Canberrans have the largest homes in the world, according to new research, more than double the size of homes in Wellington and more than five times the size of the average Moscow home.
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New research by UK company Buildworld analysed property listing data to compare the average home size across 72 capital cities.
Canberra topped the charts with the largest average home size at 256.3 square metres.
Cairo, Egypt had the second largest homes at 188 square metres, followed by Tripoli, Libya (180 square metres) and Amman, Jordan (170 square metres).
On the other end of the scale, the Russian capital of Moscow had smallest average homes in the world at 45.5 square metres.
Bangkok, Thailand came in with the second smallest average house size at 51 square metres, followed closely by Paris, France (52 square metres) and Tehran, Iran (55 square metres).
The research backs up previous data from CommSec, which found the ACT built the biggest houses in Australia in 2019/2020. New-build ACT homes at the time had an average floor area of 256.3 square metres.
O'Malley is often a suburb that comes to mind when people think of Canberra's biggest homes.
Mansions like 15 Timbarra Crescent - which has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and space for 15 cars - are dotted throughout the suburb.
But Alysia Walsh of Canberra's Verv Property said newer suburbs, where the blocks are smaller, are also home to some of Canberra's big builds.
She said people are building large family homes in suburbs like Throsby and Taylor in Gungahlin, or Whitlam in Molonglo Valley.
"Even though they're on a smaller block, they're maximising the amount of living space that they can put on that block size," she said.
Ms Walsh is currently selling a six-bedroom home in Throsby that spans 412 square metres in floor space, on a 876-square-metre block.
Seller Shana Uhlmann said the property was built in 2021 as the "dream home" for her family of six. Ms Uhlmann said functional living and working spaces was a requirement.
"We have four kids and one of them has autism, ADHD and anxiety, so room-sharing is not really a good option for her. And they're also really independent, so we wanted a house that gave them all their own rooms, but also gave them their own space," she said.
The home has a separate "kids wing" that also opens out to the backyard, while the main bedroom and en suite upstairs offers privacy for the parents.
Ms Uhlmann said distinct working spaces was also a requirement.
"My husband works from home permanently and I work from home a couple of days a week," she said.
Canberra architect Shannon Battison previously told The Canberra Times the territory's affinity with large homes could come at a cost to building quality and the environment.
"I'm not saying that for everybody, a small house is the right fit by any means. But if we all continue to build only big houses, then we're in real trouble," she said.
"Our suburbs are filled with really horrible spaces in between houses, and it gets hotter and hotter, and harder and harder to cool our houses.
"Also, we're leaving vast members of the community behind because not everyone can or should afford a huge house. And lots of us who can't afford these huge houses, but feel the need to build them because that's what everybody builds, are building them really badly."
This week a group of housing advocates and community organisations called on the ACT government to allow more townhouses and terraces in Canberra.
"As it stands, the planning system makes it easy to build sprawling mansions, but near impossible to build modest multi-family social housing of a similar size," the letter from Missing Middle Canberra said.
For some, the desire for a large home was likely to continue in a post-COVID world, Ms Walsh said.
"Everyone was locked up in their houses and working from home," she said.
"I think we've all realised that we do need a bit more space to have that work life balance and be able to have our own sort of sections within the house."
