'Future potential': Joseph van Dyk on alternative housing options

The former St Brigid's College student, now living in Ballarat, believes a "rapid shift in demographics" to more people in their late 20s and early 30s and a "really healthy rate of population growth" is fuelling his optimism.

It's also from the opportunity to retain and "attract back youth that have gone on to study or future work opportunities".

The Hygge Property director said housing developments in the regions had typically been very binary.

"Its broadacre land subdivision which offers a really phenomenal opportunity to a very narrow demographic."

The demographic is changing and an opportunity has not been provided to people that were looking for something else ... "pretty much anyone who's not a young family".

He said there were people looking for different housing options, like the Nightingale Apartments, and he was trying to give them options.

"We understand that people want to live near the city, they want sustainability, they want alternative forms of transport that don't need car parking and they want energy-efficient homes."

As developments change the landscape of the city, Mr van Dyk sees Ballarat as a "series of interconnected villages", where you would be able to get milk, bread, coffee or run into your neighbours.

"But if you want something critically important, you can walk, ride or catch an e-scooter into the CBD," he said.

After finishing high school in Horsham, Mr van Dyk went to study in Melbourne and lived there for five years.

He tried a few different areas of study at university but eventually landed on geomatics, which is how you implement land surveys or cartography into agricultural and mining uses.

His life was on track to take a different path, to do surveying work in remote mining locations, but after meeting the woman who later became his wife, things changed.

Mr Van Dyk was travelling when they decided they were going to make it work and he started looking for a job in Melbourne. He was offered a job at Villawood properties.

The pair spent time working in the UK because they "wanted some diversity in work experience".

"I would have rung 40 companies and I got an interview with a guy from Melbourne and I was lucky enough he hired me on the spot and it worked out really well."

After a year-long stint overseas, Mr van Dyk came to Ballarat.

He is part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale board.

He said one of the reasons for coming back here was to be able to give back to the community.