With inner city accommodation at a premium, would you sacrifice space for an inner city locale? As our major cities become more crowded and space for new inner city housing is at a premium, developers are increasingly looking for innovative solutions. Hence we are seeing the emerging worldwide trend of the ‘micro apartment’, or ‘aPodments’ or ‘micro lofts’ as they are known in the United States.

Is it actually ‘micro’?

Yes!

The ‘micro apartment’ is certainly not for the claustrophobic. Popular in London, Warsaw, Tokyo and Singapore the average size of the micro apartment ranges from as little as 11.5 square metres up to 50 square metres. Here’s a simple example of what 11.5 square meters looks like.

A hot trend in NYC

In the last five years the median size of a micro apartment here in Australia has decreased from 52 square metres to 44 square metres. By way of comparison, the average sized newly constructed micro apartment in New York is approximately 37 square metres. However these design rules do not apply to existing apartment buildings that are refurbished, where apartments can be as little as 9.7 square metres.

Demand in the Unites States is so great that developers can’t build these micro apartments quickly enough and has led to the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, seeking proposals from developers to construct micro apartments on city owned land that contain at least 75% of apartments ranging in size between 25 – 28 square metres.

A solution to lack of housing?

Indeed, New York is not alone in its thinking micro apartments could be the solution to housing shortages. There is similar demand from buyers in Australia due to a strong rental market driven largely by international students and workers. Despite their size, micro apartments are popular because of their inner city location and their affordability. It’s easy to see how both of these factors would appeal to a Generation Y audience.

Recent research conducted by Slater & Gordon’s Conveyancing Works supports this theory, with 18-24 year olds listing proximity to the CBD as their priority when looking for real estate.

18-24 year olds list proximity to the CBD as their priority when looking for real estate.

New era of interiors

As apartments become smaller, space has to be maximised. This has been achieved by innovative designs including walls that move to create new spaces or tables popping up from the floor. Some furniture companies now make smaller scale furniture to actually fit these pint sized spaces.

Size matters

Most building codes, which were set decades ago when households were typically bigger require larger minimum sized apartments. Yet recently San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted in favor of reducing the minimum apartment size to just 20.4 square metres.

Micro opposition

Opponents of micro apartments question the amenity and quality of living these apartments provides to their dwellers, and see the emergence of the trend as something to cause a new class divide. Few micro apartments come with car parks, and additionally most financial institutions will not provide finance for an apartment that is less than 50 square metres in size.

It’s for these and other reasons that building authorities in London and Sydney now require a one bedroom apartment to be a minimum of 50 square metres. Building authorities in Melbourne are also reportedly considering minimum sizes for one bedroom apartments.

Whether these tiny apartments live up to the hype and are the catalyst for a change of direction in how we approach urban development or whether they are simply another trend that falls by the wayside, remains to be seen.

Are Australians are ready to sacrifice space for an inner city lifestyle?

http://youtu.be/_6GqqIvfSVQ?t=17s