When James Lara moved into his 57-square-metre apartment in Greenway, Tuggeranong, he had to make some economical decisions.
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"When I looked at what I could do with the 55 to 60 square-metre range, I thought: where are you going to put a couch? Where you going to put a dining table?," he said.
Though it may seem cosy, Mr Lara is not alone when it comes to living in a small apartment. According to the CommSec's Home Size Trends report, based on numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra is home to the smallest apartments in the country. And they are getting smaller.
The average floor area of new apartments in 2016-17 in Canberra is 95.8 square metres, well behind the rest of the country. The next smallest apartments are found in Western Australia, at 123 square metres, with NSW at 129.5 square metres.
Canberra is also building has smaller free-standing houses than the rest of the country, with an average floor area of 197 square metres for houses built in 2016-17. Only Tasmania has smaller new houses, averaging 195.5 square metres. In NSW, new houses average 230 square metres.
Mr Lara moved into the apartment two months ago after living in a share house in Monash.
"I was in a pretty big house in Monash and before I moved to Canberra, I grew up semi-rural," the 27-year-old said.
"I'm used to living on big blocks, big houses, lots of land, mowing the lawns and things like that."
Mr Lara's apartment, a one-bedroom, has a small study nook in between the bedroom and bathroom walls. It has a 12-square-metre balcony, space for one car underground, and communal space within the building.
"I had some trepidation I was going to go a little bit stir-crazy, being in a box so to speak."
The minimum for a one-bedroom apartment in the ACT is 50 square metres while a two-bedroom apartment is 70 square metres. Some developers in Canberra have proposed for apartments to be below the minimum.
"It's been fantastic, living here. It actually allows me to keep things simple; chores are easy, it's not something that I have to worry about, my cleaning really comes down to just keeping everything neat, doing a bit of vacuuming really."
The study also found an increased number of apartments being built across the country. Seven years ago about 27 per cent of homes built were apartments. Today, apartments account for 47 per cent of all homes built.
An increased number of apartments has reduced the size of the average home in Australia. The average home was 189.8 square metres in 2016-17, the lowest level in 20 years and down 2.7 per cent on a year ago.
As housing becomes smaller, Australians have had to make sacrifices.
"I don't have a linen cupboard or a separate room for laundry, which you wouldn't find in a lot apartments," Mr Lara said.
"I thought it might be a hassle, but I guess it just comes down to being economical with your space.
"While I only have a wardrobe in my bedroom, it takes up the whole wall of the bedroom so it's actually plenty of space for all my clothes and it also serves as a linen cupboard as well."
Mr Lara said he initially thought entertaining guests would be difficult, but has made use of the communal space in the building.
"I had guests on the weekend I didn't entertain here. I did a lot of my cooking and stuff, but in developments like this, you have communal areas, like outdoor viewing platforms, pool areas."
