Cities across Canada are rapidly losing affordable housing. Provincial and federal governments aren’t helping, so it’s up to cities to start taking action themselves.
In order for Canada to overcome the housing affordability crisis, individuals, families, the real estate industry and government all need to work together.
Young adults are among the groups most adversely affected by the housing crisis. Foreign-born young adults, in particular, are disproportionately more likely to live in unaffordable housing.
While all groups experienced increased housing vulnerability after the pandemic hit, only people of Asian descent continued to see their situations worsen in 2021 as the US spent trillions trying to soften the impact.
Despite a common belief that councils won’t approve tiny houses and modular and container homes, early findings from a national survey suggest planners are increasingly open to these housing options.
Three bills to go before parliament confirm the Albanese government is restoring the Commonwealth to a leadership role on housing issues. But there are still gaps in its approach.
In a housing crisis, publicly owned land should never be sold to private developers and should instead be used to build the kind of housing the market is unwilling and unable to build.
Evidence suggests that Ontario neither had a shortage of pre-authorized housing starts to accommodate its growing population, nor did it have a shortage of designated land to build such homes.
Since foreign owners only represent a tiny segment of the housing market, it’s unlikely that Canada’s new ban on foreign homebuyers will make homes more affordable for Canadians.
Governments and universities have failed to prepare for an increase in housing demand amid planned enrolment growth in higher education and a crisis driven by treating housing as an investment.
Foundations mostly give money away in the form of grants. But there’s also a way for them to make a kind of loan that can stretch their charitable dollars.
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.
Miami is often held up as an example of ‘climate gentrification.’ But a closer look finds a bigger driver of flashy new developments in low-income neighborhoods.
The main driver of homelessness in Australia is housing costs – post-COVID rents, house prices and interest rates are all much higher. To house everyone, the housing system needs a major overhaul.
Improving access to affordable housing and increasing benefit assistance rates are some sustainable solutions to the chronic cycle of homelessness faced by women fleeing violence.
‘Unlegislating’ poverty demands a new course of action from governments that focuses on the expertise of people living with poverty who understand acutely how public policies fail.
Targets of 50,000 new homes for rent at below-market rates and 1 million homes to improve affordability in general are positive steps, but the budget neglects the need to reform an ailing system.
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University