Share houses – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

The podcast Guardians of the River traverses the Okavango River from its source in Angola to its discharge into the Botswana Delta 1500 kilometres later. Photo: Shutterstock

December 28, 2021

River stories, culture wars, share house sagas: 5 of the best podcasts of 2021

Siobhan McHugh, University of Wollongong

With some three million podcasts out there, how to know which ones to choose? Here are our expert picks for summer listening.

December 1, 2020

What did COVID do to rental markets? Rents fell as owners switched from Airbnb

Caitlin Buckle, University of Sydney; Nicole Gurran, University of Sydney; Patrick Harris, UNSW Sydney; Peter Phibbs, University of Sydney; Rashi Shrivastava, University of Sydney, and Tess Lea, University of Sydney

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.

Even when sharing a house, the average cost of rent means very little is left over from the Newstart allowance for food and living costs. shutterstock.com

September 22, 2019

City share-house rents eat up most of Newstart, leaving less than $100 a week to live on

Simone Casey, RMIT University and Liss Ralston, Swinburne University of Technology

Once rent is paid, having to live on only $14 a day doesn’t cover the costs of job seeking. The evidence of the need to increase Newstart and Rent Allowance is overwhelming.

Shared houses work well for 82% of people living in them in their early 20s, but only 25% see this as a long-term option. Earlyspatz/Wikimedia

August 14, 2019

First home schemes aren’t enough to meet young adults’ aspirations

Sharon Parkinson, Swinburne University of Technology; Amity James, Curtin University; Steven Rowley, Curtin University, and Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology

The housing aspirations of young Australians change as they enter their late 20s and early 30s. But having somewhere safe and secure to call home is the top priority for all young adults.

This shed has been illegally converted into housing. Two prams and three mattresses are visible. Informal Accommodation and Vulnerable Households, author provided courtesy of Fairfield City Council

April 29, 2019

Informal and illegal housing on the rise as our cities fail to offer affordable places to live

Nicole Gurran, University of Sydney; Madeleine Pill, University of Sydney, and Sophia Maalsen, University of Sydney

With Australian city rents too high for low-income earners, increasing numbers are forced to share houses or rooms or to live in options like ‘beds in sheds’ and other illegal dwellings.

Tight finances are the main reason more older Australians, especially women, are living in share houses. belushi/Shutterstock

December 2, 2018

Generation Share: why more older Australians are living in share houses

Sophia Maalsen, University of Sydney

While share houses are more a matter of financial necessity than choice, many older Australians are discovering it has unexpected social benefits for them.

Share houses of the late 1960s and 1970s provided women with a new way of living, independent of families and husbands. Shutterstock

October 17, 2017

Share houses and women’s liberation: a forgotten history

Molly Mckew, The University of Melbourne

The share house may be taken for granted now, but before the late 1960s it was hard for women to live independently of families or husbands. For some, communal housing was life-changing.

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