The shift to remote work has led to a population boom for towns close to Australia’s major cities. That boom threatens to change what makes those towns so appealing.
Ontario’s first Growth Plan won awards that recognized the province as a leader in the field. But since then, successive changes to the policy have sabotaged the original plan’s progress.
In Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, housing co-operatives help both renters and those wanting to own a secure, high-quality home. Better housing options for Australia are waiting in plain sight.
Affordable housing has become a middle-class problem, and Ontario’s latest housing report reflects an approach that continues to marginalize those with the greatest need.
While the idea of rent controls can seem attractive at first glance, the evidence suggests the government is right to be sceptical of their ability to help ease the housing crisis.
As demand grows for real estate and housing prices rise, more people are being priced out of the market. Government intervention is needed to produce affordable housing and control speculation.
California and other states plan to build more homes in an effort to fix America’s affordable housing problem. But that’s not the main reason housing remains unaffordable for millions of people.
Australia faces economic problems down the road if three big, structural reform areas — housing affordability, the tax mix, and decarbonisation — are not addressed.
The fact that Canadian house prices have risen far beyond rental rates tells us that it’s due to financial factors alone — not a lack of supply. House prices are asset prices.
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University