Ilan Wiesel, The University of Melbourne; Liss Ralston, Swinburne University of Technology, and Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology
You’d think falling housing prices might help people on low incomes, but history shows downturns often increase inequality. And many buyers who took out big loans during the housing boom are at risk.
The pandemic has brought to a head deep-rooted problems with how housing is provided in Australia. Fortunately, the solutions can play a central role in the national recovery process.
Now is the time for a two-pronged strategy to ensure everyone has a home: a spot-purchasing program to find homes for people now in emergency accommodation, followed by social housing construction.
Construction employs one in ten Australians, with a broad range of skills, using mostly locally made materials. Building social housing would meet urgent social needs as well as creating jobs.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, we must seize the opportunity to make urban centers more livable places by investing in affordable housing, basic services, clean energy and active transport.
Mass unemployment will make it a lot harder for tens of millions of Americans already struggling to pay for housing to keep their roof over their heads.
Platforms like Airbnb have been blamed for reducing the rental housing supply and pushing up rents. But investors seeking more security might now want to offer their properties to long-term renters.
A home, a springboard, or a safety net? New research finds a surprisingly large number of Australians have lived in social housing since 2000, using it in several very different ways.
Long before a fire season that destroyed 3,500 homes, more than 100,000 Australians were homeless. If only we showed the same urgency and innovation in housing them as we did for bushfire victims.
There are many winners in a scenario in which Canada’s minority government enacts stronger supports for non-profit housing. The biggest are those who would get secure and affordable homes.
A coordinated mix of policies does more to keep housing affordable for a significant proportion of a city’s residents than the unbalanced approach we see in Sydney.
Australians’ need for smaller and more diverse dwellings is growing. The planning system is not providing enough of this housing, and self-serving opposition to it should be resisted.
The Earned Income Tax Credit was established in 1975 to reduce payroll taxes and help with rising prices for low-income families. Today, it could help poor families with housing.
While governments focus on how to ease congestion and make affordable housing more accessible for workers in our biggest cities, fast rail could be a mixed blessing for regional cities.
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University