tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/rental-market-32336/articlesRental market – The Conversation2024-03-12T17:48:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2254592024-03-12T17:48:58Z2024-03-12T17:48:58Z‘Applying for a home felt harder than applying for a job’: NZ private rentals won’t solve need for emergency housing<p>The number of people living in emergency housing in Aotearoa New Zealand has grown exponentially over the last eight years – but plans to rely on the private rental sector ignore fundamental realities of renting.</p>
<p>Established in 2016, the <a href="https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/housing/nowhere-to-stay/emergency-housing/index.html">emergency housing programme</a> – short-term housing for people with nowhere to stay – was meant to be a stop-gap measure. There are now 3,000 active tenancies as a lack of affordability and shortages in housing place pressure on low-income renters. </p>
<p>The coalition <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/511049/govt-hopes-for-landlords-help-in-ending-emergency-housing">government recently announced a “shake-up” of the sector</a>. People seeking access to emergency housing will need to prove they have made “a reasonable effort” to secure a home in the private rental sector. The government will also be cutting back on the length of emergency housing grants. </p>
<p><a href="https://wero.ac.nz/">Our research</a> on the factors that shape people’s housing outcomes, experiences and journeys shows the private rental sector can often exacerbate housing precarity. </p>
<p>The government’s proposals don’t take into account the realities of households or the way the private rental sector itself is a key contributor to housing inequalities. Private renting cannot be viewed as an easy solution for the emergency and wider housing crisis.</p>
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<h2>Housing discrimination is widespread</h2>
<p>Our survey of 800 residents across seven neighbourhoods in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch revealed experiences of housing discrimination are widespread in Aotearoa New Zealand. </p>
<p>A staggering 70% of renters in our survey felt people were treated unfairly when trying to rent or buy a home in Aotearoa New Zealand. Nearly half of all renters reported directly experiencing discrimination when trying to rent a home. </p>
<p>The study also showed discrimination is intersectional. Socio-economic status, family status as well as race/ethnicity combined to create clear disadvantages for people trying to secure a home. Notably, Māori and Pasifika respondents were more likely overall to report experiences of discrimination.</p>
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<p>When asked for examples to illustrate their experiences of discrimination, renters and owners alike provided stories of struggling to secure private rental housing at some point in their lives. These included being judged, dismissed and ignored by landlords or property managers as well as a sense of “not having a chance” in a housing market in which “applying for a home felt harder than applying for a job”. </p>
<p>Being a low-income household, a Work and Income New Zealand client, a family with a larger number of children or a sole parent and being Māori or Pasifika, often contributed to the experience of being excluded from much of the private rental sector.</p>
<h2>The instability of renting</h2>
<p>This situation is made worse by the instability of rental housing.</p>
<p>Renters are frequent movers. Our survey results show a mere 12% of private rental tenants have lived in only one home over the past ten years. This stands in stark contrast to 47% of owner-occupiers but also 39% of public housing tenants. Conversely, 40% of all renters have lived in four or more homes over the past ten years.</p>
<p>This high mobility is closely entwined with insecure tenancies. Having a tenancy ended by the landlord was one of the most common reasons survey respondents provided for moving house. </p>
<p>As such, renters’ housing journeys are severely constrained by the imbalance between them and private landlords. Not only may renters find themselves on the move when they did not wish to, but they are forced into securing a new rental under pressure and at their own cost.</p>
<p>It takes time and effort to secure a home, especially one that is affordable and suitable for a household’s needs. </p>
<p>Our survey shows 27% of renters took four months or more to find their current home – longer than the most common notice period of 90 days, which the government is planning to <a href="https://www.renews.co.nz/what-the-coalition-deal-means-for-renters/">reduce to 42 days in some circumstances</a>. Close to a quarter of renters viewed 11 homes or more and 25% applied for more than ten rental properties.</p>
<p>These periods of time and number of applications suggest that even renters who are not on the cusp of dire housing need take months to find a rental home.</p>
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<h2>Private rental sector is not a solution</h2>
<p>Our survey adds to international research that demonstrates the impact of housing precarity. </p>
<p>Recent research in <a href="https://www.motu.nz/assets/Uploads/Micro-geography-and-public-tenant-wellbeing.pdf">Aotearoa</a> and <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/78/1/40">the United Kingdom</a> has shown private renting adversely affects renters’ health and wellbeing. </p>
<p>These effects were primarily attributed to the stress caused by insecure tenancies. Moreover, a Western Australian initiative to require public housing applicants to prove they had tried to get a private rental was dismantled <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/363">following a 2004 inquiry</a>. </p>
<p>The inquiry revealed evidence of discrimination against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants. It concluded “it was humiliating for [Aboriginal people] to face often blatant discrimination from agents or owners”. </p>
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<p>In all likelihood, these issues will also be disproportionately felt by Māori who are <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/reports/te-pa-harakeke-maori-housing-and-wellbeing-2021">more likely to be renters and experience severe housing deprivation</a>. </p>
<p>The emergency housing crisis can only be responded to through immediate secure housing support for those in need and a medium and long-term focus on building safe, secure and stable housing for all New Zealanders. </p>
<p>Responding to the emergency housing crisis with greater reliance on the private rental sector amounts to fighting fire with fire. It seeks stability where none exists. </p>
<p>The government’s proposal that people seeking emergency housing demonstrate “reasonable effort” to find private housing risks exposing people to more housing deprivation, stress and discrimination that will, in all likelihood, lead some to homelessness.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225459/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Terruhn receives funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for the WERO research programme. She is affiliated with Renters United. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francis L Collins receives funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He has previously received other funding from Te Apārangi Royal Society of New Zealand.</span></em></p>Renters face all types of housing discrimination, new research has found. This needs to be taken into consideration when it comes to relying on the private sector to help with emergency housing.Jessica Terruhn, Senior Research Fellow, University of WaikatoFrancis L Collins, Professor of Sociology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2231912024-03-07T19:23:16Z2024-03-07T19:23:16ZThink short-stay rentals like Airbnb are out of control? Numbers are down, especially in our biggest cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579082/original/file-20240301-22-rcaneg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C275%2C4951%2C3285&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/person-looking-places-stay-on-digital-372864868">Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/housing-series-2024-153769">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/tax-on-airbnb-stayz-accommodation-could-boost-nsw-housing-supply-20240214-p5f50s.html">Further restrictions</a> on short-term rental properties listed on platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz are on the table in Australia. Public pressure to ease the housing crisis is mounting. This makes quick-fix solutions to make housing more affordable increasingly attractive to governments. </p>
<p>But any policy should be evidence-based. So what can we learn from the <a href="https://www.airdna.co/">latest data</a> on short-term rentals? The findings of our analysis might surprise you: </p>
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<li>short-stay listings in Australia are down more than 15% on pre-pandemic numbers</li>
<li>the number of active short-term rentals is a small fraction of the total number of dwellings in Australia and roughly equivalent to the number of new dwellings built each year</li>
<li>there has been a shift in listings to regional areas, as major city numbers have dropped sharply.</li>
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<p>It appears higher rents and property prices in our big cities could be making short-term rentals less attractive for owners and investors. Because housing market conditions and short-term rental impacts vary from place to place, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/urbanisation-and-tax-have-driven-the-housing-crisis-its-hard-to-see-a-way-back-but-covid-provides-an-important-lesson-223548">Urbanisation and tax have driven the housing crisis. It's hard to see a way back but COVID provides an important lesson</a>
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<h2>How have the numbers changed?</h2>
<p>Short-term rental numbers have fallen significantly in Australia since December 2019. Numbers in Australia haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, despite a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/dde65da6-7da2-45fb-935c-c13b339ce45e">global rebound</a>.</p>
<p>Our latest <a href="https://www.airdna.co/">data</a> show 278,788 unique short-term rentals were listed in Australia in December 2023. That’s well down from roughly 330,000 on the eve of the pandemic. </p>
<p>Of these listings, 191,123 (69%) were “active” rentals (available or booked at least one night a month). That’s down 13% from roughly 220,000 before the pandemic. </p>
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<p>Of the active rentals in December 2023, 167,955 (88%) were “entire home” listings. These are rented without a host present. </p>
<p>The proportion of such listings has risen steadily since Airbnb emerged as a “sharing economy” phenomenon. However, many of these already existed as purpose-built, short-term accommodation. An example would be holiday lettings on Queensland’s Gold Coast. </p>
<p>All up, active unhosted short-term rentals comprise about 1.5% of Australia’s <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/total-value-dwellings/latest-release">11.1 million dwellings</a> at any given time. This is roughly equivalent to the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1051836/australia-new-home-buildings-starts/">number of new dwellings</a> built each year.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-help-to-buy-scheme-will-help-but-wont-solve-the-housing-crisis-224956">The Help to Buy scheme will help but won't solve the housing crisis</a>
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<h2>How have locations shifted?</h2>
<p>Our research team has observed significant shifts in the short-term property market since the eve of the pandemic.</p>
<p>The most obvious was the pandemic’s impact on the geography of short-term rentals.</p>
<p>As mobility restrictions and the loss of tourists affected cities the most, short-term tenants flocked to the regions. We saw a sharp drop in listings in many metropolitan areas. Short-term listings grew in “sea change” and “tree change” regions.</p>
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<p>It’s unclear whether the balance of short-term rentals in major cities compared to regions will return to pre-pandemic levels. What we can see is that property owners have begun to respond to policy and price signals, especially in New South Wales.</p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tesg.12588">Our research</a> indicates the price difference between short-term and long-term rentals is highly localised. This suggests short-term listings are only lucrative for hosts under certain conditions. Location, size and property type all have an effect. </p>
<p>Both rents and dwelling prices are up by <a href="https://sqmresearch.com.au/weekly-rents.php?national=1&t=1">48% nationwide</a> since the pandemic began. The increases have been greatest on the urban fringes and in high-amenity coastal regions. </p>
<p>Logically, many dwellings in these areas have been “reconverted” to long-term rentals. High rents encourage owners to avoid the bother of having to clean properties and change the sheets and soap after each stay.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-negative-gearing-and-what-is-it-doing-to-housing-affordability-223823">What is negative gearing and what is it doing to housing affordability?</a>
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<h2>Regulations must reflect local conditions</h2>
<p>Much of the debate about short-term rentals has become polemic. Both communities and <a href="https://planning.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/planning-issues-and-interests/short-term-rental-accommodation-review">policymakers</a> have been divided on the appropriate level of regulation and what the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-06/short-term-rentals-airbnb-housing-crisis/103400820">actual impacts</a> would be. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/mortgages/articles/4-reasons-airbnbs-are-partly-to-blame-for-the-housing-crisis/">Some blame</a> short-term rentals for contributing to a lack of longer-term rental housing, or for local <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4199574">price increases</a>. Others conclude short-term rental restrictions <a href="https://hbr.org/2024/02/what-does-banning-short-term-rentals-really-accomplish">aren’t effective</a> for resolving structural issues of housing supply and affordability. It’s also <a href="https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2024/02/10/nyc-hotels-flourish-post-airbnb-ban-housing-market-stalls/">suggested</a> restrictions may have unintended consequences, such as allowing <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1354816620918769">hotels to charge more</a>.</p>
<p>What is clear from our analysis is that different regions need different regulations. </p>
<p>New South Wales has the most stringent <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/housing/short-term-rental-accommodation">short-term rental regulation</a> in Australia. The state has brought in several varieties of place-based caps, adapted to the needs of the local council area. </p>
<p>In Greater Sydney, unhosted short-term rentals can be occupied up to 180 days per year. (This limit excludes stays of 21 days or more.) In the Clarence Valley (North Coast) and Muswellbrook (Hunter Valley) council areas, the cap applies mainly in neighbourhoods characterised by low-density housing. In Byron Bay, a <a href="https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Development-Business/Land-Use-Zoning/Short-Term-Rental-Accommodation#section-2">forthcoming measure</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/26/byron-bay-shire-nsw-60-day-short-term-holiday-rental-airbnb-cap-approved">restrict certain areas to 60 days</a> a year may be the final straw for some short-term rental hosts.</p>
<p>While such restrictions might ensure peace and quiet for residents of areas like Byron Bay’s exclusive hinterland estates, we are unconvinced at this stage that caps and levies <em>significantly</em> move the needle on housing supply or affordability in Australia. What’s more, such measures may reflect thinly veiled <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-a-perfect-storm-of-covid-19-influencers-and-airbnb-created-byron-bay-s-housing-crisis-20210422-p57lmw.html">NIMBY efforts</a> by residents of <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-wins-and-who-loses-when-platforms-like-airbnb-disrupt-housing-and-how-do-you-regulate-it-106234">affluent suburbs</a> to restrict access to their neighbourhoods by non-locals.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-taxing-short-stays-boost-long-term-rental-supply-other-policies-would-achieve-more-213989">Will taxing short stays boost long-term rental supply? Other policies would achieve more</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223191/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Sigler receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zhenpeng (Frank) Zou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The number of active short-term rental listings is a small fraction of the total number of dwellings in Australia – and many listings are not in the city areas of great housing need.Thomas Sigler, Associate Professor of Human Geography, The University of QueenslandZhenpeng (Frank) Zou, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145712023-10-12T22:42:46Z2023-10-12T22:42:46ZHow do I know if a rental house is mouldy before I sign the lease? 12 things to check<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552431/original/file-20231006-25-vwdo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5991%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Although most Australian states require homes be free of mould before they are rented out, seasoned renters know that’s not always the case. In fact, an alarming number of tenants report discovering mould after they’ve moved into a rental property.</p>
<p>But how can you tell? Based on our research and practical experience in the field, these are 12 questions worth considering before you sign a residential tenancy agreement.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/breaking-the-mould-why-rental-properties-are-more-likely-to-be-mouldy-and-whats-needed-to-stop-people-getting-sick-205472">Breaking the mould: why rental properties are more likely to be mouldy and what's needed to stop people getting sick</a>
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<h2>1. Have you asked the agent or landlord directly?</h2>
<p>Enquire upfront if there’s a history of mould in the property. Tell the agent or landlord if a household member has a chronic condition, such as asthma or an allergy, which could be exacerbated by mould exposure. It’s worth a shot.</p>
<h2>2. Can you see any mould?</h2>
<p>This sounds obvious but there’s an art to spotting the clues. Carpets retain a history of mould damage. If you’re allowed and without causing damage, carefully inspect under carpet in a corner in areas that could be prone to water coming in (such as near a bathroom, external wall or window). </p>
<p>Single-glazed windows often experience condensation, so check windows closely. Mould problems tend to show up most significantly on the south-facing side of the house, and can sometimes be spotted on fly screens or the exterior face of blinds and curtains.</p>
<h2>3. Are there damp smells in any room?</h2>
<p>Check if the agent or landlord has attempted to mask odours with air fresheners or incense.</p>
<h2>4. Has the place been recently repainted, re-carpeted or given a new floor?</h2>
<p>If so, ask the agent why and if any mould was found in the process.</p>
<h2>5. Do exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom work well?</h2>
<p>Make sure you understand where these fans release the ventilated air and moisture. You don’t want this to be the roof space (above the ceiling but below the roof) unless there are roof vents. </p>
<h2>6. Do the gutters leak?</h2>
<p>Look at the roof and try to find the valley gutters (these are the things between two planes of the roof and help direct rainwater down to the normal gutters). </p>
<p>If a downpipe is not located near a valley, there is a risk the gutter could <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDLlK0OWmqQ">overflow</a>. Look for water damage to roofs and eaves or sagging gutters.</p>
<h2>7. Are there water stains on the walls, floor, windows or ceiling?</h2>
<p>Check the frames and around the windows closely. Look under the kitchen and bathroom sinks for stains, blistering melamine or swelling particle board. </p>
<p>See if there’s swelling or peeling on the walls and skirting board on the shared wall between the shower and the adjoining room. Peeling or swelling could indicate a failed waterproofing membrane.</p>
<p>External walls in contact with the ground have the highest risk of rising damp, and south-facing walls tend to get the least sunlight. </p>
<h2>8. Is the property well ventilated?</h2>
<p>Are there fly screens so you can leave windows open? Is there anything making it hard to get fresh air? For example, do windows face a noisy main road? This means they are likely to remain closed.</p>
<h2>9. Is the home humid?</h2>
<p>Find out as much as you can about glazing, insulation and orientation. Is the home humid? You can find out with a thermo-hygrometer, a device often sold in hardware stores that reads temperature and relative humidity. In older houses with poor insulation, you can usually try to maintain the interior at 65% relative humidity with the help of a dehumidifier.</p>
<p>Are there any evaporative coolers in the home? These machines keep the room cool by evaporating water, but they add moisture to the air. Ask the agent if they can switch on any evaporative coolers to see if your sinuses feel irritated when you are near a vent. </p>
<h2>10. Are tiles cracked, lifted, uneven or loose?</h2>
<p>This can suggest water damage underneath, especially in the shower (or areas near the shower).</p>
<h2>11. Have you checked behind any furniture pushed up against walls?</h2>
<p>Having furniture pushed up like this can prevent walls from drying out. Look behind furniture for evidence of mould.</p>
<h2>12. Is there water pooling under the house?</h2>
<p>Are there garden beds or plants positioned right up against the walls? If the house is on a slope, does rain run off down the hill and pool under the house? See if you can go under the house to look and smell for mould.</p>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Bentley receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Law is the Technical Lead for Building Sciences at Restoration Industry Consultants (RIC). He receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Building Codes Board, the Victorian Building Authority, Consumer Building and Occupation Services (Tasmania) and Commercialisation Australia.</span></em></p>Here are 12 questions worth considering before you sign a residential tenancy agreement.Rebecca Bentley, Professor of Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Housing at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of MelbourneTim Law, Adjunct lecturer, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2139892023-09-22T07:35:06Z2023-09-22T07:35:06ZWill taxing short stays boost long-term rental supply? Other policies would achieve more<p>The Victorian government, like many governments around the world, has announced <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/housing-statement">new regulations</a> on short-stay accommodation. The government says Victoria has more than 36,000 short-stay places, which are reducing the number of homes available for long-term rental. </p>
<p>Other states have <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/housing/short-term-rental-accommodation#shortterm-rental-accommodation-in-certain-areas-in-nsw">capped the number of nights</a> a dwelling can be used for short-stay accommodation. The Victorian response has been to introduce a levy set at 7.5% of the short-stay platform’s revenue. </p>
<p>The rationale appears simple – adding a charge to discourage landlords from converting properties from long-term rentals to tourist accommodation.</p>
<p>The government estimates the levy will raise about A$70 million a year. State agency Homes Victoria will use this money to provide social and affordable housing, potentially compensating for losses to the short-stay sector. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/victorias-housing-plan-is-bold-and-packed-with-initiatives-but-can-it-be-delivered-213974">Victoria's housing plan is bold and packed with initiatives. But can it be delivered?</a>
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<h2>How will the levy be applied?</h2>
<p>Details of how the levy will be collected are not yet available. However, it appears the government will charge the platforms – such as Airbnb, Stayz and Booking.com – 7.5% of their total revenue. The platforms will bill the hosts. </p>
<p>The levy will begin in 2025. The state government says its levy will replace any local government charges on short-stay accommodation such as the one <a href="https://www.basscoast.vic.gov.au/community-support-services/local-laws/short-stay-rental-accommodation-ssra">Bass Coast</a> collects.</p>
<p>The platforms have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-20/airbnb-victorian-tax-properties-short-stay-rental/102878180">voiced concern</a> at the size of the levy and at hotels escaping the charge. The government’s response is that hotels are not removing long-term rental housing from the market.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.afr.com/property/residential/airbnb-tax-on-owners-a-tourism-killer-andrews-warned-20230907-p5e2vb">Some commentators</a> from the Victorian tourism sector predict the levy will lead to sharp reductions in tourism. This will depend on how many owners of second homes in tourism destinations opt to shift their properties into the long-term rental market. </p>
<p>Marginal operators might decide this extra cost makes the hassle of running a short-term rental business too high. Some might move to long-term rentals. </p>
<p>The levy might also encourage some potential short-term rental investors to focus their activities in other states that don’t charge a levy. However, it’s possible other states whose budgets are under pressure will copy the Victorian model, reducing this effect.</p>
<p>Indeed, the size of the Victoria government’s levy and its own budget projections imply the intention is more to raise revenue than to eliminate the state’s short-stay sector. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drop-the-talk-about-mum-and-dad-landlords-it-lets-property-investors-off-the-hook-212958">Drop the talk about 'mum and dad' landlords. It lets property investors off the hook</a>
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<h2>Short stays have boomed under a ‘light touch’ approach</h2>
<p>We have previously described Australian approaches to regulating the short-term rental sector as very <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-taken-a-light-touch-with-airbnb-could-stronger-regulations-ease-the-housing-crisis-200347">light touch</a>. </p>
<p>Under this regime, the Australian short-term rental market has been growing strongly. The sector has increased by about 23% over the past year, according to a new <a href="https://reia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/REIA-MEDIA-RELEASE__SHORT-STAY-REPORT_060923.pdf">report by the Real Estate Institute of Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Platforms often <a href="https://news.airbnb.com/en-au/airbnb-calls-on-hobart-council-to-focus-on-the-real-major-drivers-of-housing-affordability-issues/">claim short-term rentals have no impact</a> on rental markets. </p>
<p>COVID-19 provided an excellent natural experiment to test this view. As state and national borders closed, short-term rentals returned to the long-term market. In many Australian housing markets where this happened, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00049182.2023.2256589">rents fell sharply</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-did-covid-do-to-rental-markets-rents-fell-as-owners-switched-from-airbnb-151095">What did COVID do to rental markets? Rents fell as owners switched from Airbnb</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In contrast to the relative lack of state government action, local governments across Australia have long sought to manage impacts of short-term rental accommodation in their municipalities. </p>
<p>These local <a href="https://www.coastalcouncils.org.au/planning-controls-not-keeping-pace-with-online-holiday-rentals/">responses</a> include permit and registration systems, which allow local councils to monitor any problems. Some have imposed <a href="https://sskb.com.au/rate-hike-set-to-impact-brisbane-short-term-accommodation-properties/#:%7E:text=The%20average%20annual%20rates%20bill,with%20an%20average%20of%20%241%2C558.50.">higher rates</a>. This can deter conversion of long-term rental stock to short-stay accommodation but also provides important local revenue for localities with many seasonal visitors.</p>
<p>Ironically, the introduction of state frameworks can override local responses. Byron Council in NSW has been trying to reduce the number of nights hosts can let their properties from the default NSW total of 180 nights. Ultimately, the state’s <a href="https://www.ipcn.nsw.gov.au/cases/2022/12/byron-shire-short-term-rental-pp">Independent Planning Commission</a> supported a 60-day cap. The council must now <a href="https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Services/Building-and-development/Do-I-need-approval/Short-term-rental-accommodation#section-2">navigate a complex process</a> to get this limit in place. </p>
<h2>Regulations are tougher overseas</h2>
<p>The Victorian government move mirrors an international trend of increasing regulation of short-term accommodation. These rules seek to prevent loss of permanent rental supply and to manage the amenity impacts of short-term tourism on neighours and local communities.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/short-term-lets/">Scotland</a>, Airbnb hosts now have to register with the government. Those listing whole properties must apply for planning permission.</p>
<p>Cities such as <a href="https://nola.gov/next/short-term-rental-administration/announcements/changes-to-str-laws/">New Orleans</a> have created special zones where holiday homes can be rented. It’s another way to balance the demand for visitor accommodation with the need to preserve homes for local residents. </p>
<p>Many European and North American cities have blanket restrictions on short-term rentals, including caps of 30 to 90 days for unhosted properties. These time periods allow local residents to gain income by renting out their homes when they are themselves on holiday. </p>
<p>However, enforcing these rules can be tricky. <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/specialenforcement/registration-law/registration-for-hosts.page">New York City</a> recently introduced regulations that require hosts to be present while accommodating guests – effectively banning the short-term rental of whole homes.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-taken-a-light-touch-with-airbnb-could-stronger-regulations-ease-the-housing-crisis-200347">Australia has taken a 'light touch' with Airbnb. Could stronger regulations ease the housing crisis?</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<h2>It will take more than a levy to fix the rental crisis</h2>
<p>Across Australia, people have called for increased housing supply to improve rental markets. However, given the long lead times in financing and building apartment buildings, new rental supply will take a long time to deliver for tenants. </p>
<p>In contrast, policy changes that redirected short-term rental stock to the long-term market would have an immediate benefit. This is vital in central city locations, where new apartment supply is at risk of diversion to the short-term sector, and in regional markets, where increased population growth has coincided with increased short-term stay activity. </p>
<p>More widely, protecting tenants from unfair eviction and sudden excessive rental increases can help limit the impacts of short-stay platforms. <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-1-5-million-australians-getting-rent-assistance-need-an-increase-but-more-public-housing-is-the-lasting-fix-for-the-crisis-200908">Adequately subsidising low-income renters</a> so they can afford decent housing would also help.</p>
<p>Generating extra revenue for Homes Victoria is a positive step, but a tourist tax won’t go far. Renters would gain more in the short term from other regulations that do more to reduce the short-stay sector’s size and growth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Phibbs receives funding from Shelter Tasmania to undertake research on short-term rentals in Tasmania. He also receives funding from AHURI. He is a pro bono board member of a not-for-profit housing data company, the Housing Justice Data Lab.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Gurran receives funding from the Australian Coastal Councils Association, the Australian Housing & Urban Research Institute and the Australian Research Council, and has provided advice to non-profit Inside Airbnb.com. </span></em></p>Other states may well follow Victoria’s lead, but the 7.5% levy is likely to have a very modest impact on rental housing supply. There’s much more governments could do.Peter Phibbs, Emeritus Professor, University of SydneyNicole Gurran, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2129582023-09-14T20:05:44Z2023-09-14T20:05:44ZDrop the talk about ‘mum and dad’ landlords. It lets property investors off the hook<p>Hardly a day passes without talk of “mum and dad” property investors. It’s media shorthand for a rental market dominated by small operators rather than big institutions.</p>
<p>But language shapes the way we think, and folksy terminology creates a false impression of Australia’s landlord class. </p>
<p>First, “mums and dads” conveys a 1950s, white-picket-fence version of Australia. Are no same-sex couples, singles or people without children investing in property? Plenty of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/02/there-are-60-other-applicants-for-every-house-the-rental-crisis-pushing-single-mothers-to-extremes">parents with children</a> rent, but we never hear them called “mum and dad tenants”.</p>
<p>Second, it gives the impression most landlords are average wage earners, struggling to build a modest nest egg and squeezed by high interest rates.</p>
<p>Yet, as I’ll explain, a majority of rental properties are owned by investors with multiple properties. And well-off investors enjoy the lion’s share of the tax benefits of policies like negative gearing. </p>
<h2>Landlords are typically better off</h2>
<p>The “mums and dads” rhetoric masks the reality of property ownership in Australia. Cue federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, <a href="https://www.peterdutton.com.au/leader-of-the-opposition-transcript-doorstop-interview-bellmere-qld/">defending</a> negative gearing to support “mums and dads who save and, as part of their retirement income, put some money aside and buy a rental property”.</p>
<p>Or Victorian Property Council boss Cath Evans, <a href="https://www.propertycouncil.com.au/media-releases/greens-inquiry-into-rent-capping-does-more-harm-than-good">rejecting</a> rent control because “mum and dad investors” are struggling to get by on the income they get from tenants.</p>
<p><a href="https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2023-370286">Treasury data</a> show tax deductions for rental properties disproportionately benefit the well-off. More than a third of benefits go to about 500,000 landlords in the top 10% of income earners. About another third goes to the 20% immediately below them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547146/original/file-20230908-15-58sbww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="vertical bar chart showing percentage of tax deductions by each decile of income earners and numbers in each decile" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547146/original/file-20230908-15-58sbww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547146/original/file-20230908-15-58sbww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547146/original/file-20230908-15-58sbww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547146/original/file-20230908-15-58sbww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547146/original/file-20230908-15-58sbww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547146/original/file-20230908-15-58sbww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547146/original/file-20230908-15-58sbww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than a third of tax deductions on rental income goes to the top 10% of income earners.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-02/p2023-370286-teis.pdf">Treasury 2022-23 Tax Expenditures and Income Statement</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>True, there are also about 200,000 landlords in the bottom 10% of income earners, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re poor. Treasury <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-02/p2023-370286-teis.pdf">says</a> this group “tend to have higher incomes”, but make “relatively large average deductions” that “substantially reduce their taxable income”.</p>
<p>Or as the Grattan Institute’s Danielle Wood <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/negative-gearing-changes-will-affect-us-all-mostly-for-the-better/">puts it</a>, “people who negatively gear have lower taxable incomes because they are negatively gearing”. (They may also be income-poor but asset-rich.)</p>
<p>High wage earners can borrow more to invest in property and have the most to gain from reducing tax through negative gearing. It’s no surprise cardiologists and politicians are more likely than school teachers and police officers to be landlords. The average federal MP <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/31/home-advantage-federal-politicians-hefty-property-portfolios-revealed-in-register-of-interests">owns at least two</a> properties. </p>
<h2>Who owns most rental properties?</h2>
<p>Quality media outlets are not immune from the “mum and dad” language. This year it has cropped up in a Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/28/could-rent-controls-work-to-ease-australia-housing-crisis">explainer</a>, an Age <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/fiona-martin-is-a-typical-landlord-but-she-s-not-what-you-expect-20230517-p5d931.html">backgrounder</a> and in <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-cabinets-new-housing-plan-could-fix-our-rental-crisis-and-save-renters-billions-211696">at least</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/9-in-10-landlord-tax-returns-are-wrong-does-this-make-landlords-champion-tax-dodgers-195914">two</a> Conversation articles.</p>
<p>The ABC recently released <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/what-broke-the-rental-market">What broke the rental market?</a> by data journalist Casey Briggs. It’s a thorough and engaging examination of complex issues, but it recycles the “mum and dad” language and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-26/how-the-rental-market-broke-can-it-be-fixed/102767494">states</a> that “the majority of rental properties in Australia are owned by landlords with just one investment property”.</p>
<p>This is wrong. A calculation based on the ATO’s <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-detail/Taxation-statistics/Taxation-statistics-2020-21/?anchor=IndividualsStatistics#Table8Individuals">individuals tax statistics</a> shows why.</p>
<p>In 2021-22, about 1.6 million individuals, or about 70% of all landlords, declared a rental interest in a single property. So it’s true most investors own just one property.</p>
<p>But the other 30% — about 650,000 landlords — declared an interest in two or more properties. Almost 20,000 declared an interest in at least six.</p>
<p>If you multiply the number of landlords declaring multiple interests by the number of properties they declare, this suggests investors with multiple properties own just over half of all rental dwellings.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547967/original/file-20230913-21-amsayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="2 pie charts showing proportions of rental properties owned by investors with one property and multiple properties, and proportion of rentals owned by single-property and multiple-property investors" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547967/original/file-20230913-21-amsayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547967/original/file-20230913-21-amsayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547967/original/file-20230913-21-amsayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547967/original/file-20230913-21-amsayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547967/original/file-20230913-21-amsayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547967/original/file-20230913-21-amsayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547967/original/file-20230913-21-amsayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While 71% of landlords own only a single property, landlords with multiple properties own a majority of rental homes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-detail/Taxation-statistics/Taxation-statistics-2020-21/?anchor=IndividualsStatistics">Chart: The Conversation. Data: Author calculations based on ATO, Individuals Statistics 2020-21 Table 8, Interest in a rental property</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is not new information. In its 2017 <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/fsr/2017/oct/pdf/financial-stability-review-2017-10.pdf">Financial Stability Review</a>, the Reserve Bank noted “around half of investment properties are owned by investors with multiple properties”.</p>
<p>It is hard to be exact about numbers because many investors co-own properties, but these rough calculations are more likely to understate than overstate the extent of multiple property ownership. As <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/sites/default/files/migration/documents/AHURI_Final_report_303_Inquiry_into_the_future_of_the_private_rental_sector.pdf">research</a> for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/">AHURI</a> has noted, individual tax statistics exclude rental properties owned by businesses or held in other legal structures such as family trusts, residential property trusts or self-managed superannuation funds.</p>
<p>It’s common to conflate “most investors own only one rental property” with “most rental properties are owned by landlords with just one investment” and pointing out the error might seem pedantic. But it’s important to know that tenants are at least as likely to be renting from an investor with multiple properties as from a landlord with only one.</p>
<h2>Landlords must be held to account</h2>
<p>These facts challenge the “mum and dad” mythology that positions landlords as beneficent family members who do people a favour by allowing them to rent their homes.</p>
<p>Not every property investor is rich, and some landlords are on moderate incomes. And plenty of decent landlords do right by their tenants. But there are plenty of crap landlords too, letting out properties that are <a href="https://theconversation.com/breaking-the-mould-why-rental-properties-are-more-likely-to-be-mouldy-and-whats-needed-to-stop-people-getting-sick-205472">mouldy</a>, or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/16/australian-rental-homes-colder-and-more-damp-than-who-safety-standards">damp</a>, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/ive-never-actually-met-them-what-will-motivate-landlords-to-fix-cold-and-costly-homes-for-renters-188827">impossible</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/08/australias-rental-housing-is-a-national-disgrace-and-improving-it-will-combat-the-energy-crisis">heat</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/17/it-reached-38-degrees-rental-properties-across-australia-routinely-exceeding-safe-temperatures-study-reveals">cool</a>, with windows you can’t open or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/07/ive-never-felt-this-vulnerable-guardian-readers-share-their-rental-crisis-horror-stories">doors you can’t lock</a>.</p>
<p>Letting a house is not a cottage industry. The private rental market is a multibillion-dollar business. Investors get generous taxpayer subsidies and draw on professional real estate services to manage tenancies.</p>
<p>Yes, the numbers of small-scale operators cause problems in the rental market. There are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/build-to-rent-a-potential-solution-to-australia-s-housing-problem-20180904-p501of.html">solid arguments</a> for encouraging institutional investment in <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/analysis/brief/what-build-rent">build-to-rent</a> projects. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"857503476909096960"}"></div></p>
<p>But we should avoid language that portrays landlords as folk of modest means when most are well-off. It diverts attention from debates about reforming negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.</p>
<p>Landlords engage in a business activity with profound impacts on the lives of others. They should be diligent in meeting their responsibilities.</p>
<p>Calling them “mums and dads” lets them off the hook.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Mares is a a fellow at the Centre for Policy Development, an independent policy institute. <a href="https://cpd.org.au/">https://cpd.org.au/</a> He has just accepted an invitation to join an unpaid advisory committee to the Centre for Equitable Housing <a href="https://centreforequitablehousing.org.au/">https://centreforequitablehousing.org.au/</a> </span></em></p>Well-off investors with multiple properties own a majority of rental homes. They have no excuse not to do the right thing by their tenants.Peter Mares, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116962023-08-17T06:26:00Z2023-08-17T06:26:00ZNational Cabinet’s new housing plan could save renters billions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543171/original/file-20230817-24-yzd7tc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C23%2C3952%2C2215&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Wednesday’s National Cabinet meeting set itself a huge task: to fix Australia’s rental crisis. Thankfully, given rents are rising at their fastest rate in decades, the plan it produced just might do the trick.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it’s the most <a href="https://twitter.com/AlboMP/status/1691684990789230845">significant housing reform</a> in a generation. If the states and territories deliver on their commitments, this might become one of the rare occasions when such lofty rhetoric is justified. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/meeting-national-cabinet-working-together-deliver-better-housing-outcomes">The plan</a> has two key objectives: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>to remove constraints to building more homes in established suburbs</p></li>
<li><p>to give renters more rights </p></li>
</ul>
<p>As Grattan Institute has <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/housing-affordability-re-imagining-the-australian-dream/">long argued</a>, each is crucial. </p>
<h2>Rents 4% cheaper as a result of the plan</h2>
<p>The National Planning Reform Blueprint adds <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/meeting-national-cabinet-working-together-deliver-better-housing-outcomes">200,000 homes</a> to the previous target of <a href="https://www.nationalhousingaccord.au/">1 million</a> extra homes over five years. </p>
<p>More importantly, that target is backed by $3.5 billion in incentives for states and territories to actually deliver the extra homes. </p>
<p>Most of that comes from the <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/meeting-national-cabinet-working-together-deliver-better-housing-outcomes">New Home Bonus</a>, which will give states and territories $15,000 for every one of the extra 200,000 homes they deliver. </p>
<p>Grattan Institute calculations suggest those extra 200,000 homes, once all built, could reduce rents from what they otherwise would have been by 4%. </p>
<p>That’s a saving of $8 billion for renters over the first five years. </p>
<p>If those higher rates of construction are sustained for a full decade, rents could fall by 8%, saving renters $32 billion over those ten years. </p>
<h2>Rewards for states that fast-track developments</h2>
<p>A separate <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/meeting-national-cabinet-working-together-deliver-better-housing-outcomes">Housing Support Program</a> will provide $500 million in competitive funding for state and local governments who get their act together on connecting services to new housing developments and fast-tracking planning reforms.</p>
<p>The Grattan Institute has <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/housing-affordability-re-imagining-the-australian-dream/">long called for</a> such meaningful incentives.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543169/original/file-20230817-27-bs2zp0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543169/original/file-20230817-27-bs2zp0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543169/original/file-20230817-27-bs2zp0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543169/original/file-20230817-27-bs2zp0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543169/original/file-20230817-27-bs2zp0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543169/original/file-20230817-27-bs2zp0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1215&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543169/original/file-20230817-27-bs2zp0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543169/original/file-20230817-27-bs2zp0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1215&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Not near me. Homeowners don’t like apartment blocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>It is our state and local governments that restrict medium- and high-density developments, largely to appease existing residents in established suburbs. </p>
<p>The specific barriers vary from state to state, but the effect is the same: fewer houses where people most want to live.</p>
<p>Freeing up barriers is politically hard for state governments because many (vocal) residents don’t want more housing where they want to live. </p>
<p>Combined, the $3.5 billion in incentive payments will make it worth the states’ while to make tough choices by rewarding them for each extra home that’s eventually built.</p>
<h2>Better housing, as well as more housing</h2>
<p>Importantly, National Cabinet has also committed to rectifying problems in housing design and building certification to lift the quality of new builds, particularly apartments.</p>
<p>Public support for more density in existing suburbs will rise if residents know that what will get built will be <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/designing-better-suburbs/">good-quality housing</a> that results in more vibrant and liveable communities. </p>
<h2>Better security for renters</h2>
<p>The second part of the plan – better, and nationally consistent, rights for renters – is an important step towards delivering genuine security of tenure. </p>
<p>The archetypal renter is no longer a student with a few milk crates and a futon. </p>
<p>It is increasingly a young family that has to endure huge housing costs and the intermittent disruption of being evicted against its will.</p>
<p>Nearly a quarter of couples who started their family more than five years ago are still renting privately. As do more than half of Australia’s single parents. </p>
<p>But while renters have changed, Australia’s rental rules have not. Renting remains insecure: most tenancy agreements are for a single year, and in many states landlords retain extensive rights to end leases, including via no-grounds evictions. </p>
<p>The plans aim to ensure renters can be evicted only if there are genuinely reasonable grounds for eviction. </p>
<h2>Better behaviour by landlords</h2>
<p>The prime minister and premiers also want to combat what they call <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/meeting-national-cabinet-working-together-deliver-better-housing-outcomes">retaliatory</a> rent increases and eviction notices, whereby landlords hit back at tenants who take reasonable action to enforce legal rights or complain about their tenancy.</p>
<p>These are important steps, but more will be required. For example, more needs to be done to encourage <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/super-funds-cant-solve-our-affordable-housing-problem/">institutional investors</a> to buy up more of the rental stock. They are better placed than “mum-and-dad” investors to offer security.</p>
<h2>More needed, but a good start</h2>
<p>There is <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/housing-affordability-re-imagining-the-australian-dream/">much more</a> that will have to be done to make housing more affordable. </p>
<p>The tax and means test rules that distort demand for housing will have to be reformed, Commonwealth Rent Assistance will have to be increased further, and the Senate will have to pass the Housing Australia Future Fund to guarantee a steady stream of funding for new social housing. </p>
<p>But this is an excellent start. What will be important will be that the states follow through and don’t try to use loopholes to get rewards for homes that would have been built anyway.</p>
<p>For its part, the Commonwealth will have to do all it can to ensure Australia gets the skilled workers that will be needed to build these extra houses, including by <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/australias-migration-opportunity-how-rethinking-skilled-migration-can-solve-some-of-our-biggest-problems/">streamlining</a> pathways to skilled migration.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the only thing that will really help is more about supply. Because when housing is plentiful, it’s more affordable. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rent-crisis-is-set-to-spread-heres-the-case-for-doubling-rent-assistance-196810">The rent crisis is set to spread: here's the case for doubling rent assistance</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute's board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute's activities.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joey Moloney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Grattan Institute calculations suggest that the 200,000 homes the state and territory leaders have agreed to build over five years will result in billions in savings for renters.Brendan Coates, Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan InstituteJoey Moloney, Deputy Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2098322023-08-13T13:34:33Z2023-08-13T13:34:33ZHow Airbnb may be fuelling gentrification: A case study in Toronto<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541098/original/file-20230803-27-7ead3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3610%2C2399&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new study sheds light on how short-term rentals like Airbnb make housing less affordable.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The average asking price for a rental unit in Canada <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/average-asking-price-for-canadian-rental-unit-hits-record-high-in-june-rentals-ca-1.6478222">reached $2,042 in June</a>, marking a 7.5 per cent increase from 2022. Metropolitan districts are particularly affected by rising rental costs, with some local families forced to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/single-dad-affordable-housing-vancouver-1.6899715">relocate due to a lack of affordable housing</a>.</p>
<p>While several factors may contribute to this, some have pointed to <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/04/research-when-airbnb-listings-in-a-city-increase-so-do-rent-prices">Airbnb as one of the reasons</a> for the rental crisis. Airbnb <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9758708/airbnb-short-term-rentals-affordable-housing/">says it is not the cause of the housing affordability crisis</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the significant public interest in how short-term rentals like Airbnb might make housing less affordable, empirical evidence of exactly how, and to what extent this is happening, is sparse.</p>
<p>Our preliminary study of Toronto’s rental market (which will be submitted later this summer to the <a href="https://www.ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/">Social Science Research Network</a>, an open-access repository of academic research papers), used data from Toronto Regional Real Estate Board and <a href="http://insideairbnb.com/get-the-data/">Airbnb listings from 2015 to 2020</a>, and suggested there were two ways Airbnb was affecting the rental market during this period: reducing the number of available rentals and contributing to the gentrification of neighbourhoods.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/airbnbs-adverse-impact-on-urban-housing-markets-109772">Airbnb's adverse impact on urban housing markets</a>
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<h2>How Airbnb may lead to gentrification</h2>
<p>Short-term rentals, like those offered by Airbnb, bring in outsiders, often with little regard for local community norms, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-an-airbnb-guest-trashed-a-penthouse-2014-3">leading to conflicts and complaints</a>.</p>
<p>While dealing with these temporary disturbances is usually possible with <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/airbnb-anti-party-crackdown-tip-line/">traditional policing and communication</a>, such short-term rentals can have lasting impacts on neighbourhoods.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A map displaying a number of available rental properties at various prices" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541099/original/file-20230803-27-km6l0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541099/original/file-20230803-27-km6l0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541099/original/file-20230803-27-km6l0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541099/original/file-20230803-27-km6l0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541099/original/file-20230803-27-km6l0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541099/original/file-20230803-27-km6l0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541099/original/file-20230803-27-km6l0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Airbnb affects the rental market by reducing the number of available rentals and contributing to the gentrification of neighbourhoods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>When homeowners convert their properties into Airbnb rentals, it may reduce the long-term rental supply in their neighbourhoods. This could increase rental prices, <a href="https://www.acto.ca/a-new-poll-shows-the-majority-of-ontario-renters-are-having-to-choose-between-food-and-paying-their-rents-when-it-comes-to-housing-affordability-this-province-is-on-fire/">stretching the budget</a> of lower-income families.</p>
<p>The lucrative short-term market may also attract new housing <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X18778038?icid=int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.2">investments targeted at Airbnb rentals</a>. This could further squeeze local families, who may find themselves in bidding wars. Eventually, the economic pressure could force these families out of their neighbourhoods, leaving only the wealthier population in place.</p>
<p>Property values could increase as vacated homes are filled by wealthier families moving in from outside, who can afford the high prices. Over time, the neighbourhood could change to comprise mostly relatively wealthier citizens in a process called <a href="https://theconversation.com/centring-race-why-we-need-to-think-about-gentrification-differently-199168">gentrification</a>.</p>
<h2>Is Airbnb driving up prices in Toronto?</h2>
<p>With <a href="https://news.airbnb.com/about-us/">6.6 million active listings spanning over 220 countries and 100,000 cities</a>, Airbnb offers three types of accommodations: entire homes or apartments, private rooms and shared rooms.</p>
<p>Our analysis focused on the entire homes or apartments category. In the time period of the study, owners of these accommodations were able to choose between the long-term and short-term rental markets, but those who only rented out a portion of their residence were less likely to be part of the long-term market.</p>
<p>We found that Airbnb rentals can squeeze out long-term rentals in neighbourhoods. As the number of Airbnb rentals in a neighbourhood increased, the availability of long-term rentals decreased and vice versa.</p>
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<img alt="A graph illustrating that long-term rental supply decreases when new Airbnb listings increase" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540203/original/file-20230731-24-u4e3ln.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540203/original/file-20230731-24-u4e3ln.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540203/original/file-20230731-24-u4e3ln.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540203/original/file-20230731-24-u4e3ln.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540203/original/file-20230731-24-u4e3ln.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540203/original/file-20230731-24-u4e3ln.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540203/original/file-20230731-24-u4e3ln.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A graph comparing a) excess supply in the long-term rental market to b) the ratio of new Airbnb listings relative to the supply of long-term rentals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Iman Sadeghi and Sourav Ray)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>On average, we estimate that an increase of one per cent in Airbnb listings per square kilometre in a district, is associated with a 0.09 per cent increase in long-term rental rates. A <a href="https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mksc.2020.1227">similar study</a> conducted in the United States, estimated an average increase of 0.018 per cent. While the numbers may not be easily comparable since one is for a metropolitan area and another is for the whole country, they are indicative of the potential impact.</p>
<p>We found evidence that Airbnb may be leading to higher potential rent income for property owners. This difference in income between the potential short-term rentals and traditional long-term rentals, known as the rent gap, draws investors to properties that can be used for short-term rentals.</p>
<p>The reduced availability of long-term rentals can lead to bidding wars for housing, which can lead to even higher rents. As telltale evidence we found that a 10 per cent increase in this rent gap is associated with a 3.1 per cent surge in long-term rental prices. This is equivalent to a $80 monthly rent hike for the average one-bedroom property in Toronto. </p>
<p>These results offer tentative evidence of the potential impact of Airbnb on long-term rental rates during the time period of the study.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graph showing the rent gap in Toronto increasing from 2015 to 2020" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540204/original/file-20230731-21-vlfbz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540204/original/file-20230731-21-vlfbz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540204/original/file-20230731-21-vlfbz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540204/original/file-20230731-21-vlfbz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540204/original/file-20230731-21-vlfbz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540204/original/file-20230731-21-vlfbz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540204/original/file-20230731-21-vlfbz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The average rent gap in Toronto from 2015 to 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Iman Sadeghi and Sourav Ray)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>Mixed social impact</h2>
<p>Despite evidence that Airbnb may be associated with rising rents, its <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/the-economic-costs-and-benefits-of-airbnb-no-reason-for-local-policymakers-to-let-airbnb-bypass-tax-or-regulatory-obligations/">broader social impact</a> remains <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/airbnb-study-vancouver-1.3830803">controversial</a>.</p>
<p>For homeowners, Airbnb offers a new income source. Travellers can boost local employment opportunities as retailers, restaurants and other businesses cater to their needs. A flow of young people can energize neighbourhoods with their joie de vivre and creativity.</p>
<p>Yet affordable housing is a basic need for our society. With almost 40,000 total listings in <a href="http://insideairbnb.com/toronto/">Toronto</a>, <a href="http://insideairbnb.com/vancouver/">Vancouver</a> and <a href="http://insideairbnb.com/montreal/">Montréal</a>, Airbnb is a big player in the economy, but is only one part of the larger picture affecting the availability of affordable housing.</p>
<p>Attempts to mitigate Airbnb’s effect on housing affordability have had <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/canadians-are-being-crushed-by-a-housing-crisis-are-short-term-rentals-to-blame-1.6911344">challenges</a>. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-airbnb-ruling-1.5364775">Toronto’s short-term rental bylaw</a>, which was upheld in 2019, limits Airbnb stays in principal residences to a maximum of 180 days per year. The city subsequently began <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-163225.pdf">enforcing the licensing and registration of short-term rentals in 2021</a>.</p>
<p>Narrowly focused policy interventions may not only be ineffective, but may have unexpected negative impacts. In fact, there is also evidence that <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/11/research-restricting-airbnb-rentals-reduces-development">restricting Airbnb rentals reduces the development of new housing units</a>, leading to less housing availability. These factors illustrate how Airbnb is part of a bigger picture and addressing this complex issue will require more studies and creative policy measures.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a story originally published on Aug. 13, 2023. The updated version makes clear the context of the research cited in the article is for the period 2015-20 only and does not analyze the rental market since then.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iman Sadeghi received funding from MacData, an institute affiliated with McMaster University, in 2020. The current project, while related, is distinct from the aforementioned MacData-funded initiative.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sourav Ray does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Do you ever worry about how Airbnb rentals might be affecting your neighbourhood? Your concerns might not be misplaced.Iman Sadeghi, PhD Candidate, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster UniversitySourav Ray, Lang Chair and Professor of Marketing, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2080992023-06-26T04:03:09Z2023-06-26T04:03:09ZRent freezes and rent caps will only worsen, not solve Australia’s rental crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533898/original/file-20230626-80593-hpcmzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=73%2C0%2C5382%2C3631&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Average housing rents across Australia have increased by about <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2023/jun/new-insights-into-the-rental-market.html">10% per year</a> to February 2023 for new rentals, and just a bit lower than that for existing rentals.</p>
<p>Combined with rapidly increasing interest rates and wage rises not keeping pace with inflation, this is placing huge strain on the average household purse, prompting calls for improved rental market conditions.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-deliver-enough-affordable-housing-and-end-homelessness-what-must-a-national-strategy-do-207120">To deliver enough affordable housing and end homelessness, what must a national strategy do?</a>
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<p><a href="https://greens.org.au/vic/campaigns/rent-freeze-now">The Greens</a> are refusing to pass the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund bill to provide more community housing unless the federal government supports the introduction of rent controls. But is a rent freeze a simple panacea?</p>
<p>Australia used rent controls effectively during the two world wars. However, they have been used in other countries without much success. Using basic economic principles, there is evidence freezes worsen inequality and actually reduce availability.</p>
<h2>Making the market worse, not better</h2>
<p>Rentals, in economic terms, are a product. To make a quality product for the market, the producer – the landlord – invests substantial sums of money in construction and maintenance to meet <a href="https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/repairs-alterations-safety-and-pets">legislated minimum standards</a> for rental properties. They also have to cover land and income tax, insurance and mortgage costs.</p>
<p>The rent from a property is expected to cover these expenses with an <a href="https://www.openagent.com.au/blog/suburbs-with-highest-rental-yield-australia">average return</a> on investment between 3% and 7%. As soon as there is a rent freeze and the return on investment starts falling – in some cases into the negative – landlords will cut back on what they consider discretionary spending.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/building-in-the-same-old-ways-wont-end-the-housing-crisis-we-need-innovation-to-boost-productivity-206862">Building in the same old ways won't end the housing crisis. We need innovation to boost productivity</a>
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<p>This can affect spending on maintenance because all other outlays are fixed.
Houses are then allowed to fall into disrepair, leading to landlords selling up or withdrawing properties from the long-term rental market.</p>
<p>Experience in the United States shows how landlords allow some houses to become uninhabitable so they can fraudulently obtain insurance payouts for damage to the property.</p>
<p>Unscrupulous landlords will also try to bypass the minimum rental property standards by offering their properties at above-market rents, capitalising on the high demand and low stock.</p>
<h2>Cashing in on the black market</h2>
<p>Promoting <a href="https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/2021-victorian-rental-laws-changes">rent-bidding</a> above the fixed price will only worsen if there are government-imposed rent freezes. While rent bidding has been banned in some states including New South Wales and Victoria, anecdotally it remains widespread.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533908/original/file-20230626-150979-v3a82w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man holding cash" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533908/original/file-20230626-150979-v3a82w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533908/original/file-20230626-150979-v3a82w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533908/original/file-20230626-150979-v3a82w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533908/original/file-20230626-150979-v3a82w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533908/original/file-20230626-150979-v3a82w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533908/original/file-20230626-150979-v3a82w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533908/original/file-20230626-150979-v3a82w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some renters are prepared to pay extra in cash just to secure a property.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com">Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Then there is a grey area where real estate agents and landlords appear to adhere to the law by not asking for bids, but willingly accept offers above the <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/why-does-australia-have-rental-crisis-and-what-can-be-done-about-it">advertised price</a> from renters desperate to secure a property.</p>
<p>Given the difficulty in evicting renters, and rent freezes not covering costs, landlords might think a premium payment is justified. On paper, it would appear the rent being paid is reasonable and in accord with a government-imposed freeze.</p>
<p>But it also provides the landlord with untaxed cash. This flows on to the building sector where tradies will happily provide their services for cash, thereby expanding the black market.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-national-housing-strategy-wont-end-homelessness-without-supportive-housing-207291">The National Housing Strategy won't end homelessness without supportive housing</a>
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<p>The reasons for the property supply shortage are longstanding, and many of the causes were worsened by the COVID pandemic. These included material supply delays, increased costs and changes in preferred housing types. Government policies relating to the release of land and drawn-out approval processes for new builds have added to the supply problem.</p>
<h2>Other unintended consequences</h2>
<p>Battling families are further disadvantaged in the rental market because landlords would prefer to have their properties occupied by professionals with no children. Often, it is easier for owners to charge under-the-table premiums to this cashed-up group prepared to pay to get a particular property.</p>
<p>This increase in <a href="https://iea.org.uk/media/rent-controls-in-london-could-bring-immense-economic-costs-and-increase-social-segregation-finds-new-report/">social segregation</a> has been reported in Britain, where landlords choose renters from their preferred social and economic cohort. This increases the waiting times for “rent frozen” properties, forcing desperate individuals - usually those already most disadvantaged - to rent illegally through the black market.</p>
<p>This worsens the divide between the wealthy market-insiders and unemployed, migrant, young and other disadvantaged renters. The resulting lack of available rentals worsens worker shortages in some areas and can create pockets of increased violence and crime spawned by uncontrolled hidden black markets.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/governments-housing-fund-legislation-delayed-by-greens-coalition-alliance-208016">Government's housing fund legislation delayed by Greens-Coalition alliance</a>
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<p>While freezing rents would appear to be a simple method to increase rental housing affordability, the unintended consequences of any such move will have a long-term negative impact on the total availability of rental housing stock, reducing the quality of housing and increasing a black market in rental housing.</p>
<p>Global experience suggests that improving supply, by easing building restrictions and scrapping red tape for new developments, is likely to be a more effective policy tool in Australia. Local councils and state governments need to simplify and expedite the process for approving new developments at the same time as reducing taxes on rental properties, both during construction and later.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ameeta Jain does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
</span></em></p>The Greens and housing support groups want rent rises frozen but this might actually reduce the availability of suitable housing stock.Ameeta Jain, Associate Professor, Deakin Business School, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2057612023-05-17T23:07:34Z2023-05-17T23:07:34ZIn Meloni’s Italy, young Black men are particularly at risk of ending up on the street<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526920/original/file-20230517-9960-anjh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C11%2C3816%2C2752&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Groups of refugees from war-torn regions gather in Milan's Central Station. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/milan-italy-november-10th-2016-groups-514008019">Alexandre Rotenberg/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Italy is in the grip of a housing crisis, and has been for years. It’s not as if the problem had gone unnoticed. There has been no shortage of articles in the <a href="https://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2023/05/04/news/ilaria_lamera_tenda_politecnico_protesta_caro_affitti_milano-398739819/">national</a> – or even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/12/italy-students-protest-over-cost-housing-high-rents">international</a> – media over students’ struggle to access affordable accommodation. Over the past days they have taken to pitching tents outside university buildings, as part of a growing protest movement against high rents. Begun by Ilaria Lamera, an engineering student at Milan Polytechnic who found it impossible to find a room under 600 euros, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/12/italy-students-protest-over-cost-housing-high-rents">the demonstration has since spread to Milan, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Padua and Cagliari</a>. </p>
<p>In Bologna, where I am writing from, rising student numbers and Airbnb rentals have snatched away the prospect of a home for many. But young adults are also grappling with another, less publicised issue: that of the ongoing racism toward those construed as ‘foreign’ or ‘other’. The phrase ‘no foreigners’ is a common refrain when looking for rental accommodation in Bologna. This racial discrimination is normalised by estate agents. It is <a href="http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/9218/">presented as if it were a form of ‘eligibility’ criteria for landlords, like a requirement for an employment contract and references</a>. As if it were totally normal and acceptable for landlords not to want to rent to ‘foreigners’, by which they mean those who are racialised, and not me, as a white British woman - also a ‘foreigner’. Sometimes, this is made even clearer. For example, a housing volunteer at a <a href="https://www.centroastalli.it/rete-territoriale/centro-astalli-bologna/">local charity assisting migrants</a> was told by an estate agent: “Madam! You should have told me you were asking on behalf of an African! We don’t rent to Blacks here”, after she arrived at a flat viewing together with a young Black African man. </p>
<p>Launched in 2022 and funded by the <a href="https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/">Leverhulme Trust</a>, my current research at the University of Bologna examines the longer-term fate of young men from West Africa who arrived in Italy as children seeking asylum, and hence are bureaucratically labelled as “unaccompanied minors”. While much ink has been spilled over the experiences of unaccompanied minors as <em>children</em>, less is known about what happens after they turn eighteen. Yet, it is at this moment that the rights they are accorded as children, including accommodation, may be lost. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1440783321993918">In my latest paper</a>, drawing on my PhD research undertaken between 2017-2018, I analyse what happens after they become adults and must leave the reception centre that hosted them as children in a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.12873">socio-political landscape that is increasingly anti-migrant</a>.
This is based on ethnographic participant/observation in a reception centre for unaccompanied minors in Bologna while working as a volunteer keyworker for eight months between May 2017 and December 2018. In-depth and repeat interviews were conducted with 12 young African young men (six Gambians, four Nigerians, a Ghanaian and a Somalian), aged between 16 and 21. My current research involves a return to my fieldwork site after four years and involves interviews with five of the young men (2 Nigerians and 3 Gambians) to assess their longer-term outcomes as adults.</p>
<h2>On the record</h2>
<p>The local council has launched the <a href="http://www.comune.bologna.it/centrozonarelli/spad-sportello-antidiscriminazioni/">SPAD-Anti-discrimination Help Centre</a> to deal with racial discrimination, but this is in its infancy and under-reporting remains an issue. The first <a href="https://www.comune.bologna.it/notizie/giornata-mondiale-contro-discriminazioni-razziali-2023">SPAD report</a> documents reports of discrimination, and housing is found to be the second most prevalent area in which discrimination occurs. The young men in my study present a weary resignation to the continuing racism they face in the housing sector (and elsewhere). </p>
<p>Innocent*, who is now 22 and arrived in Italy as a twelve year old from Nigeria tells me he has been looking for a place to rent for months. Frequently, he is told by estate agents things such as ‘<em>the owner is elderly, they don’t want any foreigners,’</em> or ‘<em>They are afraid because you are Black’.</em></p>
<p>Innocent goes on to tell me he is regularly stopped for no reason by the police around the station when getting the train to work. They ask him for his residence permit. I ask him how this makes him feel.</p>
<p><em>‘Really upset’</em>, he replies, <em>‘also because of the housing situation. Us Blacks, we’re nothing here’</em></p>
<p>Edrisa, a young Gambian who is now 22 came to Italy when he was sixteen, reflects on the difficulties of finding a place to live once outside the reception system. Playing on the Italian name for a residence permit (<em>permesso di soggiorno</em>, meaning a permit to stay), he tells me that many migrants, including him, have “<em>a permit to stay but no place to stay [un permesso di soggiorno ma nessun posto di soggiorno], it doesn’t make sense. It is not right</em>”. This seemingly <a href="https://www.ilpost.it/2023/02/18/senzatetto-lavoratori-bologna/">contradictory situation</a>, of migrants who are employed, paying taxes, and have the legal right to stay, but cannot find a house, is widespread. </p>
<p>Edrisa explains that despite having regular work on construction sites, as a qualified builder, he was homeless for nearly four months, crashing with friends, sometimes even sleeping in his work van.</p>
<p>“<em>It is really difficult for a foreigner to find a house here, actually, not all foreigners but if you are Black… Italians don’t want to rent to Black migrants. It is so difficult.”</em></p>
<p>For Edrisa this is due to a combination of the housing crisis and the racism he faces as a young Black man in Italy. He maintains racism is due to the stereotyping of Africans as backwards and threat, compounded by the constant negative imagery of Black and Brown bodies arriving via sea. The <a href="https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/791">public discourse</a> on immigration in Italy is characterized by the stigmatization of racialised migrants who are framed as inferior and threat. </p>
<h2>Beyond landlords, racism has long tainted Italy</h2>
<p>Clearly, however, it is not feasible to suggest that racism merely pertains to landlords <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1354066119858388">as an individual mentality or exception from the norm</a>. Rather, we must dig deeper into the ongoing colonial legacies of racism that become visible in the act of renting. As the anthropologist Bruno Riccio observed over ten years ago, <a href="https://www.editions-ulb.be/en/book/?GCOI=74530100426670#h2tabtableContents.%20This%20%E2%80%98rental%20racism%E2%80%99%20then%20builds%20upon%20the%20%5B%E2%80%98fertile%20soil%E2%80%99%5D%20(https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-51391-7_3)%20of%20racism%20rooted%20in%20Italian%20colonialism%20and%20fascism.%20'Rental%20racism'%20is%20then%20embedded%20within%20a%20historically%20rooted%20racial%20landscape.%20Rent%20should%20be%20understood%20not%20%5Bsolely%20as%20an%20economic%20transaction,%20but%20a%20social%20relation%20embedded%20in%20emplaced%20social,%20cultural,%20political%20and%20material%20conditions%5D(https://radicalhousingjournal.org/2019/editorial/">“culturalist” readings of difference have led to residential segregation and discrimination in the Italian housing market</a>.This is starkly evident in the recent declaration by Italy’s Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Minister Francesco Lollobrigida that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65324319">Italy’s low birth rate meant Italians are facing “ethnic replacement</a>”. Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, also a member of the far-right Brothers of Italy political party, has <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65324319">made similar remarks in the past</a>. According to the OHCHR’s (2019) <em><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IT/ItalyMissionReport.pdf">Report of mission to Italy on racial discrimination’</a></em>, the worst years for racially motivated attacks were 2009 and 2018; both periods in which the public discourse was particularly anti-migrant. During the far-right Lega’s election campaign in 2017-18, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/28/italys-intelligence-agency-warns-of-rise-in-racist-attacks">racially motivated attacks in Italy tripled</a>. The leader of the Lega, Matteo Salvini, is now a Minister in the coalition government.</p>
<p>The coalition government recently introduced a new immigration law, the Cutro Decree (decreto Cutro), named after the Calabrian town close to where <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/09/protests-as-meloni-cabinet-meets-near-scene-of-deadly-shipwreck-cutro-italy">at least 72 people died in a shipwreck in February this year</a>. The new law is controversial and has received widespread criticism from <a href="https://ecre.org/mediterranean-controversial-cutro-decree-approved-by-parliament-as-italy-sees-continued-increase-of-arrivals-death-toll-of-2023-breaks-1000-as-ngo-struggle-to-save-lives-under-dramatic/">human-rights organisations, concerned about the increased precarity and irregularity that would be created</a>. Naming a law which brings in increasingly restrictive immigration practices after a shipwreck that some <a href="https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2023/02/27">rights organisations</a> argue resulted from the very same government’s harsher laws, together with wider EU policies, is deeply problematic. Whilst the law does not directly affect the young men in my study, its effects are pervasive and increase the ongoing hostility towards racialised migrants, just like <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/ill-wind-weathering-impact-far-right-government-italy/">previous immigration legislation brought in under a far right party</a>. The divide between ‘us’ ((white) Italians) and ‘them’ (racialised migrants) keeps on widening. </p>
<p>In Bologna, <a href="https://www.scielo.br/j/ts/a/wv4Pj5n9HJqNv7J7R3RpyWP/?lang=en">like other gentrifying global cities in the Global North, the mobility of elites stand in stark contrast to those who are racialised, unable to access the city, which increasingly risks becoming a spectacle of elite privilege and tourist consumption</a>. The local council recently launched a ‘<a href="https://www.comune.bologna.it/notizie/giornata-mondiale-contro-discriminazioni-razziali-2023">Local Action Plan for an Anti-Racist and Intercultural City’</a>, and has made attempts to regulate Airbnb; <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13683500.2018.1504899">recognised as a challenging</a> feat. However, for Bologna to become a city in which more than the porticoes are ‘open’ to young racialised migrants, what is really needed is a deeper conversation on racism in Italy, particularly as manifested at the political level.</p>
<p>*All names are pseudonyms</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Walker ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>As student protests against high rents unfurl across Italy, one academic points out one of the groups most likely to end up on the streets under a far-right government: young black men.Sarah Walker, Visiting postdoctoral researcher and adjunct professor, Università di BolognaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2038002023-05-17T14:50:28Z2023-05-17T14:50:28ZHome ownership is shrinking, private renting isn’t working – what’s next?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525140/original/file-20230509-15-7ivft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5982%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/estate-agency-let-sign-board-large-1350916184">William Barton/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not long after the global financial crisis, soaring house prices through the 2010s turned residential property into the largest capital asset and best long-term investment in the world. In the same period, rates of owner-occupation fell across the UK, US and Australia. Now, for the first time in 50 years, a growing proportion of households in these countries rent.</p>
<p>Some households in every age group have dropped out of ownership because of unsustainable costs and risks, but the young in particular are being priced out as the sector shrinks. In the UK, ownership rates among 25-34 year-olds <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03085147.2021.2003086">halved to 30%</a> in less than two decades. </p>
<p>It feels like the end of an era. Experts are already talking about <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10901-017-9551-8">“post-homeownership”</a>, with private renting as the go-to alternative – even in the UK, where social (council) housing once played such a central role.</p>
<p>The long-awaited <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-03/0308/220308.pdf">renters’ reform bill</a> promises to improve conditions for renters, primarily by getting rid of no-fault evictions. But this won’t do enough to fix the problem of declining supply and quality, or rising prices, that are defining the private rented sector today. </p>
<p>The UK private rental sector has doubled in size since the mid-1990s, and accommodates around 4.5 million (one in five) households. It has not, however, done so well in terms of housing quality, supply and cost. </p>
<p>Private renting has traditionally been the province of the young and mobile: even today two-fifths of tenants are <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1088486/EHS_20-21_PRS_Report.pdf">under 35</a>. Yet, compared with 20 years ago, private renters are now <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmcomloc/624/report.html">older, on lower incomes</a>, and more likely to be living with children. The sector may have expanded but it has not adjusted to the needs of this new demographic.</p>
<p>Furthermore, one third of privately rented homes were built before 1919, and a quarter now fall below the government’s <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/ageing/articles/livinglonger/implicationsofhousingtenureinlaterlife">“decent homes” threshold</a>. The over-55s with few savings or investments, who are vulnerable to fuel poverty, live disproportionately in these properties. The private rental sector also shelters <a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/about-us1/media/press-releases/more-than-one-and-a-half-million-children-in-england-live-in-cold-damp-or-mouldy-private-rented-homes-citizens-advice-reveals2/">1.6 million children</a>, often in homes that are damp, mouldy, excessively cold, overcrowded and with the least <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/6sxvmndnpn0s/77ViBSpWpGzZdUcsXu77of/f7b8b461208d6207d87f4295aefd112d/Growing_up_renting.pdf">security of tenure</a>.</p>
<h2>Supply and demand</h2>
<p>As well as the challenge of quality and condition, there is the matter of supply. Britain’s private rental sector is dominated by small landlords drawn into the post-1990 buy-to-let boom. However, tax and regulatory changes have curbed that trend, and one third of these landlords now <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-private-landlord-survey-2021-main-report/english-private-landlord-survey-2021-main-report--2">plan to sell</a> or reduce the size of their portfolios. </p>
<p>With demand for tenancies also rising, rental listings have <a href="https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/number-of-available-rental-homes-falls-by-40.html">fallen by 40% against pre-pandemic norms</a>, causing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/apr/08/bidding-wars-inside-the-super-charged-fight-for-rental-properties">mayhem on the market</a>, with long queues to view and bidding wars adding to costs. </p>
<p>Europe-wide <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098017729077">rent increases</a>, affecting every demographic, are particularly marked in the UK, growing by nearly 17% in the eight years to December 2022. The latest hike (4.2% to the end of last year) was the largest since the Office for National Statistics launched its <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/indexofprivatehousingrentalprices/december2022">rental price index</a> in 2016. </p>
<p>Private renters now spend a higher proportion of their incomes on housing than any other tenure group. One in four are <a href="https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/through-the-roof-housing-and-the-cost-of-living/">struggling to pay</a>, and two thirds of the over-65s are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/may/14/older-uk-renters-spending-living-costs-tenants">cutting back on essentials</a>.</p>
<h2>Reviving the private rental sector</h2>
<p>There is growing dissatisfaction with the quality, cost, supply and management of private rental housing. As small landlords scale back, therefore, all eyes are on the growth of large corporate landlords whose expanding property portfolios are proving attractive to institutional investors like pension funds, listed property companies and <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/reit.asp">residential real estate investment trusts</a>. </p>
<p>Corporate landlords aim to professionalise and grow the sector, eventually, perhaps, through bulk buy-to-let. But the current trend is <a href="https://btrnews.co.uk/rent-smart-live-smart-the-emergence-of-build-to-rent/">build-to-rent</a>, which promises to couple socially and environmentally responsible investment with stable rental returns and long-run capital gains.</p>
<p>This style of renting appeals particularly to young, higher earners who are locked out of ownership by high deposit requirements – <a href="https://blogsmedia.lse.ac.uk/blogs.dir/119/files/2017/12/Home-Ownership-Safety-Net-11-December-2017.pdf">“rental prisoners”</a> who can afford to pay a premium to bundle accommodation with hotel-style amenities and services. Others are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jan/22/build-to-rents-glitzy-goldrush-raises-fears-for-social-housing">not so fortunate</a>.</p>
<p>This is, moreover, no quick fix for supply. At best, build-to-rent will account for 8% of the private rented sector by <a href="https://www.mrgpeople.co.uk/should-we-still-be-as-excited-about-built-to-rent/">the early 2030s</a>. Neither is there good news on affordability. In North America, large (global) corporate landlords have been scaling up their portfolios by raising rents, fees and ancillary revenues as well as by <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/07d6445s">growing supply</a>. Concerns have also been raised <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-corporate-landlords-how-they-are-swallowing-city-centres-like-manchester-one-block-of-flats-at-a-time-198804">in the UK</a>, while Berliners <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/29/berlin-vote-landlords-referendum-corporate">voted decisively against this corporate model</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Balconies on the exterior of a new build apartment building in London" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523866/original/file-20230502-18-471vls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=65%2C114%2C5398%2C3522&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523866/original/file-20230502-18-471vls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523866/original/file-20230502-18-471vls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523866/original/file-20230502-18-471vls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523866/original/file-20230502-18-471vls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523866/original/file-20230502-18-471vls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523866/original/file-20230502-18-471vls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Build to rent properties won’t make up for the supply shortage in the rental market.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/brand-new-empty-apartments-around-stratford-1736862350">I Wei Huang/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>If private renting can’t compensate for the retreat of owner occupation, is there anything more imaginative on the table?</p>
<p>One must-have is investment in social housing, which the UK championed a generation ago. Reinvigorating the vision and values that drove that movement is surely the only way to address the present crisis of <a href="https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/campaigns/a_vision_for_social_housing">homelessness and affordability</a>. More generally, the idea of housing according to need, rather than just ability to pay, is attracting <a href="https://www.oecd.org/social/social-housing-policy-brief-2020.pdf">renewed enthusiasm across the OECD</a>.</p>
<p>Second, small landlords are struggling with costs and regulatory changes. Why not incentivise them to sell to not-for-profit providers, diversifying and enlarging an important community-based housing movement? If corporates also earmarked more of their portfolios <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2023/04/07/federal-budget-fails-to-address-housing-crisis.html">for affordability</a>, there could be a further opportunity to reform rental housing in a way that prioritises tenant wellbeing and support.</p>
<p>Both government and opposition, on the other hand, have their sights on a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-fairer-private-rented-sector/a-fairer-private-rented-sector">new “generation buy”</a>. To this end, one bank has already <a href="https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/skipton-100-mortgage-building-society-deposit-free-zero/">reintroduced 100% mortgages</a>. But old-style home ownership has probably <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0042098019895227">had its day</a>. A rethink is long overdue.</p>
<p>What if, for example, a fraction of house price appreciation were top-sliced and used to maintain, decarbonise and future-proof the housing stock? What if homeowners were positioned as the temporary occupants of properties built for stewardship rather than possession? Shifts like this could be funded by reforming housing’s <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/taxation/measuring-effective-taxation-of-housing_0a7e36f2-en">incoherent tax position</a>, itself an important step towards a fairer, more inclusive future.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rent-or-buy-does-the-british-obsession-with-home-ownership-pay-off-113229">Rent or buy: does the British obsession with home ownership pay off?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203800/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Smith has received research funding from the ESRC, the ARC, some government departments, and charitable trusts including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. </span></em></p>An expert on what the post-homeownership world looks like.Susan Smith, Honorary Professor of Geography, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2042422023-04-30T13:12:13Z2023-04-30T13:12:13ZCanada’s costly housing market leaves international students open to exploitation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523460/original/file-20230428-14-5wwefi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C38%2C6368%2C4232&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many international students face abuse and struggle to find decent and affordable housing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canada-s-costly-housing-market-leaves-international-students-open-to-exploitation" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9424677/rent-prices-canada-january-2023/">Skyrocketing rent prices in Canada’s major cities</a> are leaving more and more people struggling to find an affordable place to live. National conversations about the housing crisis often overlook a growing segment of the population that is extremely vulnerable to housing discrimination, rent gouging, rights abuses and sexual harassment: <a href="https://storeys.com/gta-brampton-mississauga-illegal-basement-rentals-international-students/">international students</a>. </p>
<p>Canada had more than <a href="https://cbie.ca/infographic">807,000 international students in 2022</a>, around 40 per cent of whom come from India. While all these students need housing, many face discrimination in the rental market. <a href="https://ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/punjabinewcomers/">Tania Das Gupta’s ongoing research</a> into Punjabi newcomers in Canada has found that some landlords discriminate against international students based on gender and ethnicity. </p>
<h2>Discriminatory ads</h2>
<p>An online search for rentals shows many ads for properties that are available to international students. In addition, many ads are aimed at Indian students with landlords seeking tenants who are vegetarian or from particular regions of India. </p>
<p>The wording in the ads seems innocuous, but many can be <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/discriminatory-rental-ads-1.5495364">discriminatory</a> and prey on international students. Landlords often demand <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/09/24/foreign-students-face-a-wave-of-rental-ripoffs-as-landlords-illegally-demand-up-to-six-months-rent-upfront.html">large upfront payments</a>. And international students are often sought because their relatively recent arrival in Canada and temporary migration status means they are less likely to complain. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523456/original/file-20230428-20-6e9rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man pulling a suitcase" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523456/original/file-20230428-20-6e9rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523456/original/file-20230428-20-6e9rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523456/original/file-20230428-20-6e9rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523456/original/file-20230428-20-6e9rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523456/original/file-20230428-20-6e9rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523456/original/file-20230428-20-6e9rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523456/original/file-20230428-20-6e9rdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many international students who come to Canada face challenges navigating the costly housing market.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Housing as a human right</h2>
<p>Even though these ads violate the <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-human-rights-and-rental-housing/v-identifying-discrimination-rental-housing">Ontario Human Rights Code</a>, they continue to be posted on public websites. The code defines the right to be free from discrimination in housing as “not only the right to enter into an agreement and occupy a residential dwelling, but also the right to be free from discrimination in all matters relating to the accommodation.” </p>
<p>Das Gupta’s ongoing research features in-depth interviews with students and service providers. Respondents have shared that many live-in landlords tend to infantilize and over-monitor them. Others, especially female international students, have experienced <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/international-students-crime-reporting-1.6709423">sexual harassment and assault</a> as well as <a href="https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-female-foreign-students-endure-harassment-exploitation">sexual exploitation</a>.</p>
<p>A 2018 survey at McGill University found that <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/definetheline/article/international-students-and-sexual-violence">38.6 per cent of international students experienced sexual harassment and 23.6 per cent experienced sexual assault</a>. </p>
<h2>Sub-standard, illegal and overcrowded housing</h2>
<p>Accommodation aimed at international students can often be <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/int-students-rooming-house-rental-problem-1.6463773">sub-standard, over-crowded and unsafe</a>. Many often lack fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors and have pest infestations. Many secondary units in single-family homes, like basement suites, are built without permits and not to code. </p>
<p>Brampton, Ont., a city where many Indian international students reside, had a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/03/23/spotlight-on-brampton-housing-crunch-hits-immigrants-the-most.html">vacancy rate of 0.8 per cent in 2019</a>, which is well below the minimum of three per cent considered acceptable. It is no wonder then that Brampton has an estimated 50,000 illegal units. </p>
<p>This is dangerous and can lead to tragic outcomes. In January, <a href="https://thepienews.com/news/cape-breton-international-student-dies-in-fire/">an international student in Cape Breton, N.S. died</a> in a fire in an overcrowded international student house. In December 2022, Cape Breton University <a href="https://thepienews.com/news/canada-students-defer/">advised international students to defer coming to Canada</a> because of the shortage of suitable accommodation.</p>
<p>Another common issue with housing for international students is <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/03/23/spotlight-on-brampton-housing-crunch-hits-immigrants-the-most.html">overcrowding</a>. With rental costs increasingly unaffordable, many students are renting single rooms with others. Some online ads even offer a room with only one bed that is to be shared with another tenant the student does not know. One ad on Kijiji stated: “looking for 1 Indian girl to share one room with another Punjabi girl.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522903/original/file-20230426-22-a99666.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522903/original/file-20230426-22-a99666.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522903/original/file-20230426-22-a99666.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522903/original/file-20230426-22-a99666.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522903/original/file-20230426-22-a99666.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522903/original/file-20230426-22-a99666.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522903/original/file-20230426-22-a99666.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522903/original/file-20230426-22-a99666.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot of an ad on the website Kijiji for a shared room in a house in Brampton, Ont.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Stories of <a href="https://humbernews.ca/2022/03/landlords-mistreat-international-students-in-toronto-leaving-them-in-the-street">landlord harassment</a> and <a href="https://thevarsity.ca/2022/09/26/u-of-t-international-students-unexpectedly-removed-from-rental-property-in-north-york-find-belongings-outside/">wrongful evictions</a> are common across Canada. These incidents combined with the costly rental market mean that homelessness is a common experience for students. A 2018 study found that more than <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/11/26/opinion/vancouver-affordable-student-housing-crisis">31 per cent of post-secondary students experience some type of homelessness</a>. </p>
<p>While the study did not focus on international students in particular, Das Gupta’s ongoing research shows that <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/08/11/international-student-arrives-in-nb-to-find-herself-unexpectedly-homeless.html">homelessness is common</a> with stories of some students <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/priest-neighbours-issue-plea-for-help-for-struggling-international-students-in-cape-breton-1.6337730">sleeping in their cars</a> because they cannot afford rent.</p>
<h2>Ending the culture of exploitation</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzxOAqH-pkc">A recent CTV W5 investigation</a> exposed how international students at Cape Breton University and other Canadian post-secondary institutions are strategically recruited because they pay <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220907/dq220907b-eng.htm">significantly higher tuition fees</a> than Canadians.</p>
<p>The extreme nature of the crisis at the university led students to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/international-students-crime-reporting-1.6709423">speak out and advocate for the rights of international students</a>, including raising awareness that complaining about human rights abuses, sexual assaults or other crimes will not hurt their chances of staying in Canada.</p>
<p>But such advocacy can only go so far. Structural changes by governments and post-secondary institutions are required and municipalities need to better regulate illegal rental units. And importantly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103572">international students eager to voice solutions</a> must be consulted and heeded.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204242/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tania Das Gupta received funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for a 1-year exploratory study on Punjabi migrants during Covid-19. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Su does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canadian universities host thousands of international students, many of whom come from India. While all these students need housing, many face discrimination in the rental market.Tania Das Gupta, Professor, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, York University, CanadaYvonne Su, Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2017342023-03-29T15:44:44Z2023-03-29T15:44:44ZHow the private rental sector created a homelessness crisis in Ireland and England<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518144/original/file-20230329-18-tq2w72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C0%2C6720%2C3963&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Housing protestors in Dublin city centre, September 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dublin-ireland-_-september-22nd-2018-1188245146">Benoit Daoust/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a homelessness crisis in Ireland. More than 11,000 people including 3,500 children were <a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/22abb-homeless-report-december-2022/">living in emergency homeless accommodation</a> at the end of 2022 – a 300% increase since 2014. And these figures do not even capture the full extent of hidden homelessness because <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/reimagining-homelessness">thousands of people in Ireland</a> are living in unaffordable, unsafe, insecure housing. </p>
<p>In recent years Ireland’s private rental sector has been used to plug the gap left by reduced social housing availability. Combined with booming demand from private renters, properties are now in very short supply.</p>
<p>England is experiencing similar shortages, with <a href="https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/property-news/when-will-the-pressure-on-renters-start-to-ease/">recent figures showing</a> the number of homes available to rent across the UK has fallen by a third over the past 18 months, while average rents are now £2,200 a year higher than before COVID.</p>
<p>But both Ireland and England are suffering from much more than too few houses or too much demand. People are struggling to afford decent homes after decades of policies designed to boost homeownership have turned property into piggy banks rather than homes.</p>
<p>In Ireland, many of the people now classed as homeless were <a href="https://www.hotpress.com/housing/focus-ireland-issue-statement-on-record-breaking-figures-it-is-crucial-to-remind-ourselves-that-homelessness-is-solvable-22948892">evicted from the private rented sector</a> and have been unable to find <a href="https://www.focusireland.ie/focus-blog/why-are-the-numbers-of-people-homeless-at-record-level-and-what-can-be-done-to-stop-further-increases/">affordable housing</a> again. Surging demand has sent <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2022-11-22/sinn-fin-president-irish-rent-increases-off-the-wall">rents rocketing</a>, leaving few dwellings available. And government plans to lift <a href="https://www.rtb.ie/new-changes-to-rental-legislation/residential-tenancies-deferment-of-termination-dates-of-certain-tenancies-act-2022#:%7E:text=The%20Residential%20Tenancies%20">a COVID-era ban on evictions</a> from April 1 2023 <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/housing-planning/2023/03/08/qa-the-rental-eviction-ban-ends-what-happens-next/">may only make matters worse</a>.</p>
<p>Access to affordable rented housing has become a major social and indeed political issue in Ireland, with <a href="https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/politics/raise-roof-protest-thousands-take-28591153">thousands taking to the streets</a> in recent months and years to call on the Irish government to end the crisis. </p>
<p>Demand has been driven by population increases, new household formations, inward migration (<a href="https://www.nesc.ie/app/uploads/2023/02/159_private_rental.pdf">40% of private rental sector tenants</a> are non-Irish), holiday lets and the proliferation of high income industries such as tech. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nesc.ie/app/uploads/2023/02/159_private_rental.pdf">average new rent</a> is now almost €1,500 (£1,300) nationally, and over €2,000 in Dublin – a more than 100% increase over a decade. Concern over rising rents led to the creation of <a href="https://www.rtb.ie/during-a-tenancy/rent-review-in-a-rent-pressure-zone-rpz/where-are-rent-pressure-zones">rent pressure zones</a> by the government in 2016, in which rent increases are capped at 2% annually. Still, some 40% of private tenants in Ireland <a href="https://www.nesc.ie/app/uploads/2023/02/159_private_rental.pdf">pay more than 30% of their net income</a> in rent. </p>
<p>Younger people are most likely to be affected. Half of all 25-34 year olds in Ireland <a href="https://www.nesc.ie/app/uploads/2023/02/159_private_rental.pdf">live in private rentals</a>, alongside one-quarter of those aged 35-44. Many members of this so-called “generation rent” are growing increasingly frustrated as they realise they will never own a home.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A house attached to red balloons floating up through clouds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517949/original/file-20230328-28-qvjqui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5615%2C3741&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517949/original/file-20230328-28-qvjqui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517949/original/file-20230328-28-qvjqui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517949/original/file-20230328-28-qvjqui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517949/original/file-20230328-28-qvjqui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517949/original/file-20230328-28-qvjqui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517949/original/file-20230328-28-qvjqui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Decent homes are rising out of reach of</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/toy-house-red-balloons-floating-blue-1968809176">Simon Bratt/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new squeeze on rental supply</h2>
<p>Small landlords (owners of one or two units) are also leaving the sector, exacerbating the issue. <a href="https://www.rtb.ie/images/uploads/general/RTB_Annual_Report_with_accounts_2021_Final_version.pdf">Figures from</a> Irish regulator, the <a href="https://www.rtb.ie/">Residential Tenancies Board</a>, show that in 2021 some 60% of eviction notices related to a landlord selling the dwelling, and 23% related to a family member moving in. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.rtb.ie/images/uploads/Comms%20and%20Research/RTB_Small_Landlord_Report_July_2021.pdf">Many of these landlords</a> have crystallised capital gains at the peak of recent house prices rises, or are retiring. Some may have been reluctant or “accidental” landlords in the first place – indeed <a href="https://www.rtb.ie/images/uploads/Comms%20and%20Research/RTB_Small_Landlord_Report_July_2021.pdf">half of all rental properties</a> were acquired with an owner-occupier mortgage.</p>
<p>Being a landlord is also an increasingly complicated business: there have been over 100 legislative changes since 2009, leading to claims of “<a href="https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint_committee_on_housing_local_government_and_heritage/2022-09-20/2/">regulatory overload</a>” by the Irish Property Owners Association. Of course, such changes also make it difficult for tenants to understand and enforce their own rights.</p>
<p>Media reports often reduce the debate to <a href="https://ww1.daft.ie/report?d_rd=1">questions of supply and demand</a>. After all, there were only 1,100 dwellings available for rent on February 1 2023, compared to an average of 8,500 on that date each year between 2006 and 2021.</p>
<p>But this supply squeeze doesn’t explain why <a href="https://www.esri.ie/system/files/publications/RS141_1.pdf">one-third of renters require state assistance</a> with rent, totalling €1 billion per year, or why the private rental sector has grown from 8% of overall tenure in 1991 to 21% in 2016. This is expected to be even higher <a href="https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-tah/tenureandhouseholdsinireland2016-2019/demography/">in the 2022 census returns</a>. </p>
<p>These developments have occurred because Ireland’s private rental sector was boosted by tax relief schemes right up until 2008. This resulted in a flood of buy-to-let mortgages in the early 2000s. Government housing policy has also <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310516707_Property_Family_and_the_Irish_Welfare_State">enlisted the private rental sector</a> to fill a gap in social housing for over two decades.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a green top, hat and sunglasses, in a crowd of people, holds up a sign reading ‘House the homeless now’." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518148/original/file-20230329-20-jsvodp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518148/original/file-20230329-20-jsvodp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518148/original/file-20230329-20-jsvodp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518148/original/file-20230329-20-jsvodp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518148/original/file-20230329-20-jsvodp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518148/original/file-20230329-20-jsvodp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518148/original/file-20230329-20-jsvodp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man holds up a sign about homelessness at a cost of living crisis protest in Dublin in September 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dublin-ireland-september-24th-2022-man-2205986025">LiamMurphyPics/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>England’s homelessness crisis</h2>
<p>England is also in the grip of an acute housing affordability and homelessness crisis. <a href="https://www.greaterchange.co.uk/post/how-much-has-homelessness-increased-in-the-uk">Homelessness has increased</a> by 75% since 2020 and rough sleeping has risen by 170%. Recorded homelessness in 2023 <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/k78mm3/the-history-of-the-uks-housing-crisis">stands at 270,000</a> people, although, as in Ireland, this figure excludes the hidden homeless. </p>
<p>And again, just like in Ireland, this homelessness crisis is inextricably linked to the revival of private rentals, with eviction from this type of housing being <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06856/#:%7E:text=The%20end%20of%20an%20Assured,their%20local%20authority%20for%20assistance.">the main cause of homelessness</a>.</p>
<p>Over the past two decades, private rentals have more than doubled to accommodate <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/bulletins/housingenglandandwales/census2021#:%7E:text=20.3%25%20(5.0%20million)%20rented,%25%20(3.9%20million)%20in%202011">over 20% of households</a> in 2021, in line with <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/indexofprivatehousingrentalprices/january2022">a corresponding decline in social housing</a>. Rent increases have exceeded the rate of inflation over the past two decades. As a result, private renters spend on average over 33% of their household income on rent – although <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2021-to-2022-headline-report/english-housing-survey-2021-to-2022-headline-report">this figure rises</a> to 38% once £23 billion in annual Housing Benefit payments is excluded.</p>
<p>The roots of England’s affordability and homelessness crisis are similar to Ireland’s. It can be traced to shifts in housing policies since the 1980s involving the privatisation of social housing. The introduction of assured shorthold tenancies (AST) enabled no-fault evictions and fuelled acute rent inflation. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/law/humanrights/media/humanrights/news/hrlr/2018/Jessie-Hohmann-FINAL.pdf">financialisation of housing</a> and deregulation of mortgage lending also led to a proliferation of buy-to-let mortgages. As a result, there is <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8658/">a growing recognition</a> that the private rental and AST regime must be changed to prevent no-fault evictions, which could help address this crisis.</p>
<p>Ireland and England face common problems with homelessness and a burgeoning but unsustainable private rental sector. Simplistic supply and demand slogans belittle the part played by private rentals within a complex housing system. In fact, the interaction between social housing availability, financialisation and decades of unfit housing policies have created a unique scenario of homelessness in both countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201734/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Homelessness crises in both Ireland and England highlight problems with the private rental sector.Padraic Kenna, Professor of Law - Housing and Property, University of GalwayMark Jordan, Lecturer in Housing Law, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1967752023-02-21T13:23:31Z2023-02-21T13:23:31ZThe ethics of home ownership in an age of growing inequality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509272/original/file-20230209-20-t2n615.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C6%2C4184%2C2787&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Purchasing property as a primary home is considered more ethical than acquiring property for investment.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/gavel-wooden-and-house-for-home-buying-or-selling-royalty-free-image/1203206439?phrase=property%20ethics&adppopup=true">Ilya Burdun via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many Americans today, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/23/key-facts-about-housing-affordability-in-the-u-s/">homeownership is an unattainable dream</a>. </p>
<p>In 2022, the average <a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-business-economy-prices-mortgages-b3d20020ecddf7a13bd62fb7b5ed7c0c">long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose to 7%</a> for the first time in more than two decades. The median sales price of existing homes <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-home-sales-fell-again-in-june-economists-estimate-11658309401">climbed to a record US$416,000</a> while demand for mortgages dropped to a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/19/mortgage-demand-drops-to-a-25-year-low-as-interest-rates-climb.html">25-year low</a>. </p>
<p>Experts forecast a turnaround in 2023, predicting a fall in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/real-estate/housing-market-predictions/">home prices</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/mortgage-interest-rates-forecast/">mortgage rates</a>. With the housing market likely to cool modestly, the prospect of a gradual return to affordability may sound like music to buyers’ ears. </p>
<p>But should people be purchasing property at all?</p>
<p>My <a href="https://hi.psu.edu/scholars/desiree-lim/">research examines</a> the negative impact of property ownership. Despite the current state of the housing market, property is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/qai/2022/08/30/housing-prices-are-dropping---yes-a-house-is-still-a-good-investment/">still considered a sound investment</a> – at least for the limited group who can afford it. However, property ownership can have serious consequences on others’ lives. </p>
<h2>Buying to make a profit?</h2>
<p>There is a difference between the two main categories of property buyers: those purchasing property as a primary home versus property for investment.</p>
<p>Purchasing property as a primary home is considered more ethical than acquiring property for investment, as housing is considered a basic necessity. </p>
<p>Property for investment, however, is owned for personal profit, often without the owner’s intending to ever live there. Investors may purchase homes that can be “fixed and flipped” and sell them at a profit or lease them to renters. </p>
<p>As of 2019, renters headed around <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/02/as-national-eviction-ban-expires-a-look-at-who-rents-and-who-owns-in-the-u-s/">36% of the nation’s 122.8 million households</a>. Census data shows that <a href="https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf">there are 48.2 million rental units</a> in the U.S., roughly 70% of which are owned by individual landlords.</p>
<h2>Landlordphobia?</h2>
<p>Landlords have often been <a href="https://jacobin.com/2021/07/abolish-landlords-cancel-rent-eviction-homelessness">criticized for being callous</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/16/landlords-social-parasites-last-people-should-be-honouring-buy-to-let">greedy</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00502-1">COVID-19</a> exacerbated landlords’ poor reputations because the pandemic increased <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2021.2020866">renter payment difficulties</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306353">triggered widespread evictions</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3613030">homelessness</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509280/original/file-20230209-26-1wycav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sign saying, 'For rent: Evicted.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509280/original/file-20230209-26-1wycav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509280/original/file-20230209-26-1wycav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509280/original/file-20230209-26-1wycav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509280/original/file-20230209-26-1wycav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509280/original/file-20230209-26-1wycav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509280/original/file-20230209-26-1wycav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509280/original/file-20230209-26-1wycav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The COVID-19 pandemic triggered widespread eviction of tenants of rental properties.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/apartment-or-house-for-rent-sign-after-eviction-royalty-free-image/1218065305?phrase=for%20rent%20evicted&adppopup=true">pcess609 via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some renters complained about uncaring landlords who were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12555">accused of pressuring and threatening vulnerable tenants</a>. The federal and state governments stepped in to help people with such interventions as the <a href="https://nlihc.org/coronavirus-and-housing-homelessness/national-eviction-moratorium">federal eviction moratorium</a> and New York City’s <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/rentfreeze/index.page">rent freeze program</a>. </p>
<p>Yet landlords also provide rental opportunities for those who prefer not to buy and for those who wish to buy their own home but cannot afford it. Furthermore, landlords can be seen as offering a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/reasons-renting-a-house-is-better-than-buying-one-2019-8?r=US&IR=T">valuable service to those who are not seeking long-term occupancy</a>, such as university students who plan to leave upon graduation or temporary visitors to the U.S. </p>
<p>The ethics of renting out property, then, seems to turn partly on whether renters need it for long-term basic shelter. </p>
<p>Landlords are often blamed for the housing crisis. However, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-housing/homelessness-and-human-rights">right to long-term shelter</a>. </p>
<p>Individual landlords may contribute toward a poor housing system, but they act within the confines of the system. Only governments have the power to change the system, through investment in affordable housing. </p>
<h2>The ethics of owning a home</h2>
<p>Homebuyers also have ethical obligations to others.</p>
<p>Choosing to own property in a <a href="https://bayareaequityatlas.org/indicators/gentrification-risk#/">gentrifying neighborhood, or one considered at risk of gentrifying</a>, may contribute to the forced displacement of <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-journal/blog/examining-the-negative-impacts-of-gentrification/">existing long-term residents</a>. The harms of having to leave one’s former neighborhood include the severing of community networks or enduring the strain of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/business/economy/san-francisco-commute.html">extraordinarily long work commutes</a>. Additionally, persons of color <a href="http://www.wipsociology.org/2021/05/20/how-gentrification-reproduces-racial-inequality">are disproportionately affected by gentrification</a>, which may create new patterns of racial segregation.</p>
<p>Given these consequences, aspiring homeowners should perhaps avoid purchasing homes in neighborhoods with vulnerable residents. But, with housing unaffordability writ large, first-time buyers may be able to afford properties only in neighborhoods at risk of gentrification.</p>
<h2>Mitigating risk</h2>
<p>How can governments mitigate risks like racial segregation while also providing affordable housing? </p>
<p>One example is Singapore’s system of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-08/behind-the-design-of-singapore-s-low-cost-housing">affordable public housing</a>. To prevent segregation, Singapore introduced racial quotas in public housing that require minimum levels of occupancy of each of its main ethnic groups – Chinese, Malay, Indian, and others, which includes all other ethnicities. Though intrusive and <a href="https://www.cigionline.org/static/documents/documents/PB%20no.128web.pdf">imperfect in its execution</a>, the Singaporean approach shows that a more proactive approach to housing is possible.</p>
<p>Landlords may have moral duties, but the government’s role in recognizing and protecting the right to stable long-term housing must not be ignored.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196775/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Désirée Lim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar who examines the impact of property ownership explains why purchasing a home comes with many moral obligations.Désirée Lim, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1968102023-01-10T19:05:47Z2023-01-10T19:05:47ZThe rent crisis is set to spread: here’s the case for doubling rent assistance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503744/original/file-20230110-19-dlhjkp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=137%2C323%2C3742%2C1868&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many Australians, the rent crisis is just starting. Advertised rents have been soaring, but mainly for new rentals – so-called “asking rents”.</p>
<p>The broadest measure of rents actually paid – the rents on the 480,000 or so capital city properties the Bureau of Statistics uses to calculate the consumer price index – has climbed only modestly, increasing 3.5% in the year to October.</p>
<p>Rent cuts during the first year of COVID mean the Bureau’s measure of capital city rents is just 2.2% above where it was in February 2020, ahead of the COVID lockdowns.</p>
<p>But advertised rents are climbing steeply. According to property consultants SQM Research, they are an extraordinary 35% higher than in February 2020. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Asking rents versus consumer price index rents</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503748/original/file-20230110-24-uk8xsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503748/original/file-20230110-24-uk8xsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503748/original/file-20230110-24-uk8xsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503748/original/file-20230110-24-uk8xsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503748/original/file-20230110-24-uk8xsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503748/original/file-20230110-24-uk8xsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503748/original/file-20230110-24-uk8xsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503748/original/file-20230110-24-uk8xsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jan/Feb 2020 = 100.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release">Calculated from SQM Research and ABS CPI</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>Part of the reason for the difference in the two measures is that rents have been climbing most strongly away from the cities, and the Bureau’s consumer price index only incorporates capital city prices.</p>
<p>But probably more important is that newly-advertised rents are only paid by a small proportion of renters. </p>
<p>Most renters are likely to be paying rents set some time ago when the property was last advertised, or regular increases in accordance with a schedule they have become used to. Landlords tend to save the big increases for new tenants.</p>
<h2>Average rents so far slow to move</h2>
<p>For capital city tenants in total, real rents (which are rents adjusted for the rate of inflation) remain lower than they were in 2020, and also lower than they were in 2010, because other prices have increased faster.</p>
<p>But the changes in advertised rents suggest substantial increases in overall rents are coming. </p>
<p>When this happens it will place severe pressure on the living standards of the most vulnerable. What can we do about this?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rent-crisis-average-rents-are-increasing-less-than-you-might-think-189154">Rent crisis? Average rents are increasing less than you might think</a>
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<p>In the long run, the best solution is to provide more dwellings. A wide gamut of policies come into play, from public investment in housing to land use controls to improvements in transport. But they take a long while to work.</p>
<p>More immediately it might help to restrict foreign arrivals, at least for while, but this would hurt Australia’s education and tourism industries. </p>
<p>The simplest short-term response is to financially support renters. </p>
<h2>Rent Assistance is in place, but too low</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-rent-assistance?context=22206">Commonwealth Rent Assistance</a> is already available to Australians on pensions and benefits including JobSeeker, the Family Tax Benefit and Parenting Payment.</p>
<p>But it is only modest. It amounts to 75% of the rent paid between two thresholds, both of which are low compared to actual rents. </p>
<p>For people living alone, the upper threshold is A$169 per week, for a couple with two dependent children it is <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-much-rent-assistance-you-can-get?context=22206">$250</a> per week. </p>
<p>The maximum available to a person living alone is $75.80 per week, or about $10 a day. The maximum available to a couple with two dependent children is $89.20 per week – about $13 per day.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/renters-spend-10-times-as-much-on-housing-as-petrol-wheres-their-relief-180702">Renters spend 10 times as much on housing as petrol. Where's their relief?</a>
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<p>The 2021 Census provides an indication of how far the rent thresholds have fallen below rents paid. It found the median rent for a one-bedroom home in Sydney was $451 per week. Only one quarter of such dwellings rented for $379 or less. </p>
<p>In other regions the rents were lower, but still well above assistance thresholds.</p>
<p>Research I conducted with Trish Hill for the <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/income-support-since-2000/">Australian Council of Social Service</a> found the $10 per day and $13 per day available to singles and families does go a little way towards closing the large gap between JobSeeker and the poverty line, but there’s ample scope to lift it to something nearer the rents actually paid.</p>
<p>The 2009 <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/review/the-australias-future-tax-system-review/final-report">Henry Tax Review</a> recommended linking the upper rent threshold to the 25th percentile of actual rents for one and two-bedroom dwellings in capital cities (the rent level that 75% of rentals exceeded).</p>
<h2>Rent assistance could double</h2>
<p>My calculations suggest the threshold proposed by the Henry Review would now be $354 per week – more than twice the current upper threshold for singles. </p>
<p>If the rest of the payment formula remained unchanged, this would boost the maximum payment 2.8 times to around $215 per week for singles – enough to make a big dent in rent payments. And it would automatically adjust in line with subsequent rent increases.</p>
<p>Would such an increase be simply redirected into landlords’ pockets? </p>
<p>The Henry Review argued that wouldn’t happen much, and to the extent it did, it would encourage more investment. </p>
<h2>More assistance shouldn’t push up rents</h2>
<p>For people who are at the maximum payment threshold, an increase in rent assistance would be just the same as any other increase in income – it would give them more to spend on a wide array of things rather than only housing. </p>
<p>One way to minimise upward pressure on rents and help those in the highest-rent locations more would be to vary the threshold by region. The Henry review didn’t recommend this, arguing that its recommended maximum rate of payment would be high enough in all locations. </p>
<p>But if any increase offered is not as generous as that proposed by Henry, varying the amount by region could distribute what is offered more fairly.</p>
<h2>In time, we will need to offer rent assistance more widely</h2>
<p>What I have proposed isn’t perfect. Rent Assistance is generally paid only to Australians on benefits, meaning many vulnerable renters could miss out.</p>
<p>Even though it is available to some families receiving Family Tax Benefit A, the tight rules governing that benefit mean only about 154,000 families on it get rent assistance.</p>
<p>The likely rent increases in the pipeline will create pressure to expand rent assistance to a wider range of families in financial stress.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Bradbury receives funding from the Australian Research Council, conducts contract research for other government bodies and is involved in a Poverty and Inequality research collaboration between UNSW and ACOSS. </span></em></p>Rent assistance is only $10-14 per day, well below rent levels.Bruce Bradbury, Associate Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1946232022-12-07T23:10:50Z2022-12-07T23:10:50ZBuild-to-rent is seen as affordable, but it’s yet to help those most in need<p>Australians desperately need more affordable homes, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-30/rental-affordability-index-cost-of-living-australia-cities/101712026">particularly homes for rent</a>. The prospect of home ownership is <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/home-ownership-and-housing-tenure">rapidly receding</a> for many people, especially younger generations (as the chart below shows). More people than ever are being forced into a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-30/rental-affordability-index-cost-of-living-australia-cities/101712026">tight rental market</a>. </p>
<p>Making things worse, many traditional providers of residential rentals, the “mum and dad” investors, are <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/391">selling their investments to take the capital gains</a>. </p>
<iframe title="Home ownership rates by birth cohort and age group" aria-label="Interactive line chart" id="datawrapper-chart-D0IdW" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/D0IdW/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="500" data-external="1"></iframe>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-tenancy-reforms-to-protect-renters-cause-landlords-to-exit-the-market-no-but-maybe-they-should-194900">Do tenancy reforms to protect renters cause landlords to exit the market? No, but maybe they should</a>
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<p>Adding to the demand for housing, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/latest-release">households are getting smaller</a>. The <a href="https://www.nhfic.gov.au/media/1810/report-summary-and-key-points-sotnh22.pdf">estimated shortfall</a> of homes needed to house new households will be nearly 165,000 by 2032. An extra 20,000 dwellings a year need to be built to avoid that housing deficit. </p>
<p>So what can be done to provide more housing that households can afford? One emerging idea is build-to-rent developments. </p>
<p>Build-to-rent generally involves developing residential accommodation with a view to it being a long-term investment offering long-term homes for renters rather than home buyers. These developments are usually units and townhouses, owned by an institutional investor. </p>
<p><a href="https://research.bond.edu.au/en/projects/principles-and-practices-of-the-australian-private-rental-market-">Our research project</a> is investigating the opportunities to improve housing affordability in Australia. We have found broad agreement among leading players in the build-to-rent sector that these developments are affordable when the rent generated is right for both the households and developers. But there’s a catch: our interviewees considered the rents affordable only because they are set at a reasonable cost for their target group, middle-to-upper-income households. </p>
<p>So this “reasonable cost” is a market perspective. And most current build-to-rent developments are a premium product in city-centre locations. As one person in state government explained: </p>
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<p>“It’s a market process and they do their due diligence and they work out that there’s sufficient people who can pay what they need to pay and people who are perhaps willing to pay a premium for a better product and some greater security of tenure, because they know that it’s going to be continued to be offered as a rental. The landlord’s not going to go, ‘I want to move in’, or sell it.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/build-to-rent-surge-will-change-apartment-living-for-australians-but-for-better-or-worse-154839">Build-to-rent surge will change apartment living for Australians, but for better or worse?</a>
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<h2>So where does this leave low-income renters?</h2>
<p>Build-to-rent is well established overseas but relatively new to Australia. Unsurprisingly, there is still no single definition of exactly what it means, especially as an affordable housing option.</p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629822000683">recent study</a> analysing 685 media articles and housing industry reports suggested build-to-rent may not be what it seems. It might be just another way for investors to make financial gains while masquerading as a solution to the critical shortage of affordable and social housing (available at below-market rents). </p>
<p>It’s not yet clear whether built-to-rent will be an effective solution for people who most need affordable housing. They include low-income and vulnerable households, and those with special needs.</p>
<p>With this in mind, we interviewed 26 leading practitioners (CEOs, chairs of boards, national directors and state government departmental directors) across the field of affordable housing and build-to-rent in Australia to collect their views on what it is.</p>
<p>We found the market perspective is at odds with the needs of lower-income households. It’s quite different to the welfare approach to housing, which focuses on the needs of those with lower incomes. Many households in the bottom 40% of incomes are suffering <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/understanding-3040-indicator-housing-affordability-stress">housing stress</a> as a result of spending more than 30% of their income on housing (known as the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/housing-affordability">30:40 affordability indicator</a>).</p>
<p>To make inroads into the housing affordability crisis, built-to-rent developments will need to provide homes to all, including those falling under the 30:40 indicator, not only to the relatively wealthy. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homeless-numbers-have-jumped-since-covid-housing-efforts-ended-and-the-problem-is-spreading-beyond-the-big-cities-194624">Homeless numbers have jumped since COVID housing efforts ended – and the problem is spreading beyond the big cities</a>
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<h2>Can build-to-rent help solve the affordable housing crisis?</h2>
<p>Participants agreed build-to-rent developments can ease the affordability crisis. To support lower-income households, however, they said incentives, via <a href="https://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/build-to-rent">tax concessions</a> and <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/understanding-inclusionary-zoning">inclusionary zoning</a>, will be needed. </p>
<p>Tax concessions provide incentives to develop affordable housing by, for example, offering land tax credits. Inclusionary zoning either mandates or creates incentives so a set proportion of a development is affordable housing. The incentives typically include changes to development controls and planning standards and processes to reduce costs and obstacles to build-to-rent developments.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nsw-is-skewing-its-tax-system-toward-build-to-rent-apartments-and-away-from-mum-and-pop-landlords-143594">Why NSW is skewing its tax system toward build-to-rent apartments and away from mum and pop landlords</a>
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<p>How, then, can we ensure built-to-rent delivers housing that’s affordable for all households? Our analysis points towards two main conclusions.</p>
<p>First, a legal or statutory definition of “affordability” in relation to build-to-rent should be established. This will allow better framing of the sector’s role in a national housing strategy. As a CEO with 40 years of experience in policy development and the provision of social and affordable housing told us: </p>
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<p>“[Build-to-rent] settings are acutely hampered by the fact that we don’t have a national housing strategy, therefore, nobody’s really bothered to resolve the difficult issues about the definition […] that will put housing costs basis into a frame that says, is it reasonable, is it suitable, is it affordable and, once you paid for it, can you afford a reasonably decent standard of living?”</p>
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<p>A national housing strategy should allow development of tiers of build-to-rent housing. Each tier would match the level of risk and return within a given section of the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook47p/HousingMarketInterventions">spectrum of housing types and tenures</a>. So, these tiers represent both levels of rent and a range of housing types – high-rise, low-rise, townhouses etc. </p>
<p>The aim is to deliver diverse housing options with a focus on affordability and <a href="https://www.landcom.com.au/approach/housing/what-is-universal-housing/">universal housing</a> (designed to meet residents’ changing needs over their lifetime). </p>
<p>A senior economist overseeing nation-wide research into housing and mixed-use development said:</p>
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<p>“So we could potentially look at a grade A BtR [build-to-rent], grade B, grade C BtR asset classes and in different locations. We need to be working more towards different kinds of BtR asset classes, like they have in the USA, UK and Canada.”</p>
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<p>This approach will help make build-to-rent developments more predictable, replicable and scalable to match varying levels of affordability. And that will help create the confidence and enthusiasm the sector needs to produce better affordable housing outcomes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Build-to-rent developments have been touted as a way to deliver affordable housing on a large scale. But, to date, the sector has not been focused on housing for people on lower incomes.Johari Amar, Lecturer in Property, Bond UniversityLynne Armitage, Associate Professor of Urban Development, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1949002022-11-27T19:04:21Z2022-11-27T19:04:21ZDo tenancy reforms to protect renters cause landlords to exit the market? No, but maybe they should<p>More Australians are <a href="https://theconversation.com/wealthy-landlords-and-more-sharehousing-how-the-rental-sector-is-changing-94394">renting their housing longer</a> than in the past. But they have relatively little legal security against rent increases and evictions compared to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-australia-can-learn-from-overseas-about-the-future-of-rental-housing-90401">tenants in other countries</a>. When state governments suggest stronger protections for tenants, landlords and real estate agents <a href="https://www.reiq.com/articles/reiq-concerned-rental-reforms-unravel-rights-of-property-owners/">claim it will cause disinvestment</a> from the sector, increasing pressure on already tight rental markets.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/391">research</a> for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (<a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/about">AHURI</a>), published today, we put the “disinvestment” claim to the test. We looked at the impacts of tenancy reforms in New South Wales and Victoria on rental property records over 20 years, as well as surveying hundreds of property investors. We found no evidence to support this claim.</p>
<p>We did find a high rate of turnover as properties enter and leave the sector. This happened regardless of tenancy law reforms. It’s a major cause of the unsettled nature of private rental housing for tenants. </p>
<p>We suggest that if substantial tenancy reforms did cause less committed landlords to exit the sector, that might not be a bad thing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-your-landlord-wants-to-increase-your-rent-here-are-your-rights-190126">If your landlord wants to increase your rent, here are your rights</a>
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<h2>How did we test the disinvestment claim?</h2>
<p>We analysed records of all rental bond lodgements and refunds in Sydney and Melbourne from 2000 to 2020. From these records we can see properties entering the rental sector for the first time (investment) and exiting the sector (disinvestment). </p>
<p>We looked for changes in trends in property entries and exits around two law reform episodes: when the 2010 NSW Residential Tenancies Act took effect, and the start of a tenancy law reform review in Victoria in 2015. </p>
<p>We found no evidence the NSW reforms affected property entries (investment). And property exits (disinvestment) were slightly reduced – that is, fewer properties exited than expected. </p>
<p>In Victoria, we found property entries reduced slightly when the law reform review started – perhaps a sign of investors pausing for “due diligence”. We saw no effect on property exits. </p>
<p>So in neither state did we find evidence of a disinvestment effect.</p>
<p>We also surveyed 970 current and previous property investors, and got a similar picture. When deciding to invest, investors said prospective rental income and capital gains were the most important considerations, but tenancy laws were important too. </p>
<p>On the other hand, tenancy laws were the least-cited reason for disposing of properties. Many more investors said they did it because they judged it a good time to sell and realise gains, or they wanted money for other purposes, or because the investment was not paying as they had hoped. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-5-key-tenancy-reforms-are-affecting-renters-and-landlords-around-australia-187779">How 5 key tenancy reforms are affecting renters and landlords around Australia</a>
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<h2>A state of constant churn</h2>
<p>Our research also gives new insights into the private rental sector, which <a href="https://www.housingdata.gov.au/">has been growing</a> relative to owner-occupied and social housing. </p>
<p>Small-holding “mum and dad” landlords dominate the sector. Some 70% of landlords own a single property. Multiple-property owners own more properties in total, but still relatively small numbers (rarely more than ten) compared to corporate landlords in other countries who have tens of thousands of properties, or even more. Australia now has some large corporate landlords, but their properties are a tiny fraction of the total rental stock. </p>
<p>Beneath its gradual growth and persistent small-holding pattern, the private rental sector is dynamic. Properties enter and exit the sector very frequently. In both Sydney and Melbourne, our analysis shows, most properties exit within five years of entering. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496048/original/file-20221118-13-8fazlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing private rental properties, Sydney and Melbourne, 2000–20, by year of first observation in rental bonds data and at five-year intervals" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496048/original/file-20221118-13-8fazlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496048/original/file-20221118-13-8fazlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496048/original/file-20221118-13-8fazlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496048/original/file-20221118-13-8fazlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496048/original/file-20221118-13-8fazlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496048/original/file-20221118-13-8fazlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496048/original/file-20221118-13-8fazlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Numbers of private rental properties in Sydney and Melbourne at five-year intervals from 2000 to 2020. Properties are categorised by year of first observation in rental bonds data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The authors</span></span>
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<p>More than 30% of tenancies begin in a property that’s new to the rental sector. And more than 25% of tenancy terminations happen when the property exits the sector. </p>
<p>Our investor survey also shows the sector’s dynamism. Many investors made repeated investments, owning multiple properties and some interstate. They indicated strong interest in <a href="https://theconversation.com/ever-wondered-how-many-airbnbs-australia-has-and-where-they-all-are-we-have-the-answers-129003">short-term letting</a>, such as Airbnb, and significant minorities had used their properties for purposes other than rental housing. </p>
<p>Australia’s rental housing interacts closely with other sectors, particularly owner-occupied housing, as houses and strata-titled apartments trade between the sectors. The tax-subsidised property prices paid by owner-occupiers heavily influence investors’ gains and decision-making. Rental is also increasingly integrated with tourism, through governments’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-wins-and-who-loses-when-platforms-like-airbnb-disrupt-housing-and-how-do-you-regulate-it-106234">permissive approach to short-term letting</a>. </p>
<p>In short, the Australian rental sector is built for investing and disinvesting. As properties churn in and out of rental, renters are churned in and out of housing.</p>
<p>This presents problems for tenants. </p>
<h2>A new agenda for tenancy law reform</h2>
<p>Australian residential tenancies law has accommodated the long-term growth of the rental sector and its dynamic character. With no licensing or training requirements, it’s easy for landlords to enter the sector. It’s also easy to exit by terminating tenancies, on grounds they want to use a property for other purposes, or even without grounds in many cases. </p>
<p>Over the years tenancy law reform has fixed some problem areas, but with virtually no national co-ordination. Laws are increasingly inconsistent on important topics, such as tenants’ security (for example, some states have restricted, but not eliminated, no-grounds terminations), minimum standards and domestic violence. Reforms have overlooked significant problem areas, such as steep rent increases and landlords’ liability for defective premises. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ive-never-actually-met-them-what-will-motivate-landlords-to-fix-cold-and-costly-homes-for-renters-188827">'I've never actually met them': what will motivate landlords to fix cold and costly homes for renters?</a>
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<p>It is time to pursue a national agenda that goes further than previous limited reforms. The focus should be on the rights of tenants to affordable housing, in decent condition, that supports autonomy and secure occupancy. </p>
<p>Where landlords say it is too difficult and they will disinvest, this should not be taken as a threat. Indeed, it would be a good thing if the speculative, incapable and unwilling investors exited the sector. This would make properties available for new owner-occupiers and open up prospects for other, more committed landlords, especially non-profit providers of rental housing. </p>
<p>Similarly, if we had higher standards and expectations to discourage private landlords from entering the sector, that would open up scope for new owner-occupiers and investors who are less inclined to churn properties and households.</p>
<p>While past tenancy law reforms have not caused disinvestment, maybe the next reforms should.</p>
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<p><em>The authors acknowledge the contributions of their research co-authors, Professor Kath Hulse, Professor Eileen O’Brien Webb, Dr Laura Crommelin and Liss Ralston.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194900/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Martin receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), the ACOSS-UNSW Poverty and Inequality Partnership, Tenants Queensland and the Tenants' Union of NSW. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Milad Ghasri receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), ACT Government, has received funding from the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, CRC for iMOVE, and Randwick City Council </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon Parkinson receives funding from the Australian Housing & Urban Research Institute; NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment; the Paul Ramsay Foundation; Australian Digital Inclusion Index Telstra. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Goodall receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), has previously received funding from the Victorian Government, and is in receipt of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.</span></em></p>It’s often claimed that reforming tenancy laws to better protect tenants will drive landlords out of the market, leading to fewer rental properties. A new study finds no evidence to support the claim.Chris Martin, Senior Research Fellow, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW SydneyMilad Ghasri, Senior Lecturer in Transport Planning, UNSW SydneySharon Parkinson, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyZoe Goodall, Research Associate, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1923922022-10-19T04:06:02Z2022-10-19T04:06:02ZThink private renting is hard? First Nations people can be excluded from the start<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490484/original/file-20221018-17040-y33amd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5184%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Private rental housing provides homes, often <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/housing-homelessness/report">long-term homes</a>, for <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/housing-census/latest-release">one in four</a> Australian households. People can experience various forms of <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/363">discrimination</a> when seeking, living in or leaving a rental property, and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples it’s another one of many barriers they face. <a href="https://www.rentingcommissioner.vic.gov.au/the-aboriginal-private-rental-access-project-report-and-recommendations-have-been-delivered">Our new research</a> presents their views about what needs to change in Victoria’s private rental sector.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490555/original/file-20221019-16-ywgk6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of report Aboriginal Private rental access in Victoria: 'excluded from the start'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490555/original/file-20221019-16-ywgk6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490555/original/file-20221019-16-ywgk6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490555/original/file-20221019-16-ywgk6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490555/original/file-20221019-16-ywgk6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490555/original/file-20221019-16-ywgk6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490555/original/file-20221019-16-ywgk6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490555/original/file-20221019-16-ywgk6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://files.rentingcommissioner.vic.gov.au/2022-10/Aboriginal%20Private%20Rental%20Access%20%28APRA%29%20report.pdf">Swinburne University of Technology</a></span>
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<p>Discrimination in the private rental market disproportionately affects households that include Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these households, 34.2% (120,245 households) rented privately at the time of the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/microdata-tablebuilder/tablebuilder">2021 census</a>. This is related to other <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/374">housing issues</a> they experience, including lower rates of home ownership. </p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.rentingcommissioner.vic.gov.au/the-aboriginal-private-rental-access-project-report-and-recommendations-have-been-delivered">the report</a> launched today by the Victorian government, we investigated the systemic barriers Aboriginal Victorians face in the private rental market. We heard about many problems, but also possible solutions.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-is-still-an-everyday-experience-for-non-white-australians-where-is-the-plan-to-stop-this-179769">Racism is still an everyday experience for non-white Australians. Where is the plan to stop this?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A colonial context</h2>
<p>The private rental sector is a product of, and fixed within, our colonial past. It reflects a capitalist agenda of economic priorities, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-financialisation-of-housing-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-73767">treats housing as a financial investment</a>. Thus, it is disconnected from the inherent cultural connections of Aboriginal peoples. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-technology-is-often-misunderstood-heres-how-it-can-be-part-of-everyday-life-167191">disconnection</a> emerges from a broad lack of understanding and awareness of Aboriginal culture and its role in society today. For Aboriginal Victorians, we found the need and desire to feel culturally safe in seeking private rental housing is at odds with the nature of the sector. </p>
<h2>How was the research done?</h2>
<p>The research stemmed from the recommendations of the Victorian Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Framework, <a href="https://vahhf.org.au/">Mana-na woorn-tyeen maar-takoort</a>. It is part of longer-term Victorian government <a href="https://www.firstpeoplesrelations.vic.gov.au/">consultation with Aboriginal peoples</a> across the state. </p>
<p><a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/434853">Indigenous research methodologies</a> informed the research - in particular, the use of yarning with Aboriginal participants. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1177180120917480">Research yarning</a> privileges their story-telling and perspectives. Their experiences and perspectives informed the research.</p>
<p>We analysed findings and stories using the structure of the “<a href="https://cprc.org.au/report-the-renters-journey/">Renter’s Journey</a>”. It breaks down the renting process into eight stages: values and goals; need arises; searching; applying; securing; moving in; living; change. </p>
<p>We looked at each stage to identify both barriers and opportunities for change. Using a <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/337">housing aspirations</a> approach, we explored policy priorities shared by study participants.</p>
<p>Our research used four main methods:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>reviews of existing evidence and approaches</p></li>
<li><p>yarning circles with 26 representatives of Aboriginal housing-related organisations across Victoria</p></li>
<li><p>yarns with 12 professionals who do work related to private rental housing and Aboriginal tenancies</p></li>
<li><p>yarns with 19 Aboriginal Victorians with lived experience of the sector.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>What did the research find?</h2>
<p>For Aboriginal Victorians, barriers arise at every stage of the Renter’s Journey, due to prejudice, discrimination and structural disadvantage. A homelessness and community housing services officer told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You get the occasional overt comment, but it’s predominantly a hidden, quite insidious perspective that they have against renting to Aboriginal people. So, yeah, it’s difficult.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Barriers are highest at the point of rental access. In some cases, real estate agencies were reported to have asked prospective tenants about their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status. These tenants saw this as inherently discriminatory and unnecessary. As another housing professional said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You shouldn’t be faced with the choice of ‘am I or aren’t I an Aboriginal person’ when I’m making an application for private rent.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The entire process came with anxiety. A tenant told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you actually talk to a lot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, they’ll tell you […] it’s an anxiety, it’s this thing of an overwhelming feeling that comes when they know that the only option they have is to go into private rental, because there’s nothing else available. They’re sick of couch-surfing, they’re sick of living in overcrowding, so they become overwhelmed just by the before, thinking about what the process is going to be. Am I going to be facing this? Is this going to be a challenge? Is this going to be a barrier? Am I going to have enough for this? Or am I going to have enough for the bond? […] Is the real estate [agent] and the owner going to accept an application from an Aboriginal person?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Support workers and professionals we spoke with identified discriminatory practices. These intersected with other barriers such as discrimination on the basis of low income, having lived in social housing, being a single parent, or having pets. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-public-housing-is-stigmatised-and-how-we-can-fix-it-142913">Why public housing is stigmatised and how we can fix it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Another tenant told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve applied for many places […] I was in a private rental for two years and, yeah, I applied for over a hundred rental properties, and all was not approved. Because of my income, because I’m on Centrelink, because I didn’t have previous rental history with a real estate; just those certain barriers, yeah. My income was a major factor as well.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our report documents how systemic barriers lead to poor or unsafe housing outcomes, ongoing affordability issues and homelessness.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1364466338199080960"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-identified-whos-most-at-risk-of-homelessness-and-where-they-are-now-we-must-act-before-its-too-late-172501">We identified who's most at risk of homelessness and where they are. Now we must act, before it's too late</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What are the possible solutions?</h2>
<p>We asked participants what could be done to reduce barriers. Many suggested increased collaboration between Aboriginal-controlled organisations, government services and real estate agencies. This would help overcome the cultural disconnect between Aboriginal renters and the system.</p>
<p>Increasing rental assistance payments to reduce poverty was seen as essential.</p>
<p>Specific solutions also included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>making processes more transparent by, for example, giving tenants access to residential tenancy databases to help counter discrimination in shortlisting applications</p></li>
<li><p>cultural training for the real estate industry</p></li>
<li><p>more mentoring and support for prospective and current renters</p></li>
<li><p>Aboriginal-owned-and-managed private rental agencies, an idea that participants welcomed.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Initiatives such as Aboriginal Private Rental Access Programs (<a href="https://fac.dffh.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-06/Aboriginal%20PRAP%20info%20sheet.pdf">APRAP</a>) and related support are a promising bridge to better housing for Aboriginal Victorians. </p>
<p>Our report provides cause for concern, but also optimism. Government and industry responses to this research can open the way to more connected, positive pathways.</p>
<p>It is highly likely the discriminatory barriers we found in Victoria are Australia-wide. Private rental can only form a significant and positive part of Aboriginal people’s housing futures where doors are open and access to housing is culturally safe and assured.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Stone receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Housing for the Aged Action Group / The Wicking Trust, Kids Under Cover and has previously received funding from Homes Victoria. This article is based on research funded by the Victorian Consumer Policy Research Centre / Office of the Commissioner for Residential Tenancies, Victorian Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Peters has previously received funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, and is a current board member of Oonah Health & Community Services Aboriginal Corporation in Victoria, from where some of the research participants were recruited. This article is based on research funded by the Victorian Consumer Policy Research Centre / Office of the Commissioner for Residential Tenancies, Victorian Government.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Piret Veeroja receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Housing for the Aged Action Group, Kids Under Cover and has previously received funding from Homes Victoria. This article is based on research funded by the Victorian Consumer Policy Research Centre / Office of the Commissioner for Residential Tenancies, Victorian Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Goodall receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, has previously received funding from Homes Victoria, and is in receipt of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. This article is based on research funded by the Victorian Consumer Policy Research Centre / Office of the Commissioner for Residential Tenancies, Victorian Government.</span></em></p>New research shows discrimination against Aboriginal Victorians in the private rental housing market is systemic, but there are solutions.Wendy Stone, Professor of Housing & Social Policy, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyAndrew Peters, Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Studies, Swinburne University of TechnologyPiret Veeroja, Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyZoe Goodall, Research Associate, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890892022-08-25T11:23:50Z2022-08-25T11:23:50ZCost of living crisis: what are your rights if your landlord wants to increase your rent?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480898/original/file-20220824-4026-1j7vd8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=102%2C8%2C5585%2C3709&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You don't always have to agree to a rent increase.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/annoyed-angry-disappointed-customers-clients-couple-1492614863">fizkes / shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A lack of affordable housing and growing demand for rental properties have sent the rental market into a state of crisis, and young people are particularly affected. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62525269">New data</a> suggests that nearly four in ten renters under the age of 30 pay more than 30% of their income on rent, and some are <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62344571">turning to house sharing</a>.</p>
<p>According to Rightmove, asking rents on property listings outside London are up 12% on the previous year, and <a href="https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/rental-price-tracker/">growing at the fastest rate in 16 years</a>. And the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/indexofprivatehousingrentalprices/july2022">Office for National Statistics</a> reports that for the year to August 2022, rents increased by 3.2% across the UK. </p>
<p>If you rent, you may be worried about what you can do if your landlord wants to increase the rent. There are some circumstances where a landlord can increase rents, but only by following the rules and sticking to the tenancy agreement. Tenancy law is complex, and your rights depend on the type of contract you have and where you are. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-soaring-inflation-can-be-particularly-harmful-for-young-people-181377?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">How soaring inflation can be particularly harmful for young people</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-350-000-average-house-price-means-for-first-time-buyers-in-great-britain-180344?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">What a £350,000 average house price means for first-time buyers in Great Britain</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-trade-unions-do-and-what-joining-one-means-185450?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">What trade unions do and what joining one means</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>If you privately rent in England and Wales, you are likely to have what is called an assured shorthold tenancy. You would normally have a fixed-term period – usually six or 12 months, sometimes nine months for students – before the tenancy would go onto a periodic (month-to-month) open-ended tenancy. </p>
<p>If you have a fixed-term tenancy, the landlord could ask you to sign a new tenancy agreement at a higher rent, replacing your existing agreement. But you do not have to agree to sign this, and you can continue with the same price as your current agreement. </p>
<p>Alternatively, your tenancy agreement may have a rent review clause. This depends on the agreement and what is stipulated. But your landlord would have to stick to the procedure set out in the agreement. Your landlord may also ask you verbally or in writing to agree to a new rent. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/rent-increases">The government</a> states that your landlord must get your permission to increase the rent. The rent does not increase if you do not agree. </p>
<p><a href="https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/rent_increases">Shelter</a>, a housing charity, warns that if you pay the higher rent, even if you don’t agree to it, this automatically becomes the new legal rent. It is best to seek advice before paying a new rent.</p>
<p>If at the end of your fixed term, you do not sign a new tenancy agreement or end the tenancy yourself, your existing tenancy will continue as a periodic tenancy (rolling month to month) at the same rent. During a periodic tenancy, there are several ways for your rent to be increased. This includes, as above, the rent review clause or the landlord asking you to increase the rent and you accepting – either by paying or signing a new agreement. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="To Let signs outside a row of terraced houses somewhere in the UK" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480891/original/file-20220824-9505-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C20%2C6629%2C4446&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480891/original/file-20220824-9505-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480891/original/file-20220824-9505-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480891/original/file-20220824-9505-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480891/original/file-20220824-9505-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480891/original/file-20220824-9505-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480891/original/file-20220824-9505-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rental prices are increasing across the country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-ukjune-8-2021-real-estate-1990058366">Brookgardener / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The final way your landlord can increase the rent is by serving you a <a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/during-your-tenancy/challenging-a-rent-increase/">Section 13 notice</a>. Your landlord can only do this once a year, they must give you at least one month’s notice, and use the correct form. </p>
<p>If you do not agree to the rent increase proposed under the Section 13 procedure, you can challenge the increase at a first-tier tribunal. The increase usually doesn’t apply until the tribunal has decided on whether to increase your rent, keep the rent the same, or possibly decrease it. </p>
<h2>The Scottish system</h2>
<p>In Scotland, the government reformed private renting and introduced the <a href="https://www.gov.scot/policies/private-renting/private-tenancy-reform/">Private Residential Tenancy</a> agreement in December 2017. This banned “no fault” evictions, introduced open-ended tenancies, and protected tenants from frequent rent increases. </p>
<p>Rent increases in Scotland under this system are different than in England and Wales. <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/private-residential-tenancies-tenants-guide/pages/rent-and-other-charges/">There are different protections on rent increases</a>. These include that your rent can not be increased more than once every 12 months, your landlord must use the correct form, and provide you with at least three months’ notice. </p>
<p>If you think the rent increase is too much, you can apply within 21 days to a <a href="https://www.mygov.scot/landlord-increases-rent">rent officer</a> for them to decide on whether this increase is fair. Based on local market rents, the rent officer could decide to increase the rent even higher or lower the rent if they think it is too high.</p>
<h2>Negotiating with your landlord</h2>
<p>You can negotiate rent increases with your landlord. Getting a new tenant can be costly and risky, with the upfront costs of tenancy checks and letting agent fees. If you can not afford the increase, <a href="https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/rent_increases/challenge_a_rent_increase">Shelter</a> recommends having a conversation with your landlord and explaining your financial situation. To prepare for this conversation, look at what similar properties in your area are charging – you may be able to argue that your landlord is charging above the market rent. They may be understanding and agree to not increase your rent or increase it by an affordable amount. </p>
<p>While there are options to challenge and negotiate a rent increase, if you are on a periodic tenancy in England and Wales, your landlord can serve a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/section-21-and-section-8-notices">Section 21 “no fault” notice</a>. This gives you two months’ notice to leave the property without reason for eviction. </p>
<p>If you stay beyond the two months, the landlord can take you to court – and if they have done everything by the book, the court has to grant possession to the landlord. The UK government has announced plans to <a href="https://theconversation.com/landlords-will-be-forbidden-from-evicting-tenants-for-no-reason-but-reform-has-only-just-begun-115589">end Section 21 evictions</a>, but so far, there is no date for these changes. </p>
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<p><em>This article is not intended to be in-depth legal advice. If you have questions about your situation, talk to a housing advice charity such as Shelter or Citizens Advice.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189089/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Simcock has received funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in partnership with the Scottish Government to understand the experiences of low-income renters in Scotland. Tom is the Secretary and on the Board of the Housing Studies Association. Tom is Chair of Renting Evidence, a knowledge-exchange initiative to bring together researchers and policymakers to share knowledge on renting.</span></em></p>Tenancy law and rent raises are complex - an expert breaks it down.Tom Simcock, Research Fellow, Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1877792022-08-24T02:16:14Z2022-08-24T02:16:14ZHow 5 key tenancy reforms are affecting renters and landlords around Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480287/original/file-20220822-67510-mxg4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C0%2C6528%2C4306&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Private rental forms an increasingly large part of our housing system. Just over a quarter (<a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/home-ownership-and-housing-tenure">26%</a>) of Australian households – 2.4 million of them – live in privately rented dwellings. And <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/home-ownership-and-housing-tenure">increasing numbers</a> are renting long-term. </p>
<p>These trends are reshaping expectations of private rental housing. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/balancing-the-rights-of-renters-and-landlords-in-the-housing-ma/13989536">Residential tenancy reforms</a> that are rolling out around the nation – albeit in slightly variable ways – are an important part of this national change. </p>
<p>These reforms are important to ensure tenants are safe, secure and happy in their homes. <a href="https://theconversation.com/stability-and-security-the-keys-to-closing-the-mental-health-gap-between-renters-and-home-owners-179481">Insecure</a> and poor-quality housing can <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-22/renting-home-can-be-harm-your-health-experts-asy/100557672">harm renters’ health and wellbeing</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stability-and-security-the-keys-to-closing-the-mental-health-gap-between-renters-and-home-owners-179481">Stability and security: the keys to closing the mental health gap between renters and home owners</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Importantly, the reforms also shape the role and responsibilities of investor landlords – “rental providers” as Victoria recently renamed them – and the expectations we can have of them. These changes have implications for the support they need to be good landlords. </p>
<p>Using 2019-20 ABS <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/finance/household-income-and-wealth-australia/latest-release#:%7E:text=The%202019%E2%80%9320%20Survey%20of,information%20about%20housing%20and%20tenure">Survey of Income and Housing</a> data, we estimate around 14.8% of households were residential investor landlords who received rental income. This is an increase from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02673037.2019.1644297">13.8% in 2015-16 and 10% of households in 2003-04</a>.</p>
<p>Unlike investments that do not directly affect others, investing in housing means providing other people with a home. </p>
<p>Tax concessions for investor landlords are generous by international standards. In 2016, capital gains tax discounts and negative gearing were together estimated to cost the budget <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/hot-property/">$11.7 billion a year</a>. </p>
<p>Current data are difficult to access. Recent independent <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/negative-gearing-and-capital-gains-tax-breaks-go-to-top-income-earners-and-men-20220503-p5ai3v.html">analysis</a> by the Parliamentary Budget Office commissioned by the Greens shows 57% of negative-gearing deductions go to rental investors in the top 20% of income earners, with men benefiting most. </p>
<p>In return for these tax breaks, there are expectations about the standards of housing that investors provide. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ive-never-actually-met-them-what-will-motivate-landlords-to-fix-cold-and-costly-homes-for-renters-188827">'I've never actually met them': what will motivate landlords to fix cold and costly homes for renters?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480293/original/file-20220822-54904-y67vz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing trends of increasing proportion of renters for all age groups from 1996 to 2021" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480293/original/file-20220822-54904-y67vz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480293/original/file-20220822-54904-y67vz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480293/original/file-20220822-54904-y67vz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480293/original/file-20220822-54904-y67vz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480293/original/file-20220822-54904-y67vz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480293/original/file-20220822-54904-y67vz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480293/original/file-20220822-54904-y67vz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Increases in the proportions of people renting, by age group, from 1996 to 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/home-ownership-and-housing-tenure">Home ownership and housing tenure/AIHW</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fall-in-ageing-australians-home-ownership-rates-looms-as-seismic-shock-for-housing-policy-120651">Fall in ageing Australians' home-ownership rates looms as seismic shock for housing policy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What are the key issues for reform?</h2>
<p>We see five key changes in many state and territory reforms so far. These should be central to further reforms:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>accepting “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-08/housing-shortage-rentals-real-estate-cairns-homes-rent-bidding/101130992">rent bidding</a>”: this practice has plagued access to private rental tenancies as vacancy rates have fallen nationally, but new laws include provisions to prevent real estate agents and landlords letting property to “the highest bidder”</p></li>
<li><p>minimum standards: these cover conditions of dwellings, including heating, safety/security and in some cases, such as the ACT, a focus on sustainability and reducing appliance energy use</p></li>
<li><p>property modifications: the most progressive reforms allow tenants to make reasonable alterations to properties – such as hanging picture hooks or having vegetable gardens – and generally require them to return properties to the original form when the lease ends</p></li>
<li><p>pet inclusion: Australian households increasingly <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/350">see their pets as part of the family</a> and many tenancy reforms put the onus on landlords to establish grounds for refusing pets </p></li>
<li><p>more secure leases: a major change in all recent reforms, with the striking <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-open-letter-on-rental-housing-reform-103825">exception of New South Wales</a>, are moves towards the removal of “no grounds eviction” clauses. However, no state or territory has entirely removed no-grounds evictions, with some states retaining landlords’ <a href="https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/end-fixed-term-evictions-are-unfair-no-grounds-evictions-part-1">ability to end a tenancy</a> at the conclusion of a fixed-term lease. Importantly, reforms are also introducing a new ground for asking tenants to vacate property, where they are deemed dangerous to property and/or unsafe for neighbours.</p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-housing-laws-are-changing-but-do-they-go-far-enough-to-prevent-pet-abandonment-167047">Australia's housing laws are changing, but do they go far enough to prevent pet abandonment?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is each state and territory doing?</h2>
<p>Below is a snapshot of recent regulatory reforms across <a href="https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/changes-to-renting-laws/guide-to-rental-law-changes">Victoria</a>, <a href="https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/renting/new-residential-tenancy-laws">NSW</a>, <a href="https://justice.act.gov.au/renting-and-occupancy-laws/reforms-tenancy-and-occupancy-laws-2022">ACT</a>, <a href="https://consumeraffairs.nt.gov.au/a-guide-to-renting-in-the-northern-territory/keeping-pets">NT</a>, pending reforms in <a href="https://www.rta.qld.gov.au/rental-law-changes">Queensland </a>, and lessons for future reforms in <a href="https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/consumer-protection/residential-tenancies-act-review">Western Australia</a> (currently under review), <a href="https://www.cbos.tas.gov.au/topics/housing/renting/beginning-tenancy/minimum-standards/types">Tasmania</a> and <a href="https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/lz?path=%2FC%2FA%2FRESIDENTIAL%20TENANCIES%20ACT%201995">South Australia</a>. It summarises key changes for tenants and investors since tenancy reforms began around 2019. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480306/original/file-20220822-2925-nqkyf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480306/original/file-20220822-2925-nqkyf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480306/original/file-20220822-2925-nqkyf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=2038&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480306/original/file-20220822-2925-nqkyf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=2038&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480306/original/file-20220822-2925-nqkyf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=2038&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480306/original/file-20220822-2925-nqkyf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=2561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480306/original/file-20220822-2925-nqkyf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=2561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480306/original/file-20220822-2925-nqkyf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=2561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>Helping landlords to be better rental providers</h2>
<p>Reforms to residential tenancy laws are practical measures to enhance the housing of tenants. The changes recognise that renters have often been left behind in the rapid <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-financialisation-of-housing-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-73767">financialisation</a> and growth of the sector. The reforms clarify landlords’ responsibilities to provide decent housing, in return for currently generous tax concessions.</p>
<p>Much of the commentary on these reforms can take an “us and them” approach to tenant and property owner rights. This is unnecessary and a missed opportunity to educate investor landlords in their essential role as housing providers. It’s clear an important element of the reforms is ensuring investors understand their role and have capacity to fulfil it.</p>
<p>It is too early to assess the direct impacts of recent reforms, not least because they have come into effect in the years <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/376">disrupted by COVID-19</a>. However, by international standards the reforms are moderate. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1508994634105909251"}"></div></p>
<p>Real estate industries and financial sectors – along with consumer affairs offices and tenant advocacy in each state and territory – can usefully support people who are looking to invest in residential property to understand their role and responsibilities as rental providers. States including Victoria and Tasmania have appointed a residential tenancies commissioner. Other jurisdictions could consider doing the same to offer additional support. </p>
<p>Key elements of effective support would ensure landlords have:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>full information about the upfront and ongoing costs of delivering housing that at least meets minimum standards of liveability and safety</p></li>
<li><p>adequate income and resources to respond promptly to the need for any property repairs and improvements</p></li>
<li><p>an understanding of their important role as long-term providers of housing and home.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Tenants have to provide detailed evidence of their capacity to be a tenant. Rental providers should face similar requirements to rent out a property.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: this article previously stated that landlords must now provide one of several regulated reasons for asking a tenant to vacate a property during a lease. However, no state or territory has entirely removed no-grounds evictions.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187779/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Stone receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), Housing for the Aged Action Group and Kids Under Cover and has previously received funding from the Victorian Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Burke has received funding from AHURI, ARC, and Homes Vic but has no current funding. He is affiliated with the Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA Vic) for which he provides volunteer professional development training. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Goodall has received funding from the Victorian Government and the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and receives an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. </span></em></p>Investing in housing means providing a home. National tenancy reforms are reshaping the role of landlords to reflect this responsibility.Wendy Stone, Professor of Housing & Social Policy, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyTerry Burke, Emeritus Professor of Housing Studies, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyZoe Goodall, Research Associate, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1851292022-07-08T02:44:57Z2022-07-08T02:44:57ZShanty towns and eviction riots: the radical history of Australia’s property market<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469660/original/file-20220620-13-r5o13d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1000%2C761&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A family standing outside a tin shack called Wiloma during the Great Depression, New South Wales, 1932</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-160054430/view">NLA/Trove</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Skyrocketing property prices and an impossible rental market have seen growing numbers of Australians struggling to find a place to live. </p>
<p>Recent images of families pitching tents or living out of cars evoke some of the more enduring scenes from the Great Depression. Australia was among the hardest hit countries when global wool and wheat prices plummeted in 1929.</p>
<p>By 1931, many were feeling the effects of long-term unemployment, including widespread evictions from their homes. The evidence was soon seen and felt as shanty towns – known as dole camps – mushroomed in and around urban centres across the country. </p>
<p>How we responded to that housing crisis, and how we talk about those events today, show how our attitudes about poverty, homelessness and welfare are entwined with questions of national identity.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-couldnt-see-a-future-what-ex-automotive-workers-told-us-about-job-loss-shutdowns-and-communities-on-the-edge-180884">'I couldn't see a future': what ex-automotive workers told us about job loss, shutdowns, and communities on the edge</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Shanty towns and eviction riots</h2>
<p>Sydney’s Domain, Melbourne’s Dudley Flats and the banks of the River Torrens in Adelaide were just a few places where communities of people experiencing homelessness <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1106767">sprung up</a> in the early 1930s.</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1106767">lived in tents</a>, others in makeshift shelters of iron, sacking, wood and other scavenged materials. Wooden crates, newspapers and flour and wheat sacks were put to numerous inventive domestic uses, such as for furniture and blankets. Camps were rife with lice, fevers and dysentery, all treated with home remedies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469663/original/file-20220620-23-cm58ov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469663/original/file-20220620-23-cm58ov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469663/original/file-20220620-23-cm58ov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469663/original/file-20220620-23-cm58ov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469663/original/file-20220620-23-cm58ov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469663/original/file-20220620-23-cm58ov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469663/original/file-20220620-23-cm58ov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469663/original/file-20220620-23-cm58ov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some people lived in tents in the Domain during the Depression of the 1930s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/primo-explore/fulldisplay?vid=MAIN&search_scope=Everything&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US&context=L&isFrbr=true&docid=SLV_VOYAGER1713846">Knights, Bert/State Library of Victoria</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But many Australians fought eviction from their homes in a widespread series of protests and interventions known as the <a href="https://commonslibrary.org/lock-out-the-landlords-australian-anti-eviction-resistance/">anti-eviction movement</a>. </p>
<p>As writer Iain McIntyre outlines in his work <a href="https://commonslibrary.org/lock-out-the-landlords-australian-anti-eviction-resistance/">Lock Out The Landlords: Australian Anti-Eviction Resistance 1929-1936</a>, these protests were an initiative of members of the Unemployed Workers Movement – a kind of trade union of the jobless.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://rahu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Sydneys-Anti-Eviction-Movement_-Community-or-Conspiracy_.pdf">explained</a> by writers Nadia Wheatley and Drew Cottle, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>With the dole being given in the form of goods or coupons rather than as cash, it was impossible for many unemployed workers to pay rent. In working class suburbs, it was common to see bailiffs dumping furniture onto the footpath, pushing women and children onto the street. Even more common was the sight of strings of boarded up terrace houses, which nobody could afford to rent. If anything demonstrated the idiocy as well as the injustice of the capitalist system it was the fact that in many situations the landlords did not even gain anything from evicting people. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Unemployed Workers Movement <a href="https://rahu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Sydneys-Anti-Eviction-Movement_-Community-or-Conspiracy_.pdf">goal</a> was to</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Organise vigilance committees in neighbourhoods to patrol working class districts and resist by mass action the eviction of unemployed workers from their houses, or attempts on behalf of bailiffs to remove furniture, or gas men to shut off the gas supply. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Methods of resistance were varied in practice. Often threats were <a href="https://rahu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Sydneys-Anti-Eviction-Movement_-Community-or-Conspiracy_.pdf">sufficient</a> to keep a landlord from evicting a family. </p>
<p>If not, a common <a href="https://rahu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Sydneys-Anti-Eviction-Movement_-Community-or-Conspiracy_.pdf">tactic</a> was for a large group of activists and neighbours to gather outside the house on eviction day and physically prevent the eviction. Sometimes this led to street fights with <a href="https://commonslibrary.org/lock-out-the-landlords-australian-anti-eviction-resistance/">police</a>. Protestors sometimes <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1106767">returned</a> in the wake of a successful eviction to raid and vandalise the property.</p>
<p>Protestors went under armed siege in houses barricaded with sandbags and barbed wire. This culminated in a <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ANZLawHisteJl/2007/2.pdf">series</a> of bloody battles with police in Sydney’s suburbs in mid-1931, and numerous arrests.</p>
<h2>It’s not just what happened – it’s how we talk about it</h2>
<p>Narratives both reflect and shape our world. Written history is interesting not just for the things that happened in the past, but for how we tell them.</p>
<p>Just as the catastrophic effects of the 1929 crash were entwined with the escalating struggle between extreme left and right political ideologies, historians and writers have since taken various and even opposing viewpoints when it comes to interpreting the events of Australia’s Depression years and ascribing meaning to them.</p>
<p>Was it a time of quiet stoicism that brought out the best in us as “battlers” and fostered a spirit of mateship that underpins who we are as a nation?</p>
<p>Or did we push our fellow Australians onto the streets and into tin shacks and make people feel ashamed for needing help? As Wendy Lowenstein wrote in her landmark work of Depression oral history, <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/69032">Weevils in the Flour</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Common was the conviction that the most important thing was to own your own house, to keep out of debt, to be sober, industrious, and to mind your own business. One woman says, ‘My husband was out of work for five years during the Depression and no one ever knew […] Not even my own parents.’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This part of our history remains contested and narratives from this period - about “lifters and leaners” or the Australian “dream” of home ownership, for example – persist today.</p>
<p>As Australia’s present housing crisis deepens, it’s worth highlighting we have been through housing crises before. Public discussion about housing and its relationship to poverty remain – as was the case in the Depression era – emotionally and politically charged.</p>
<p>Our Depression-era shanty towns and eviction protests, as well as the way we remember them, are a reminder that what people say and do about the housing crisis today is not just about facts and figures. Above all, it reflects what we value and who we think we are.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185129/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award from the Australian federal government.</span></em></p>Sydney’s Domain, Melbourne’s Dudley Flats and the banks of the River Torrens in Adelaide were just a few places where communities of people experiencing homelessness sprung up in the early 1930s.Helen Dinmore, Research Fellow, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1724362021-12-09T10:03:08Z2021-12-09T10:03:08ZEntire home Airbnb listings in London have increased by 571% in 5 years: new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435018/original/file-20211201-15-mglza0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C119%2C4000%2C3766&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/minsk-belarus-decenber-2019-key-apartment-1603821457">AlesiaKan / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around 2.8 million households across England casually rented out part of or their entire home on platforms such as Airbnb in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/gov-%20ernment/statistics/english-housing-survey-2017-to-2018-headline-report">2017-18</a>. </p>
<p>These platforms are part of the “sharing economy” and have opened up new avenues for tourism. Since its founding in 2008, Airbnb has enabled millions of “hosts” around the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08111146.2018.1460269">world</a> to let out their spare space – whether this is an extra bedroom or an entire home. </p>
<p>In 2015, the UK government deregulated short-term rentals in London, allowing homeowners to share their home for up to 90 nights per year without planning permission. However, it is not just private homeowners who are taking advantage of this system.</p>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.14458.00969">Research</a> has found that instead of offering their property as a longer-term rental, some landlords were moving their houses on to Airbnb where they can make higher profits. This raises concerns about the impact of short-term rental activity on housing availability and affordability in London. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673037.2021.1988063">new research</a> at Edge Hill University, we looked at the growth of Airbnb activity in London to understand in greater depth how properties are being shared on the platform – and by whom. Using data provided by <a href="http://insideairbnb.com/">InsideAirbnb</a> and <a href="http://tomslee.net/category/airbnb-data">author and researcher Tom Slee</a>, we analysed the Airbnb platform for listings in London between 2014-19.</p>
<p>Our findings reveal worrying trends amid considerable growth in Airbnb activity across London. Since 2014, there has been a 571% increase in the number of entire home listings, with nearly 45,000 entire properties available to rent. There has also been substantial growth in what could be classed as “commercial” activity rather than occasional home sharing.</p>
<h2>Not just spare rooms</h2>
<p>One indicator of commercial rental activity is the availability of a property on the platform. If a property is being shared when the host is away, then the property would only be available for a limited number of nights per year. On the other hand, a home that is available for more than 90 nights per year, we argue, indicates that this is a commercial activity. </p>
<p>We found that since 2015 the number of entire home listings that were available for more than 90 nights had increased by 123% to just over 18,000 homes. We further found that 61% of these properties were offered by hosts with more than one property, and this activity had increased by 275% since 2015. </p>
<p>An Airbnb spokesperson told The Conversation: “This research uses a flawed methodology focused on calendar availability data gathered from third parties. In reality the typical entire home listing on Airbnb in London is let for just 35 nights a year and there are very few exceptions where a listing is let for 90 nights or more. Airbnb was the first platform to introduce a 90 night cap to voluntarily enforce rules in London and has for years led calls in partnership with City Hall for a short-term let register to be introduced.”</p>
<p>Another indicator of commercial rental activity is to examine the number of entire property listings provided by hosts with two or more entire property listings. We found that these listings had increased by 480% since 2015 to nearly 20,000 homes. We also found that only 12% of hosts had more than one property. </p>
<p>We were able to break the data down further by examining the impact on different local areas within London. We found that there is a concentration of entire property listings provided by hosts with two or more properties in a few London boroughs, specifically Westminster (23% of listings), Kensington and Chelsea (15% of listings) and Camden (10% of listings). Other researchers found similar results in other large cities including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0308518X18778038">New York</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1757628">Madrid</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-05-2015-0023">Berlin</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Real estate agent To let signs in front of terraced houses in London" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435020/original/file-20211201-27-m72agd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435020/original/file-20211201-27-m72agd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435020/original/file-20211201-27-m72agd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435020/original/file-20211201-27-m72agd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435020/original/file-20211201-27-m72agd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435020/original/file-20211201-27-m72agd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435020/original/file-20211201-27-m72agd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">London’s rental market is being affected by landlords taking their properties to platforms like Airbnb.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-ukjune-8-2021-real-estate-1990058366">Brookgardener/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Renting and displacement</h2>
<p>The activity we found in Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Camden is likely to lead to displacement for communities in these neighbourhoods. Researchers term this <a href="https://doi.org/10.5153%2Fsro.4071">tourism gentrification</a>, where tourists displace residents from their local communities through increases in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2020.1227">rental prices</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59404863">decreased housing availability</a>, making it difficult for people to find an affordable home to rent in their local neighbourhood.</p>
<p>Our findings reveal that a significant portion of the Airbnb activity in London is not what could be seen as the authentic sharing of homes, where the asset is being underused (a spare bedroom, for example), but commercial activity. It is unlikely that local communities can access and realise the benefits of the sharing economy as intended.</p>
<p>Landlords are attracted to the short-term rental market because of what is termed a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0308518X18778038">technological rent gap</a>. Platforms such as Airbnb make it easier for landlords to access the short-term holiday rental market – where they are able to make higher profits by offering their property as a short-term rental instead of a home to rent for the long term. </p>
<p>Airbnb has taken action to limit this activity by enforcing the 90 night limit in London, by automatically stopping properties being booked for more than 90 nights without evidence of planning permission. But there is evidence that some landlords are <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47305575">bypassing the system</a> by setting up new listings for the property or using multiple platforms to advertise the property. There is a need to limit landlords from using homes on these platforms for the long term, by using a local registration and licensing scheme. </p>
<p>Airbnb and similar platforms could be a force for good, by enabling people to access unique places, and by sharing excess capacity in existing homes. However, the platform enables landlords to make higher profits by choosing tourists over providing homes for the long term – contributing to the gentrification of neighbourhoods and displacing local communities through higher rents and property prices. </p>
<p>Governments across the UK are planning on introducing significant rental reforms, such as the Renters Reform bill in England. Further reforms could drive more landlords to use Airbnb over providing long-term housing. Care must be taken to ensure that further properties are not lost from the residential sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Simcock receives funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in partnership with the Scottish Government to understand the experiences of low-income renters in Scotland. Tom is the Secretary and on the Executive Committee of the Housing Studies Association. Tom is Chair of Renting Evidence, a knowledge-exchange initiative to bring together researchers and policymakers to share knowledge on renting. </span></em></p>The amount of ‘commercial’ activity on the home sharing platform has increased drastically.Tom Simcock, Research Fellow, Edge Hill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1670102021-09-23T17:37:21Z2021-09-23T17:37:21ZHow to empower older adults to become digital citizens in our tech-dependent world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420081/original/file-20210908-27-g09jpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C20%2C6659%2C4446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Technology can improve quality of life for older adults.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Living in a technology dependent world means we all want to stay connected, regardless of age. And the COVID-19 pandemic was a major catalyst <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ijinfomgt.2020.102171">for increasing our technological dependence</a>. </p>
<p>It became normal to do weekly online grocery shops, attend doctors’ appointments or work via Zoom and FaceTime family and friends. The reality is however, that not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to the technological devices or skills to operate in our online world — some of the most impacted by this are older adults. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-020-00154-3">magnified the pandemic for them, especially in terms of isolation</a>. Older adults were left without the main resource that has been keeping many of us connected — technology.</p>
<p>But that’s not all the pandemic has laid bare for older adults. A <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-aging-face-of-homelessness-in-north-american-cities-111702">large number of them are also either experiencing, or are vulnerable to homelessness</a>. Older adults have become one of the <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/%E2%80%9Cno-home-no-place%E2%80%9D-addressing-complexity-homelessness-old-age-through-community-dialogue">groups most at-risk for housing insecurities during the pandemic</a>. And one of the <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/education-training-employment/poverty">largest barriers to housing, is low socioeconomic status</a>. </p>
<p>Our technological dependence has created new challenges for older adults, and helped solidify pre-existing ones, like navigating online platforms to secure housing. Older adults face housing barriers due to the lack of technological resources and education on how to use them; there is a clear need to empower them to be digital citizens.</p>
<h2>Finding housing in an internet-dependent world</h2>
<p>Overall, older adults are often excluded from using the internet because they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa098">lack devices and connectivity, or are inexperienced in using it</a>. So when it comes to finding housing, they’re often left behind. </p>
<p>A decade ago, it was possible to walk through the streets, sift through newspapers, notice boards and discover apartments for rent, but this is increasingly uncommon. The platforms themselves — like Kijiji, PadMapper and Facebook Marketplace — are not made with older adults in mind; meaning <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X19869678">the ability to navigate and access these resources makes it even more difficult for them to find housing</a>. On top of having to search through unfamiliar platforms, they’re also faced with finding an apartment on a limited budget.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two older women look at an iPad together" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422978/original/file-20210923-28-1o6071z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422978/original/file-20210923-28-1o6071z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422978/original/file-20210923-28-1o6071z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422978/original/file-20210923-28-1o6071z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422978/original/file-20210923-28-1o6071z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422978/original/file-20210923-28-1o6071z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422978/original/file-20210923-28-1o6071z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Older adults are more vulnerable to phishing and scams and may have trouble recognizing fake housing advertisements.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Imagine you don’t know housing websites exist. Or know how to navigate online ads. Or have a device to access the internet. You’re put at a serious disadvantage when it comes to accessing housing.</p>
<p>In North America “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X19869678">large portions of the rental housing market have moved online … more renters in urbanized areas found their current homes through a site like Craigslist than through any other information channel</a>.” Meaning the majority of rental properties are accessible through online platforms. Older adults who are not part of this digital world have limited opportunities to find housing. </p>
<p>We don’t want to suggest that finding an apartment is impossible but, if you are an older adult lacking technological resources and digital literacy, it may feel overwhelming.</p>
<h2>Making technology more accessible</h2>
<p>How can we move forward in this digital world, when so many are being left behind? We should at least make technology accessible, so the choice is up to the user. </p>
<p>When it comes to older adults, having the liberty to choose their involvement with technology can provide independence and autonomy. When the decision is theirs to make, their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.092">quality of life tends to increase, especially regarding social isolation</a>.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.ncoa.org/article/top-10-financial-scams-targeting-seniors">older adults are more vulnerable to phishing and scams</a> and may have trouble recognizing fake housing advertisements, <a href="https://helpagecanada.ca/seniors-can-connect/">having support</a> and <a href="https://youthteachingadults.ca/resources/">educational resources</a> can <a href="https://www.connectedcanadians.ca/">promote the adoption of a conscious and cautious attitude</a> online, promote the use of trusted websites and avoid disclosing personal information such as SIN and credit card information. This can actively enable older adults to feel more comfortable and confident online. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Grandmother looks at ipad with her granddaughter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422977/original/file-20210923-15-2urmof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422977/original/file-20210923-15-2urmof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422977/original/file-20210923-15-2urmof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422977/original/file-20210923-15-2urmof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422977/original/file-20210923-15-2urmof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422977/original/file-20210923-15-2urmof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422977/original/file-20210923-15-2urmof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Technology can improve quality of life for older adults by helping them stay in touch with family and friends.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are a part of the <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/airp/news-events/in-the-news/spike-in-homelessness-among-aged-prompts-research-for-solutions-.html">Aging in the Right Place (AIRP) Project</a> which looks at the causes of homelessness for older adults in order to evaluate <a href="https://www.seniorsservicessociety.ca/">current promising practices in place, such as temporary housing that support older adults who are at risk of experiencing homelessness</a>.</p>
<p>An integral part of this project is to not only be in close contact with the people working towards supporting this population, but also with older people experiencing homelessness themselves. In our preliminary client interviews of those living in the temporary housing, we’re often told how invaluable technology is when searching for stable housing. </p>
<h2>Technology can improve quality of life</h2>
<p>As a society we assume older adults are not interested in various technologies, <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2020/07/seniors-technology-illiteracy-misconception-pandemic.html">not because they’re resisting but because technologies that currently exist were simply not created with them in mind</a>. Failing to include older adults as technology users further perpetuates the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39949-2_15">social, information and digital exclusion they experience</a>.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=425680">leaves very few opportunities for them to access education and awareness</a>. Opportunities that do exist to learn are often found in schools or at work — which are environments many older adults no longer frequent. </p>
<p>Technology can improve the quality of life for older adults by providing ease, inclusion and comfort by making the essentials, like finding housing, more accessible. </p>
<p>It’s time we <a href="https://helpagecanada.ca/seniors-can-connect/">draw on the resources</a> <a href="https://youthteachingadults.ca/resources/">and educational initiatives</a> <a href="https://www.connectedcanadians.ca/">in place and reach out to the ones who have been left behind</a>. Let’s empower older adults to be digital citizens. </p>
<p>As digital citizens, they will have more opportunities to secure housing and tools to prevent homelessness. These supports will not only give them a sense of involvement in a technologically dependent world, but also provide a sense of belonging and inclusion in today’s society.</p>
<p><em>Diana Juanita Mora, an undergraduate research assistant from Simon Fraser University, helped research and co-author this piece.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167010/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Atiya Mahmood receives funding from Social Science and Humanities Research Council - Partnership Grant.
Project Title: Aging in the Right Place: Building Capacity for Promising Practices that Support Older People Experiencing Homelessness in Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Priscilla Ruth Chyrva receives as a RISE Globalink Research Intern funding from the German DAAD and Mitacs. This enabled her to contribute to the AIRP Project which is funded by Canada’s Mortgage and Housing Cooperation and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachelle Patille receives funding from Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in affiliation with the AIRP Project which this piece is linked to. </span></em></p>Empowering older adults to become digital citizens will not only help them stay connected, but help them access essential services like housing.Atiya Mahmood, Associate professor, Gerontology Department, Simon Fraser UniversityPriscilla Ruth Chyrva, Assistant Researcher, Aging in the Right Place (AIRP), Simon Fraser UniversityRachelle Patille, Research Assistant, Aging in the Right Place (AIRP), Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1607542021-05-24T12:31:57Z2021-05-24T12:31:57ZDespite federal moratorium, eviction rates returning to pre-pandemic levels<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401728/original/file-20210519-17-1txls0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C0%2C6720%2C4476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Outside Columbus, Ohio, a bailiff signs a writ of eviction for a tenant on March 3, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/deputy-service-bailiff-michael-taylor-signs-a-writ-of-news-photo/1231503422">Stephen Zenner/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Idaho, like many states across the country, faced rising housing costs, low home-vacancy rates and increasing efforts by landlords to evict tenants. </p>
<p>Thanks to increased unemployment benefits, federal stimulus checks and eviction moratoriums – all part of the government’s pandemic response – renters’ lives improved slightly in 2020. But with those programs decreasing or disappearing, many Idahoans and other Americans who rent their homes will still struggle to pay rent and face imminent risk of being evicted.</p>
<p>Our analysis of <a href="https://www.boisestate.edu/sps-ipi/evictions-in-idaho/">eviction rates across the state of Idaho</a> finds that numbers were down in 2020 but are poised to return to – or even exceed – pre-pandemic levels in the coming months as economic support for renting families runs out.</p>
<p>Similar trends in other states could spark a rise in evictions across the nation.</p>
<h2>Idaho evictions</h2>
<p>In 2016, <a href="https://evictionlab.org/map/#/2016?geography=states&bounds=-190.672,6.298,-44.648,62.504&type=er&locations=16,-115.31,43.929">2,037 or 1.1%</a> of all renting households in Idaho faced an eviction filing – when a landlord formally requests an eviction order from a court. The courts ordered evictions for 1,107 households, or 0.6% of the state’s renting households that year. </p>
<p>Eviction filings that do not end in an ordered eviction may be a result of renters reaching a settlement with the landlord before eviction. Even when dismissed or settled, filings affect a tenant’s record, potentially making it challenging to find new housing for years into the future. </p>
<p>By 2019, eviction filings increased to affect 2,673 households, 1.4% of the state’s renting households, with <a href="https://www.boisestate.edu/sps-ipi/evictions-in-idaho/">1,611, or 0.8%</a>, ultimately facing a court-ordered eviction. Between 2016 and 2019, housing prices in Idaho <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=United%20States&t=Housing&g=0400000US16&tid=ACSDP1Y2019.DP04&hidePreview=true">increased by 34.7%</a>, while the median income <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=United%20States&t=Income%20and%20Poverty&g=0400000US16&tid=ACSST1Y2016.S1901">increased by only 17.7%</a>. When housing costs outpace income, affordable housing stock decreases with a likely increase in evictions.</p>
<p>In 2020, however, eviction numbers dropped – 1% of Idaho’s renting households, 1,893 families, had an eviction filing and <a href="https://www.boisestate.edu/sps-ipi/evictions-in-idaho/">1,127, or 0.6%, were formally evicted</a>. </p>
<p>Unlike other states, Idaho did not have a statewide eviction ban, but there are potential reasons for these decreases.</p>
<p>From March 25 through April 30, 2020, <a href="https://isc.idaho.gov/Superseded">state courts were closed</a>, except for essential hearings – which could have included evictions relating to illegal activity. Most other eviction proceedings would have been delayed. In addition, some landlords may have decided to seek resolutions other than eviction, especially as cash aid came in from federal and state governments. </p>
<p>However, when the courts reopened in May 2020, eviction filings and formal evictions spiked. And monthly statistics show the rates rising almost back to 2019’s levels. This raises the question of the ability of federal bans alone to decrease eviction rates.</p>
<p><iframe id="y3EVZ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/y3EVZ/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Federal eviction moratoriums</h2>
<p>When the pandemic hit, an estimated <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/unemployment-rate-rises-to-record-high-14-point-7-percent-in-april-2020.htm">15.9 million</a> people across the country lost their jobs and faced difficulty affording their housing. Public health officials needed people to stay at home to limit the spread of the virus, so governments took action to curb the evictions many feared were imminent.</p>
<p>Federal relief legislation included direct cash payments to most American households, additional unemployment payments, emergency rental assistance and bans on evictions. </p>
<p>The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act, <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=IN11424">banned evictions</a> from March 24 through Aug. 24, 2020, but applied to only the <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=IN11424">relatively small number of renters</a> using federal assistance programs to pay their rent, or living in properties with federally backed financing.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11673">broader eviction ban</a>, ordered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, took effect on Sept. 4, 2020, and is set to expire on June 30, 2021. It covers more renters, including people who are at risk of moving to overcrowded lodging or becoming homeless. But it’s not automatic protection: Tenants must prove their eligibility. </p>
<p>The CDC’s eviction ban also faces several court challenges; it was most recently <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/553630-judge-agrees-to-leave-cdc-eviction-pause-intact-for-now">struck down by a federal court</a> in Washington, D.C. – though the decision is on hold pending appeals. So its protection may not last very long.</p>
<p>Making matters more stressful for renters, neither eviction ban forgave unpaid rent, so renters are <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/29/covid-eviction-ban-forces-some-landlords-to-sell-properties.html">still responsible for back rent</a> and may face eviction in the future if they cannot pay.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401736/original/file-20210519-17-7xjcet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman stands facing a constable and another official" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401736/original/file-20210519-17-7xjcet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401736/original/file-20210519-17-7xjcet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401736/original/file-20210519-17-7xjcet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401736/original/file-20210519-17-7xjcet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401736/original/file-20210519-17-7xjcet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401736/original/file-20210519-17-7xjcet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401736/original/file-20210519-17-7xjcet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Maricopa County, Arizona, constable serves an eviction notice to a tenant in Phoenix in October 2020, in the midst of the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/maricopa-county-constable-mike-branham-serves-an-eviction-news-photo/1279350749">John Moore/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>State and local eviction moratoriums</h2>
<p>States and cities across the U.S. that set up their own eviction-prevention programs are seeing lower eviction rates than those where tenants were protected only by the federal rules. </p>
<p>Princeton University’s <a href="https://evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking">Eviction Lab Tracking System</a> gathers eviction data in five states: Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Minnesota and Missouri, as well as 28 cities around the country.</p>
<p>Like Idaho, Missouri did not have a statewide eviction ban and saw a similar dip and spike in cases in April and May 2020. <a href="https://evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking">Delaware and Indiana had statewide bans</a> and saw sharp increases in eviction filings after the bans expired. Connecticut and Minnesota both have ongoing bans, and eviction rates are far below pre-pandemic levels.</p>
<p>In cities the Eviction Lab tracks, places with local eviction bans <a href="https://evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking">saw eviction rates drop dramatically</a> until the local protections expired.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401737/original/file-20210519-23-3147vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People hold signs in front of a state capitol building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401737/original/file-20210519-23-3147vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401737/original/file-20210519-23-3147vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401737/original/file-20210519-23-3147vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401737/original/file-20210519-23-3147vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401737/original/file-20210519-23-3147vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401737/original/file-20210519-23-3147vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401737/original/file-20210519-23-3147vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rally at the Massachusetts Statehouse in March 2021 called on legislators to do more to prevent evictions related to the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-and-students-from-workers-circle-of-boston-and-news-photo/1231734263">Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Other efforts to help</h2>
<p>In Idaho, Republican Gov. Brad Little allocated $15 million in federal CARES Act funds to provide rental assistance to households struggling to pay rent because of the pandemic. Another $200 million was added to that fund through the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. Payments go <a href="https://www.idahohousing.com/">directly to landlords</a> to offset current and back rent, depending on a household’s specific circumstances.</p>
<p>Once these funds run out and the CDC eviction ban expires or is overturned in court, renters throughout the country will have no remaining pandemic-related protections from eviction filings. However, those households may still be feeling the pressure from the pandemic – and may not be able to come up with current rent, much less months of back rent they might also owe.</p>
<p>The aid may be coming to an end, but the potential for an eviction crisis remains – in Idaho, and around the nation.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A federal eviction ban had much less effect than state-specific restrictions, an analysis of eviction data finds.Benjamin Larsen, Research Associate, Idaho Policy Institute, Boise State UniversityMcAllister Hall, Research Associate, Idaho Policy Institute, Boise State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1609202021-05-14T05:25:34Z2021-05-14T05:25:34ZAlbanese’s $10bn pledge pushes housing needs back into the limelight<p>Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese’s <a href="https://anthonyalbanese.com.au/media-centre/budget-reply-speech-2021">budget reply speech</a> last night highlighted Australia’s huge unnmet need for social and affordable housing. It’s once again shaping up as a major election issue. Labor is proposing a A$10 billion program to build 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years.</p>
<p>The immediate backdrop for the pledge is a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-03/house-price-gains-slow-real-estate-still-surging-core-logic/100111644">post-COVID house price boom</a>, and a continuing dearth of Commonwealth investment in new non-market housing. That is, rentals affordable to low-income Australians and provided by government agencies or non-profit community housing organisations. </p>
<p>Amid the many new spending plans revealed in Tuesday’s budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg maintained the government’s resistance to an ever-wider coalition of <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/documents/630/Expert_view_report_06.pdf">voices calling for social housing stimulus</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-more-housing-stimulus-will-be-needed-to-sustain-recovery-148003">Why more housing stimulus will be needed to sustain recovery</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362298/original/file-20201007-24-r322fd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362298/original/file-20201007-24-r322fd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362298/original/file-20201007-24-r322fd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362298/original/file-20201007-24-r322fd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362298/original/file-20201007-24-r322fd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362298/original/file-20201007-24-r322fd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362298/original/file-20201007-24-r322fd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362298/original/file-20201007-24-r322fd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/top-economists-back-boosts-to-jobseeker-and-social-housing-over-tax-cuts-in-pre-budget-poll-146914">Conversation Economic Society of Australia survey, September 2020</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Just how big is the problem?</h2>
<p>With borders largely closed since March last year, it’s true that sharply reduced migration has temporarily dampened rental housing demand over the past 15 months. That in turn has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/apr/29/the-pandemic-brought-down-rents-but-housing-is-still-grossly-unaffordable-for-many">generally subdued</a> increases in rents. However, that national norm masks the <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/documents/631/COVID19_Rental-housing-and-homelessness-impacts_report-1.pdf">rapidly rising rents</a> seen in many regional markets during 2020-21.</p>
<p>And despite some local price reductions, Anglicare’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/29/only-three-rental-properties-in-australia-are-affordable-for-singles-on-jobseeker-study">recent survey</a> of 74,000 “lease ready” property listings identified only three (0.004%) affordable to a single person on the JobSeeker payment. More strikingly, for every household income type included in the survey, Anglicare found the availability of affordable lets even lower in early 2021 than a year earlier.</p>
<p>The broader and longer-term picture in the private rental market has been one of shrinking numbers of tenancies that low-income Australians can afford to rent. Specifically, we saw a 50% increase in the <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/323">national deficit</a> in private lets affordable to low-income renters (in the bottom 20% of incomes) in the decade to 2016.</p>
<p>A decade of negligible investment in social housing construction has only made this situation worse. The result has been a continued decline in availability as public and community housing has dwindled from <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811507793">6% to only 4% of all housing</a> since the 1990s. In fact, proportionate to population, social rental lettings have <a href="https://johnmenadue.com/why-a-social-housing-stimulus-is-a-measure-fydenberg-cannot-ignore/">halved</a> over this period.</p>
<h2>A clear point of difference, but not a game-changer</h2>
<p>Tuesday’s budget marked a continuation of the Morrison government’s near-exclusive housing focus on efforts to assist aspirational first-home buyers. Most significantly, this policy stance inspired the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-20/homebuilder-scheme-blows-out-to-two-billion-dollars/13075904">$2.1 billion HomeBuilder program</a> as an economic recovery measure during 2020-21.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-focus-of-stimulus-plans-has-to-be-construction-that-puts-social-housing-first-136519">Why the focus of stimulus plans has to be construction that puts social housing first</a>
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<p>The ALP has pointedly backed both HomeBuilder and the smaller measures to assist first-home buyers announced on Tuesday. But Albanese’s new announcement seemingly extends Labor’s housing pitch beyond the Coalition’s comfort zone.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fyIWxgKQzBs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Anthony Albanese pledges $10 billion to build social housing in budget reply speech.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So is this the “major initiative” hailed by some headline writers? A “<a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-s-10b-fix-for-housing-shortage-20210512-p57rdj">fix for house prices</a>” it certainly is not. If unwisely attempted purely through public spending, the funding required to get into that territory would need to be many times as great. </p>
<p>Opposition housing spokesperson Jason Clare more defensibly describes the ALP pitch as “a significant start” in tackling Australia’s “housing crisis”.</p>
<p>The current national stock of social and affordable rental housing totals <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2021/housing-and-homelessness/housing/rogs-2021-partg-section18-housing-data-tables.xlsx">just over 400,000</a>. In recent years annual additions have <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-activity-australia/dec-2020/87520038.xls">amounted to only 2,000-3,000</a>. That’s barely enough even to offset continuing sales and demolitions. In these terms, Albanese’s pledge to expand the supply by 6,000 a year would indeed be significant.</p>
<p>At the same time, as our previous research has shown, a <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/29059/AHURI-Final-Report-306-Social-housing-as-infrastructure-an-investment-pathway.pdf">net increase of 15,000 units a year</a> is needed just to keep pace with “normal” population growth – that is, to halt the decline in social rental as a share of all housing. Even under a post-pandemic scenario where migration rules are tightened as far as imaginable, that figure would not be substantially smaller.</p>
<p>So, like the Victorian government’s recently launched <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/news/victorian-government-big-housing-build-explained">social housing stimulus</a>, the ALP’s proposed national program would mark a promising break with the recent past, and a platform for further measures. But it would be hard to describe it as a game-changer. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/victorias-5-4bn-big-housing-build-it-is-big-but-the-social-housing-challenge-is-even-bigger-150161">Victoria's $5.4bn Big Housing Build: it is big, but the social housing challenge is even bigger</a>
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<p>While greatly expanded social housing provision would be an essential part of any credible package to seriously address Australia’s housing affordability challenge, a far wider program of action is needed. Most importantly, such a program must also tackle our grossly <a href="https://theconversation.com/home-prices-are-climbing-alright-but-not-for-the-reason-you-might-think-158776">unbalanced housing tax settings</a>, boost renters’ rights and diversify the available choice of housing.</p>
<p>What the country needs above all is a Commonwealth commitment to assembling the <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811507793">national housing strategy</a> that is so long overdue.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-housing-system-needs-a-big-shake-up-heres-how-we-can-crack-this-130291">Australia's housing system needs a big shake-up: here's how we can crack this</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160920/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hal Pawson receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, the Australian Research Council, Launch Housing and Crisis UK.</span></em></p>The pledge to build 30,000 homes over the next five years exposes the government’s inaction, but it’s still only a fraction of the number Australians need.Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1572442021-03-23T18:50:01Z2021-03-23T18:50:01Z2.6 million face poverty when COVID payments end, rental stress soars<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391025/original/file-20210323-15-hartj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=568%2C0%2C5173%2C3529&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/middleaged-family-having-difficulties-paying-utility-693706726">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many Australians whose jobs were decimated by the COVID business shutdowns will soon be waking up to new income shocks and the prospect of rental stress. This is because people whose employers can’t afford to keep them on will suddenly lose more than A$300 per week when the <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/">JobKeeper</a> scheme <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/JobKeeper-key-dates/">ends on March 28</a>. Worryingly, this income shock will happen just days before the payment to people on the <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/jobseeker-payment">JobSeeker</a> benefit is effectively <a href="https://www.ideas.org.au/blogs/jobkeeper-jobseeker-what-has-changed.html#:%7E:text=The%20JobSeeker%20Payment%20replaced%20the,This%20was%20announced%20in%20November.">cut by $100 per fortnight</a>. </p>
<p>At that point, all income support recipients – more than 2.6 million people – will be below the poverty line and many will face extreme rental stress.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-billion-per-year-or-less-could-halve-rental-housing-stress-146397">$1 billion per year (or less) could halve rental housing stress</a>
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<p>This income shock has been anticipated for some time, but what does it means for rates of rental stress, particularly in Victoria? Despite <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/victoria-s-economic-recovery-to-outstrip-all-other-states-as-nation-bounces-back-20210115-p56ufo.html">promising signs of recovery</a>, Victorian jobs lost in the COVID-induced recession, such as in the hard-hit <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/business-tourism-on-its-knees-as-covid-19-casts-long-shadow-over-events-20210203-p56z2j.html">business tourism</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/22/more-job-losses-ahead-for-australian-live-music-industry-operators-warn">live music industries</a>, have not bounced back at the same rate as others.</p>
<h2>What will happen to rental affordability?</h2>
<p>To illustrate this point we have modelled housing affordability for single people who were on either the full-time or part-time JobKeeper rate. In this scenario, they could also get JobSeeker payments at a part-rate because of the temporary increase in the <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/topics/income-test-jobseeker-payment/29411">income-free threshold to $300</a>. This made them eligible for <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/housing-support/programmes-services/commonwealth-rent-assistance">Commonwealth Rent Assistance</a> too. </p>
<p>The chart below shows the impacts on income and rental affordability when JobKeeper and <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/coronavirus-supplement">Coronavirus Supplement</a> payments end. Their incomes and the amount of rent they can afford are roughly halved.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389972/original/file-20210316-16-19zylll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389972/original/file-20210316-16-19zylll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389972/original/file-20210316-16-19zylll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=221&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389972/original/file-20210316-16-19zylll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=221&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389972/original/file-20210316-16-19zylll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=221&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389972/original/file-20210316-16-19zylll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389972/original/file-20210316-16-19zylll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389972/original/file-20210316-16-19zylll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Impacts of the loss of JobKeeper and Coronavirus Supplement on income and affordable rent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Full-time and part-time single workers were able to afford weekly rent of $265 and $245 respectively before the withdrawal of JobKeeper. Afterwards, affordable rent goes down to $115 per week. That’s about $110 less than the <a href="https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/202011/DHHS%20Rental%20Report%20September%20quarter%202020.docx">$450 median rent</a> ($225 per person) for a two-bedroom share house in Melbourne.</p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://theconversation.com/city-share-house-rents-eat-up-most-of-newstart-leaving-less-than-100-a-week-to-live-on-123772">our earlier calculations</a>, this leaves these renters with only $17.57 per day to meet basic costs. They have a lavish $3.57 per day more than they did before the pandemic to pay for food, utilities and job-seeking costs such as mobile phone plans and travel cards (A$4.40 a day in Melbourne).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/city-share-house-rents-eat-up-most-of-newstart-leaving-less-than-100-a-week-to-live-on-123772">City share-house rents eat up most of Newstart, leaving less than $100 a week to live on</a>
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<p>What is different now than for pre-COVID unemployment was that business shutdowns thrust people who had reliable earnings – and accompanying high rents and mortgages in metropolitan areas – onto JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments.</p>
<p>The chart below shows the change in rental affordability for a number of household types before the pandemic and during the Coronavirus Supplement stages (i.e. payments of $550, then $250, then $150).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391075/original/file-20210323-19-yikwe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391075/original/file-20210323-19-yikwe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391075/original/file-20210323-19-yikwe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391075/original/file-20210323-19-yikwe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391075/original/file-20210323-19-yikwe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391075/original/file-20210323-19-yikwe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391075/original/file-20210323-19-yikwe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391075/original/file-20210323-19-yikwe6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Affordable rents by household types with supplement and without.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, when their income was highest during the $550 stage, two singles sharing could afford rent of $430 per week. Once the supplement ends and is replaced by the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-breaks-my-heart-jobseekers-hit-back-at-25-a-week-dole-increase-20210225-p575p9.html">$25-a-week increase in JobSeeker</a> payment, affordable rent declines to only $230 per week or $115 each.</p>
<p>Rental affordability for single-parent households is notable here because the COVID Supplement was payable to one person only. Once the supplement is withdrawn, they will again be disadvantaged relative to other households because they will not be receiving the increase in the JobSeeker payment. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-covid-well-need-a-rethink-to-repair-australias-housing-system-and-the-economy-145437">After COVID, we'll need a rethink to repair Australia's housing system and the economy</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>What sort of job losses can we expect?</h2>
<p>It is hard to predict exactly how many people will lose their jobs when JobKeeper ends. What we do know is the economic recovery in Victoria has lagged behind the other states. We also know that at the end of December 2020 <a href="https://theconversation.com/victorians-struggle-to-exit-jobkeeper-as-the-schemes-end-looms-155288">1.55 million people</a> were on JobKeeper and a large proportion of them (626,000) were in Victoria. </p>
<p>Economist Jeff Borland <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kE4f5qxNQwdh5Xp_6l2Cu-HrjiZvfkrB/view">conservatively estimates</a> national job losses could range between 125,000 and 250,000. It is reasonable to expect as many as half of these could be in Victoria.</p>
<p>Our analysis also shows there are worrying signs that the economic recovery celebrated in the January labour force data was not sustained in February. The latest data provided to a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/COVID-19/COVID19">Senate inquiry</a> into COVID-19 show JobSeeker recipients increased by 7,267 between <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=60c91b42-dde2-415f-9f9b-7d5fd3935cb6">January</a> and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=9c1805cb-fe51-419b-8a7b-61315c64c302">February</a>. The increase in Victoria could be attributed to the temporary Christmas retail boom, but in states like New South Wales and Queensland claims decreased slightly.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-17/jobkeeper-end-will-hit-these-postcodes-hardest/13242400?nw=0">fewer people</a> will lose their jobs in other states than in Victoria when JobKeeper is withdrawn, they are not immune to this income shock. We created the chart below to show the overall scale of the coming problem of rental stress when the fortnightly $150 Coronavirus Supplement disappears and is replaced by the $50 JobSeeker increase.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391066/original/file-20210323-21-1c3civ6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391066/original/file-20210323-21-1c3civ6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391066/original/file-20210323-21-1c3civ6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391066/original/file-20210323-21-1c3civ6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391066/original/file-20210323-21-1c3civ6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391066/original/file-20210323-21-1c3civ6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391066/original/file-20210323-21-1c3civ6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391066/original/file-20210323-21-1c3civ6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Households and people on income support falling under poverty line as COVID supplement reduces (based on DSS data February 2021)</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once the supplement reduced to $250 per fortnight, singles and single parents with two children were below the poverty line. When it was reduced to $150, the number of household types in poverty increased again. From April 1, all income support recipients – covering more than 2.6 million people including children – will be waking up to poverty and the prospect of extreme rental stress.</p>
<h2>What can be done to avoid this?</h2>
<p>So how can governments prevent people from falling off the rental cliff? It is unlikely to be achieved by introducing <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-10/tourism-coronavirus-pandemic-assistance-package-cheap-flights/13235432">cut-price flights</a> to Far North Queensland. </p>
<p>A new range of strategies will be needed. These include options <a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Strengthening-Income-Support-Bill-2021.pdf">advocated by ACOSS and others</a> to increase the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 50%, increase the JobSeeker base rate above the poverty line and introduce rental stress grants targeted at individuals who need help.</p>
<p>Over the longer term, there is also a need to adopt strategic approaches to increase the supply of affordable rental housing such as those <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/housing/policy-analysis/increasing-affordable-rental-supply">recommended by researchers</a> at the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157244/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liss Ralston receives funding from AHURI</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simone Casey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>JobKeeper and the COVID Supplement to JobSeeker benefits will be gone in a week. The combined effect will be to halve some recipients’ incomes and the rent they can afford.Simone Casey, Research Associate, Future Social Service Institute, RMIT UniversityLiss Ralston, Adjunct associate, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.