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Articles on Housing

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Property is under threat, physically and conceptually, from climate change. .Martin./flickr

Can property survive the great climate transition?

To create property systems that are as dynamic as the landscapes we occupy, we might need to start thinking about ourselves as belonging to and answerable to the land, not the other way around.
Soft Landing recycles the materials of mattresses that otherwise get dumped in landfill. Alan Stanton/flickr

What ethical business can do to help make ecocities a reality

City dwellers are individually starting to do their bit to live sustainably. Now pioneering businesses are aiming to make ecological and social sustainability part of their bottom line.
Australian governments of all persuasions have shared three common beliefs about the economic value of home ownership in later life. shutterstock

Three reasons the government promotes home ownership for older Australians

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.
A couple of months isn’t enough to say the housing market is cooling. AAP/ Tracey Nearmy

How to tell when the housing market is slowing

The housing market is too volatile to look at prices alone. If you want to understand the housing market you need to look at the wider economy.
At the Ashwood-Chadstone estate, Port Phillip Housing Association has built high-quality homes, with no visible difference between the 72 private and 206 community housing dwellings. PPHA

Community sector offers a solid platform for fair social housing

Concerns about the privatisation of public housing estates should not blind us to the benefits of the transfer of public housing to the not-for-profit community housing sector.
Unexpected increases in housing prices could have caused buyers considering home ownership to borrow more in order to buy a house, and encouraged homeowners to spend more through withdrawing the equity from their homes. Dan Peled/AAP

Australians are working longer so they can pay off their mortgage debt

Research finds higher levels of housing debt among pre-retirees are linked to them working for longer.
Slow but steady decline in home ownership continues as 23.6% of all Australian households now rent privately. David Gray/Reuters

Home ownership remains strong in Australia but it masks other problems: Census data

The latest 2016 Census data assesses what the national home ownership and rental rates are and how these vary location. It also gives us a picture of mortgage and rental costs.
Public housing tenants are much more likely than renters in other sectors to struggle to get repair and maintenance done. Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Tenants’ calls for safe public housing fall on deaf ears

Grenfell Tower residents tragically got the world’s attention only after a disastrous fire. So what would public housing residents in Australia say about their living conditions?
How much of co-housing is shared space is up to residents.

Co-housing works well for older people, once they get past the image problem

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.
light bulbs.

What are digital social innovations?

Digital social innovations are often associated with positive meanings, like openness and collaboration. But to better define the concept, it’s essential to disentangle it from its positive aura.
Residents near the burnt-out Grenfell Tower display a sign that expresses their anger at being marginalised and ignored. Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Grenfell Tower fire exposes the injustice of disasters

Marginal people become resourceless, invisible to public policies, and disempowered in public life. This increases their vulnerability to disaster.
The secure private garden on the redeveloped Carlton estate. Kate Shaw

Why should the state wriggle out of providing public housing?

Why can’t the state fund an ongoing program of upgrading, replacing and building public housing? On the evidence to date, private developers aren’t doing a better job of it.
Protests over housing at, an informal settlement near Johannesburg. EPA/Cornell Tukiri

South Africa urgently needs to rethink its approach to housing

Recent events suggest that South Africa’s government may be resorting to short-term measures to pacify anger over lack of housing. But what’s needed is a major overhaul of the housing policy.
Most Sydneysiders are concerned about the effects of foreign investment on the local real estate market. Dave Hunt/AAP

Sydneysiders blame foreign investors for high housing prices – survey

Only 18% of Sydneysiders think foreign investors should be able to buy property. They simply don’t accept arguments that this investment improves housing affordability by increasing supply.
Driven by higher returns on their equity, debt-financed investors are dominating the housing market and shaping its growth. Mick Tsikas/AAP

Investors are exploiting returns on debt financing to muscle out home buyers

New research shows the actual returns on equity for housing investors are higher than most people realise. This helps explain why investors are able to out-compete other home buyers.

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