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Purpose-built rooming houses · Victoria

One house.Nine rents.

Keyspace finds the land, builds a nine-suite rooming house and manages it for you, so one suburban block collects nine rents instead of one.

Run the numbers

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A completed single-storey Keyspace rooming house at dusk, with a landscaped front garden and lights on inside Completed 9-bedroom build
12

projects sold to Keyspace clients

9

available now on our private list

11.8%

average projected gross yield across our projects

16

suburbs across Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat

Pulled from our live project list. Yields are projections from each project’s feasibility, not audited returns. See every project

Run the numbers

Same block.
Nine leases, not one.

Move the sliders to compare a Keyspace rooming house with renting the same block to one household. Every room has its own lease, so one empty room never empties your income.

9

Our layouts range from six to nine self-contained suites.

$350

Our current projects are projected at $330 to $400 a room each week.

9 of 9

Drag it down to see what a vacancy does.

$1.40M

Land plus build. Our current projects run from about $1.13M to $1.61M all-in.

$550

What one household might pay for a normal house there, per week.

Weekly rent
$3,150 /wk
Annual rent
$163,800
Projected gross yield
11.7%
Rent kept if one room is empty
89%
Nine rents
$163,800
One tenancy
$28,600

With nine separate leases, one empty room costs you about 11% of the rent. When a standard rental sits empty, you lose all of it.

Illustrative only. Gross rent before council rates, insurance, management, maintenance and finance costs. General information, not financial advice.

What we build

Nine private suites under one roof.

Every suite is self-contained, with its own ensuite, kitchenette and courtyard. Tenants get privacy a share house can’t give them. You get a rent for every door.

Inside a Keyspace home
A furnished suite with bed, lounge chairs, kitchenette and sliding door to a courtyard
A furnished suiteBedroom, sitting area and kitchenette in one room
Ensuite with a frameless glass shower, timber-look tiles, vanity and a large backlit mirror
Private ensuite
Kitchenette with dark overhead cabinets, stone benchtop and space for a microwave, beside a small dining table
Kitchenette in every suite
Private courtyard with lawn, garden beds and a bistro table outside a brick suite
Private courtyard
Shared kitchen with dark cabinetry, two rangehoods, a dining table set for four and a stacked washer and dryer
Shared kitchen and laundry
  • Class 1b construction
  • 7-star energy + 10kW solar
  • Split-system air con per suite
  • Digital locks with Wi-Fi
  • Interconnected smoke alarms
  • 4-camera CCTV
  • 2.7 m ceilings

How it works

One team,
from land to lease.

No juggling a buyer’s agent, a builder and a property manager. We run all four stages and keep you in the loop at each one.

The full process
  1. 01

    Land

    We find blocks in Victorian growth corridors that suit a nine-suite rooming house, and run a full feasibility on each one.

  2. 02

    Finance

    We work with your broker, or introduce lenders who understand construction and rooming house loans.

  3. 03

    Build

    Class 1b design, council approvals and construction, with progress photos from slab to handover.

  4. 04

    Manage

    We lease every room, screen every tenant, look after maintenance and send you a monthly statement.

Recent projects

Real projects.
Real numbers.

A few of the rooming houses our clients have secured. We keep the street addresses private. The suburbs and the numbers are right here.

See all projects
Sold9 bedrooms

Melton West

12.2%projected gross yield
Weekly rent
$3,330
Cash flow / yr
$53.3k
Sold to a Keyspace client~$1.42M
Sold9 bedrooms

Norlane

12.0%projected gross yield
Weekly rent
$2,970
Cash flow / yr
$44.1k
Sold to a Keyspace client~$1.29M
Sold9 bedrooms

Sebastopol

14.5%projected gross yield
Weekly rent
$3,150
Cash flow / yr
$62.0k
Sold to a Keyspace client~$1.13M

Figures are the projections from each project’s feasibility at the time it was listed.

Common questions

Straight answers.

What investors ask us most before a strategy session. If yours isn’t here, it’s a good one to bring to the call.

What is a rooming house, and why is the yield higher?

A rooming house is one property with several private rooms, each leased to its own tenant, plus shared spaces. A Keyspace home has nine self-contained suites, so one block collects nine rents instead of one. Our current projects are projected at roughly 11–14% gross yield, compared with the 3–4% typical of a standard house. Here’s how rooming house investing works, and what comes with it.

How much capital do I need to get started?

It depends on your borrowing capacity, existing equity and the specific project. Many clients use equity in a property they already own; others use a cash deposit. We look at your full position in the strategy session before recommending anything.

How long from land to a tenanted property?

Typically 8 to 12 months from land settlement to first rent. That covers council approvals, construction and leasing, and it varies by site and council. You’ll get a project-specific timeline during planning.

Do you arrange finance, or do I need my own broker?

Either works. We can introduce brokers who know construction and rooming house lending, or work alongside your existing broker. What matters is that the loan is structured correctly for the project, and we’ll make sure it is.

Can I invest through my SMSF?

Several of our clients do. Specific borrowing rules apply (limited recourse borrowing arrangements) and not every project suits an SMSF. We work with SMSF specialists and can talk through whether it makes sense for you. Read our SMSF guide.

How is Keyspace different from a buyer’s agent or property manager?

A buyer’s agent finds you a property. A property manager looks after it once you own it. We do both, and everything in between: land, finance support, design, build and management. One partner for the whole lifecycle instead of five.

Where do you build?

Right now our projects are in Melbourne’s west, north and south-east, plus Geelong and Ballarat. We choose suburbs where demand for affordable private rooms is strong and rooming house approvals are well established. See the map.

Who lives in a Keyspace rooming house?

Singles and couples who want a private, self-contained room with its own bathroom and kitchenette, without paying for a whole apartment. Each suite is leased separately and every tenant is screened before they move in.

What happens once construction is finished?

Our property management team takes over straight away: tenant sourcing, screening, leasing and ongoing maintenance. You get a monthly statement showing rent, occupancy and expenses.

Free Blueprint

Stop leaving yield on the table.

Inside the Blueprint

  • The full numbers on a real nine-room build
  • How investors fund it with equity they already have
  • The timeline from land to first rent

Then book a free 30-minute strategy session if it fits.