Critics of Jim Chalmers’ plan to use superannuation to pay for social housing say super holdings belong to members. But social housing is a reliable investment and benefits everyone.
Cohousing developments provide ample outdoor space for children to play in.
Gary Calton | Alamy
Targets of 50,000 new homes for rent at below-market rates and 1 million homes to improve affordability in general are positive steps, but the budget neglects the need to reform an ailing system.
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.
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 $10 billion fund will provide only $450 million for social housing per year, and less when markets turn down, but such funds can make financial sense.
The Grattan Institute is proposing a $20 billion fund managed by the Future Fund Board of Guardians which, if matched by the states, would fund 6,000 new places per year.
In raising rents from social to affordable for council tenants, the cost burden for tackling the housing crisis effectively falls on those most in need.
Goldstamp | Shutterstock
The government has long promoted the idea that we can build our way out of the housing crisis. Startling numbers of empty homes suggest the problem isn’t one of scarcity but affordability
One quarter of monitored social housing properties recorded winter temperatures below World Health Organisation standards for more than 80% of winter, new research shows.
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.
Demolition of uninhabited shacks in Bloekombos, Kraaifontein, Cape Town, August 6, 2020. The land, which was to be developed as a community facility for neighbouring communities, has been illegally occupied by people who have been demarcating plots and building informal settlements.
Rodger Bosch/AFP
Despite millions of free homes built since 1994, spatial inequality in South Africa remains high. A study evaluating a programme to boost rentals in well-located areas found mixed results, however.
Houses as power stations.
Shutterstock/Studio Harmony
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University