Thomas Clement estimates there are more than 10 million empty rooms across Australia.

"Even if 10 per cent of those rooms were put on Flatmates or other share accommodation sites, we wouldn't have a problem," he said.

"The housing problem in Australia is more a utilisation problem than a stock problem."

Fairfax Media reported this week that Treasurer Scott Morrison has travelled to London for talks on housing affordability.

A report handed to state and federal treasurers in December recommended a government-backed bond vehicle to attract greater investment.

In 2014-15, Britain's Housing Finance Corporation issued more than £4 billion ($6.55 billion) in loans to housing agencies.

Mr Clement said Australia could also learn from the willingness of British people to share housing.

"If you look at the UK or other countries like that you've got these massive Victorian houses which used to be for one family," he said.

"Fifty years ago they were split up into four or five flats, and more recently most of them had two or three sharers living in each flat, so you kind of got this progression of use of property."

Mr Clement said Australians still wanted their own backyard and personal space.

"That's lovely, but as population increases it's not going to be the reality for most people," he said.

"There's a little bit of a cultural shift happening and when that clicks in a little bit more we'll have more people comfortable with sharing their home.

"It used to be seen as a negative that you had to share your home, but there are benefits as well."

Mr Clement said the number of new property listings on the website increased 15 per cent in the final quarter of 2016 compared with the previous year.

This article was originally published on Business Day.