Laneway suites could increase rental stock in established neighbourhoods without affecting their character. Toronto has lagged behind other cities in Canada and North America.
Analysis of online listings on common online platforms shows even modest reductions in Airbnb listings increased supply of longer-term rentals. The result was lower local rents.
Overcrowded housing is a key COVID-19 culprit.
(Nazish Mirekar/Unsplash)
Canada is making big strides when it comes to COVID-19 housing policy, but permanent measures and oversight lag behind compared to some global efforts.
Vanlifers enjoy the freedom of living in their vans.
(Alex Guillaume/Unsplash)
Understanding the experiences of van dwellers is important not just for those looking to cut their ties to rents and mortgages, but also for community planners and employers.
The modular homes in Cambridge, UK.
Jimmy's Cambridge
The fallout from COVID-19 for housing and homelessness just adds to the urgency of fixing the long-standing ills of the housing market. The well-being of Australia’s economy and people depends on it.
The CDC order may offer some tenants breathing room.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Accommodation providers are reporting huge increases in the numbers of people coming to them for help. They’d love to be able to use newly vacant rental housing, but it’s not a lasting solution.
High rents and insecurity are constant sources of financial and emotional stress for low-income women. They describe what it’s like struggling to survive and being one step away from being homeless.
Older women have been the fastest-growing group of homeless people in recent years. New research shows about 240,000 women aged 55 or older and another 165,000 women aged 45-54 are at risk.
African urban dwellers pay 55% more in rentals than their counterparts in other cities in the world.
The demon is not density but rather that African countries have not planned and made the investments necessary to manage the downsides of the type of density found in informal settlements.
Eviction moratoriums have already begun to expire.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
Millions of Americans may be at risk of losing their homes in coming months as eviction moratoriums expire and courts resume a process that heavily favors landlords.
A homeless woman is seen at a tent encampment in Toronto on July 10, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Suspending homeless camp evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic is a start, but it is not enough. The problem is failed housing policies, not the pandemic.
Much of our public housing stock is ageing and substandard. But we can learn from outstanding examples of retrofit projects that have transformed existing blocks into high-quality housing.
Most local councils, developers and nonprofit providers want mandatory affordable housing requirements applied to all development. The current system of voluntary negotiations just isn’t working well.
Ilan Wiesel, The University of Melbourne; Liss Ralston, Swinburne University of Technology, and Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology
You’d think falling housing prices might help people on low incomes, but history shows downturns often increase inequality. And many buyers who took out big loans during the housing boom are at risk.
The pandemic has brought to a head deep-rooted problems with how housing is provided in Australia. Fortunately, the solutions can play a central role in the national recovery process.
Now is the time for a two-pronged strategy to ensure everyone has a home: a spot-purchasing program to find homes for people now in emergency accommodation, followed by social housing construction.
Construction employs one in ten Australians, with a broad range of skills, using mostly locally made materials. Building social housing would meet urgent social needs as well as creating jobs.
Global cities such as Wuhan (pictured in March 2018) require investments in lower-carbon urban development to enhance public health.
Wikipedia
After the Covid-19 pandemic, we must seize the opportunity to make urban centers more livable places by investing in affordable housing, basic services, clean energy and active transport.
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University