The 2021 Census counted 10,852,208 private dwellings in Australia, and seven in ten of them are separate houses: about 7.6 million homes standing on their own land. Those are the facts. This site's view, and it is a view, is that a second home on one of those blocks in seven is a million more homes with no new suburb, no new road and no new sewer main, because the services already run past the gate. Queensland has already removed the rule that mattered most: since September 2022 a second home may be lived in by anyone, so the backyard is open to a parent, a child, a tenant or a friend. What is left is for each block owner to find out what fits, what it costs installed and who builds it, which is what the rest of these pages are for.
The numbers, and whose they are
| Figure | Value | Whose |
|---|---|---|
| Private dwellings in Australia, 2021 Census | 10,852,208, up 950,712 since 2016 | ABS |
| Separate houses | 70 per cent of them, about 7.6 million | ABS, the share; this site, the multiplication |
| Blocks with room for a second home | One in seven | This site's estimate, not a Census figure |
| Homes that would add | About a million | This site's arithmetic on its own estimate |
| Who may live in a secondary dwelling in Queensland | Anyone, since 26 September 2022 | Planning Regulation 2017 |
| The state's own target | One million homes by 2044 | Queensland Government |
The one-in-seven is the number to argue with, and the site is building the evidence for it block by block: every address through the block check is a measured lot against its council's rules, and the land pages hold hundreds of homes for sale measured the same way. When there are enough, the estimate becomes a count.
What living closer looks like
- A parent in the back, close enough for dinner and far enough for a door of their own, with the pension and tax rules written for exactly that. A home for parents.
- A child in the back, paying board instead of rent, saving the deposit the first home schemes assume. A first home for the kids.
- A tenant in the back, at the RTA median, which is income on a block that was earning nothing. What it rents for by council.
- An office in the back that is a home the day it needs to be. A home office that is also a dwelling.
This site's view
Nobody is coming to fix the housing shortage for us. Not a developer, not a department, not a factory overseas. The land is here, the makers are here, the builders are here. What was missing was a straight answer: what fits on my block, what it costs installed, and who will build it, with every number sourced and nobody paying to rank. That is what this site is. Small is how a million homes get done: one backyard at a time, by everyday people, with the rules in plain sight. Infill. Do more with less. Live closer. Build again.
Where to start
- Check the block: the zone, the lot, the cap and the overlays, in ten seconds.
- Compare the homes that fit, priced installed, from every maker.
- Read the questions in order, from "can I?" to living in it.
- Get install quotes from licensed builders who work in the area.
See it for your block
Questions people ask next
How many houses in Australia are on their own block?
The 2021 Census counted 10,852,208 private dwellings, and the ABS says 70 per cent of them are separate houses, which is about 7.6 million homes on their own land.
Where does the million homes figure come from?
It is this site's estimate, not a Census figure: a second home on one separate-house block in seven is about a million homes. The site is building the evidence block by block through the block check and the measured land listings.
Can anyone live in a granny flat in Queensland?
Yes. Since 26 September 2022 the Planning Regulation 2017 says a secondary dwelling may be occupied by people related to the main household or not, in every council area.
- ABS, 2021 Census dwelling count media release (10,852,208 private dwellings, 70 per cent separate houses), read 16 October 2026
- Planning Regulation 2017, schedule 24 (secondary dwelling), read 16 October 2026
- Queensland Government, secondary dwellings (rent to anyone since 26 September 2022), read 16 October 2026
- Department of Housing and Public Works, Queensland Housing Code page (one million homes by 2044), read 16 October 2026
- This site's block check and land listings, the evidence behind the one-in-seven estimate, read 16 October 2026