Melbourne’s Kensington is home to the country’s first medium-density build-to-rent-to-own development, kicking off the inner-ring suburb’s role as a test-bed of new housing types for a country that desperately needs them.

Assemble is moving residents into the 393 Macaulay Road development it finished in July and in 2027 it will offer them the chance to buy their apartments at an average price of $10,400 per square metre – a rate agreed in 2018-19, which the company says is already 10 per cent below market rates.