About one in four international students were in severe financial stress just before COVID hit, and soaring rents and record low vacancies are likely to make their plight even worse now.
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.
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.
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.
Alan Morris, University of Technology Sydney and Jan Idle, University of Technology Sydney
A serious disability is one of the most common reasons people apply for social housing. The long wait for a suitable home just adds to the daily challenges they face.
Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology; Andrew Peters, Swinburne University of Technology; Piret Veeroja, Swinburne University of Technology, and Zoe Goodall, Swinburne University of Technology
New research shows discrimination against Aboriginal Victorians in the private rental housing market is systemic, but there are solutions.
While the Productivity Commission’s critique of the national housing agreement is justified, its faith in the market is not. The Albanese government is right to invest in building social housing.
Tenants are rarely allowed to make permanent changes to a house. And many landlords know little about the conditions tenants endure, but most who do retrofit homes do it to improve renters’ comfort.
The housing crisis facing Australians has been brewing for a long time. A national housing strategy guided by expert, independent and transparent advice is long overdue.
Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness. The stories of women who had to flee their homes make it clear the dire shortage of social housing in Australia leaves them with nowhere to go.
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.
Victorian homelessness inquiry chair Fiona Patten: ‘We need to be smarter about where we direct our efforts.’
James Ross/AAP
JobKeeper, the COVID boost to JobSeeker, and moratoriums on rent increases and evictions all ended this month. Only smarter policies will prevent homelessness, as a landmark Victorian report explains.
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.
Even before the pandemic added to their financial stresses, a survey of international students suggests more than 20,000 were renting beds that are available to them for only certain hours.
The rise of build-to-rent development will affect a lot of Australians. Despite the rosy promises, tax, design, planning and tenancy reforms will be needed to avoid the potential pitfalls.
Trying to find housing can be a nightmare for pet owners, especially those who need it in a crisis. The inconsistencies from state to state and between different forms of housing demand reform.
Professor of Social Epidemiology, Principal Research Fellow in Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy Housing in Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University