated that Australia had between 100,000 and 150,000 empty or abandoned homes.
The majority of these homes, according to ABS director of census data ventures Ross Watmuff, are in regional areas.
But Dr Tiwari said it was in already built-up areas with greater access to employment, like greater Melbourne, where the best gains could be made
Some larger buildings, like schools, are seemingly abandoned and frozen in time. (Supplied: Greg Davis)
Some homes are close to amenities and highways, but little else. (Supplied: Greg Davis)
Time has taken a toll on the exterior of some of these buildings. (Supplied: Greg Davis)
Some homes are in more livable states than others. (Supplied: Caron Fardoulis)
Photographers are willing to trek long distances to capture images of these homes. (ABC News: Caleb Cluff)
According to non-profit research institute Prosper Australia's Speculative Vacancy report, about one in 20 homes in greater Melbourne, or just shy of 100,000 properties, were empty last year.
The group's advocacy director, Rayna Fahey, said while some homes sat empty, families in desperate need were living in despair.
"We're supposed to be one of the luckiest countries on earth … there's no reason why we should be having mums and their children living in cars," she said.
It has also been noticed at a government level.
The federal government remains focused on building new homes, evidenced by Labor's recent $900 million modular housing promise.
Meanwhile, state legislators in Victoria are cracking down on vacant land and homes.
From January 1, vacant and empty homes and land across the state will be hit with a new vacancy tax.
Housing advocates say the threat alone is working.
"I'm in regional Victoria and I've certainly noticed in our local main town a number of blocks that have been empty for a really long time are all of a sudden being built upon," Ms Fahey said.
"It's good to see, and we definitely would think that's because of the taxation."
Victoria's existing vacancy tax was introduced in 2018 but only applied to properties in 16 Melbourne councils.
A national approach
The idea of an Australia-wide taxation on empty homes and land to return properties to the market has its supporters.
Ms Fahey and Dr Tiwari said it could help address Australia's demand-supply gap.
However, RMIT University Centre for Urban Research lecturer Liam Davies said while the approach had merit, he questioned its long-term impact.
"It could play some part but it's going to be highly location dependent, and even then, it would probably only be a stopgap measure for a larger issue, which is we need to plan for more housing in locations that people actually want to live," Dr Davies said.
His location concerns were echoed by Adrian Lee, Associate Professor of Property and Real Estate at Deakin University.
He said any empty or abandoned homes returned to the market would need to be made into medium or high density property to have an impact.
"Otherwise there's probably not enough property to increase supply," he said.
So how do I get one?
Options for obtaining an abandoned home are limited if taxation or other measures don't return one to the market.
It essentially comes down to a form of care or squatting that leads to ownership — known as adverse possession — or buying them from the existing owner.
Almost all Australian jurisdictions recognise some form of adverse possession, where an individual claims official ownership of an area by proving they've provided exclusive and continuous care for it.
More often than not, it is people claiming ownership of land outside of their home's title due to boundary fences that have been incorrectly installed.
Nationally, the federal government processes up to one million adverse possession claims each year, however it's not clear what percentage of those are for abandoned homes.
The only other way to take ownership of an abandoned home or plot of land is to purchase it legitimately.
What's next?
Housing and cost-of-living remain high on the federal and state government's respective agendas.
A federal parliamentary inquiry is looking into the hurdles to home ownership, with potential changes flagged ahead of next year's federal election.
The inquiry will hand down its final recommendations in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Victoria's vacant land tax is due to start in January.
The tax's efficacy — and enforcement — could prove its greatest stumbling block.
The tax requires property owners to self-nominate and declare themselves eligible for the new tax.
"The state government hasn't introduced a method for detecting non-compliant dwellings, so it means it really relies on the honesty of the owners," Dr Davies said.
Last year, a total of 1,013 properties were found liable for the tax in the 16 eligible inner-Melbourne local government areas.
Prosper Australia's data suggested that there were more than 20,000 empty homes in the taxable area during that period.
"More homes means more opportunities for Victorians — and we want to get millennials into homes and give them the chances their parents had," a Victorian government spokesperson said in a statement.
The federal government did not respond to request for comment.