Parents’ Scheme Unveiled to Tackle Housing Crisis
A savvy couple have built an innovative home that blends downsized living with beautiful, affordable housing for tenants, which also helps fund their travel retirement ambitions. By championing this forward-thinking approach, they are highlighting how embracing new housing models can open up more options for retirees, while addressing the pressing need for rental housing in Brisbane.
Rodger and Robyn Macqueen’s future home will soon be a thoughtfully designed one-bedroom dwelling located above four income-generating rental rooms—a modern reimagining of the traditional five-bedroom rooming house.
The Macqueens began their journey into rooming houses by investing in a five-bedroom property, guided by Kevin Doodney, Australian Housing Futurist and visionary in smarter, smaller housing.
When Doodney introduced his latest innovation, the ‘Smarter Smaller Home 4’—also known as the ‘Resi-Rental Home’—the couple immediately recognised its potential. This innovative model, featuring owner accommodation alongside the potential of four rental incomes, perfectly suited their retirement plans and travel-focused lifestyle.
Apart from ensuring a healthy rental income stream, those plans include seeing more of the world on ocean cruises, where Rodger is in high demand for his astronomy lectures.
“You could say the stars are aligning perfectly for us,” said Rodger, who is has retired from his job as a product category manager for a hardware company.
“Robyn and I set out on our journey as rental property investors 17 years ago to better ensure that we wouldn’t be relying on government pensions in retirement.
Robyn, a retired hospital administrator, said that the prospect of even more cruising and other travel in retirement meant they did not want to be tied down by a traditional family home and garden.
“The prospect of now having a modern, low-maintenance home to return to between our travels has really enhanced the lifestyle factor for us,” she said. “With a lock-up garage, private entry, one large bedroom, and a huge deck, it won’t be so much a case of downsizing from our three-bedroom home as ‘right-sizing’.”
The place that the Macqueens will call home when they’re not cruising sits atop a cleverly designed, well-appointed rooming house that will provide private, individually secure accommodation to three or four single tenants.
“We’ve always tried hard to look after our tenants by keeping our rents below market rates,” Rodger said. “With our two rooming house investments we hope to be able to continue in that vein, making a small but positive social impact by providing affordable, beautiful accommodation.”
Future Housing Taskforce founder and pioneer of ‘smaller, smarter’ housing, Kevin Doodney, said single-person households constituted a rapidly growing demographic in Queensland that included essential workers and single professionals.
“In partnership with socially conscious investors like the Macqueens, we’re supplying homes that meet the ‘missing middle’ – in single and double-storey complexes that offer greater density and diversity in a manner compatible with surrounding lower density residential environments,” Mr Doodney said.
“Our investor partners are providing secure, long-term accommodation to more than 500 renters in Brisbane.
“This win-win situation for renters and investors alike would not have been possible without Brisbane City Council’s decision to waive infrastructure charges on rooming accommodation, significantly enhancing private investor interest.”
The Resi-Rental Home will be officially unveiled on 23rd May in Deagon, Brisbane, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Macqueens, the Future Housing Taskforce, government representatives, and key advocates for innovation in affordable housing.
Kevin Doodney described the Macqueen’s as truly inspiring trailblazers, praising their vision and willingness to embrace a creative housing solution that balances lifestyle and financial security. Their journey showcases how thinking outside the box can create a more abundant lifestyle while addressing pressing housing needs—a story that serves as a call to action for others to reimagine what’s possible in their own lives.