SYDNEY - Australian houses are now double the size of the average house in Europe and three times bigger than homes in Britain, official figures showed. At an average for houses and apartments of 214 square metres, Australians now outrank even Americans as having the biggest houses on the planet.

While newly built houses are twice the size they were 50 years ago, they sit on plots of land that have shrunk by half over the same period.

Despite three-child families becoming increasingly a rarity, four-bedroom homes are closer to the norm. What was once the garden has become a concrete slab bearing master bedrooms replete with changing rooms, rumpus rooms, home theatres, triple garages, music rooms and multiple living areas.

The bigger-is-better mantra first reflected in the popularity of massive four-wheel-drive vehicles has extended to status-seeking in the property market.

“It’s all about pride, personal pride — to say they have arrived,” said Bob Hamilton, former managing director of property developer Mirvac.

But the houses are so big, the other occupants might actually miss the arrival of the owner: Mum and Dad and the kids live together, but the home is so huge they don’t see each other all that often.

Stuart White, professor of ecology at the University of Technology Sydney, warned that what he called the “privatiSation of space” was alienating individuals from the community.

“We tend to seek those things in a private space rather than going seeking them a public space and mingling with others in the community,” he said. “That’s a worrying trend.”