Where "The Block" Comes From
In Australian English a "block" is a plot of residential land, as in "we just bought a block" to build a house on. The Australian Bureau of Statistics uses "block size" in this sense, and the quarter-acre block was long seen as the standard of the "Australian dream" of home ownership.
"The Block" is also the name of a long-running Australian renovation TV show. We haven't found a documented first use for the phrase in its residential sense.
Sources: Australians building houses on smaller blocks (ABS) · Quarter acre (Wikipedia)
"They just bought a block out near the new estate."
How Aussies Actually Use It
Most often heard in conversations about buying land or building a house ("we found a block near the estate"). It is also the name of a long-running Australian renovation TV show.
It's also the name of a long-running Australian renovation TV show, which has reinforced the term's association with home and land ownership in everyday conversation.
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