There is a risk that affordable housing policy may be colonised by for-profit interests if Australia imports the wrong rental housing ideas from overseas.
Between 1982 and 2013, the share of home owners among 25-34 year olds shrunk, by more than 20%. On the other hand, the share of home owners among those aged 65+ years has risen slightly.
The promotion of home ownership as a way of funding care in later life is part of a broader policy trend toward making people individually responsible for the opportunities they have.
Justifying Sydney’s ranking as a liveable city requires greater recognition of the inequality of Sydneysiders’ access to jobs, wealth, transport and housing.
Owning a home has deep cultural and economic connotations. A home owner is a member of a street, a community. They are a successful adult human. They own a piece of the pie, the dream.
Any attempt to improve security for tenants should not deprive them, or their landlords, of the flexibility that many also want. The key problem is landlords’ ability to give notice without a reason.
Shared ownership schemes can unlock access to suitable housing, although these are less common in Australia than overseas. And most are not specifically tailored for people with disability.
Without long-term solutions to the imbalance between incomes and house prices, Gen Ys face a lifetime of renting without the financial and emotional security of home ownership.
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University