It takes time to make more affordable long-term housing options available. So what can be done in the meantime? We can start by prioritising well-designed, supportive transitional housing.
One in five young adults live in unaffordable housing and spend 30 per cent or more of their pre-tax income on housing costs.
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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.
Hurricane damage to affordable housing can leave business owners struggling to find employees.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Research shows that coastal businesses’ hurricane recovery depends on workers being able to return.
A new study on Canada’s affordability crisis has found that visible minorities have less access to affordable housing than whites in Canada.
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Ensuring visible minorities have equitable access to affordable housing is an important step in fulfilling the National Housing Strategy’s goal to make affordable housing available to all Canadians.
A for sale sign outside a home indicates that it has sold for over the asking price, in Ottawa, in March 2021. House prices and rents have become increasingly more unaffordable in Ontario over the past few years.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Canada’s current economic growth model is currently dependent on the conversion of housing from a human right into a financial investment tool, leading to an ever-worsening housing crisis.
Slow recovery for vulnerable households can slow the recovery of the entire community.
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More housing supply doesn’t mean lower prices. If policy-makers want to make homes more affordable, they must tackle developers who drive up prices and consider taxing capital gains on homes.
Ilan Wiesel, The University of Melbourne; Liss Ralston, Swinburne University of Technology e 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.
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.
A rally for affordable housing in Vancouver, Canada.
Mark Klotz/Flickr.
Retirees are often urged to downsize to free up suburban properties for the next generation and for higher-density development. What’s being ignored is the costs of moving into a unit or apartment.
How much of co-housing is shared space is up to residents.
Older Australians are keenly aware of the housing challenges they face, but most are wary of co-housing due to the negative associations of shared living spaces.
This transit-oriented development in Oakland, California, combines residential housing with easy access to local transport options and amenities.
Eric Fredericks/flickr
A combination of transit-oriented centres, inclusionary zoning and a special rate on land instead of stamp duty could make housing more affordable by cutting congestion, development and travel costs.
Have you thought about usable space, re-engineering, structural integrity, contamination, insulation and comfort? If not, you need to before jumping into building a home from shipping containers.
PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, and Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney