Sydney
In a city obsessed by home ownership and where, for many, the ultimate fantasy is to own a harbourfront mansion, an increasing number of people are having to settle for something far more humble - 'couchsurfing'.
Faced with escalating rents, and a shortage of flats and houses - especially in the inner city - more and more people are winding up on a couch of a friend or relative.
The couchsurfer may arrive with assurances that 'it'll just be for a few days', but many Sydneysiders find days turn into weeks or months.
For the more affluent host of an unwanted couchsurfer, their presence is little more than a temporary irritant - a freeloader who is likely to drink all your beer and monopolise the remote control.
'Professional nine-to-fivers, modern couchsurfers are either saving for a million-dollar bond [or] have been forced out of their abode at short notice,' wrote journalist Lauren William recently. 'But gentle host, be warned. You may have landed yourself a cleverly disguised long-term flatmate.'
William compiled a list of rules that the owner of the couch should impose on any occupant: never allow the couchsurfer to unpack; never allow them to hang pictures; and never allow them to weed the garden or feed the cat.