Have you ever gone to inspect a unit only to find the number of bedrooms has been somewhat exaggerated? Found the second bedroom more like an alcove with a sliding door? Or left wondering when is a bedroom really a bedroom?
Real Estate Industry of Victoria (REIV) president Richard Simpson said a bedroom had to fit its namesake.
"I believe that it should be called a bedroom if you can fit a bed in it," he said.
"Whether that's a single bed or a double bed or a queen bed — I think that's good enough to be called a bedroom."
But Mr Simpson said he believed agents were doing themselves a disservice by rounding up the number of bedrooms a property had.
"I would generally err on the side of saying it was more of a study than a third bedroom," he said.
"I think it's better as an agent to not have people come into the house and be disappointed."
According to Mr Simpson, floor plans were a good place for potential buyers to gauge the size of the house or apartment.
"It comes down to the personal needs of the buyer … and people are going to go and look at other properties that have three proper bedrooms if that's what they want."
Know the code
While some building policies and regulations can change from state to state, Master Builders Queensland building services general manager Tony Mitchell said there were a few code must-haves when it came to bedrooms.
"They start with things like lighting and ventilation," Mr Mitchell said.
"If you walk into the room and it doesn't feel light and airy, that'd be the first question mark that maybe this is not actually a bedroom."
Mr Mitchell said about 5 per cent of the room should be open, either via a door, window or louvres to allow for natural ventilation.
There was also a minimum natural light requirement calculated on the floor area of a habitable room.
"You need about 10 per cent of the aggregated floor area to actually allow the transmission of light," Mr Mitchell said.
If a bedroom was windowless, Mr Mitchell said light could be borrowed from adjoining rooms through the use of wide sliding doors.
A minimal ceiling height requirement of 2.4 metres was also required.
However, Mr Mitchell said there was one more crucial element.
"It's vitally important that there is a properly installed smoke alarm in those areas to ensure the safety of the occupants," he said.
This year, legislation was passed in Queensland meaning all homes must have interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms installed in each bedroom, in hallways outside the room, and on each level by 2027.
It is slightly different in Victoria with hard-wired smoke alarms with battery back-ups required in all dwellings built after August 1, 1997.
Mr Mitchell said while regulations were strictly enforced for new construction, older properties found off-plan uses.
"People just advertise it differently," he said.
"They've got control of the property and they can use it for many things, which don't strictly comply with the National Construction Code," he said.
No real guide for rental properties
Tenants Victoria's Agata Wierzbowski said minimal size requirements were not specified under the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act.
However, there were stipulations for those in a rooming house.
A bedroom must be no smaller than 7 metres squared, 12 metres squared for a room shared by two people, and further four metres squared for each additional person.
Those renting in a rooming house were often more vulnerable, Ms Wierzbowski said, and many unregistered providers failed to meet those requirements.
Selling up space
Ms Wierzbowski said Tenants Victoria had also noticed more people opting to sublet rooms to cut costs.
"We are concerned about rising rents, and what that means for particularly the lower income renters," she said
With a tight rental market, Ms Wierzbowski said tenants were often moving out rather than speaking up.
"We are seeing people who have had repair issues where they're choosing to break their lease," she said.
"Rather than maybe disputing this issue with the rental provider and maybe going to VCAT, we're seeing an increased unwillingness to do that, and a preference to lease back."
