Since the 1980s, Australia’s housing market has become a ‘closed shop’ that expands the wealth of existing home owners and investors. Alison Pennington traces the changes – and suggests another way.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Housing affordability
Displaying 1 - 20 of 208 articles
As Australians struggle to find affordable housing, there have been hostile responses to reports of a sudden influx of international students from China. It’s time for a reality check.
Despite a common belief that councils won’t approve tiny houses and modular and container homes, early findings from a national survey suggest planners are increasingly open to these housing options.
Three bills to go before parliament confirm the Albanese government is restoring the Commonwealth to a leadership role on housing issues. But there are still gaps in its approach.
Since foreign owners only represent a tiny segment of the housing market, it’s unlikely that Canada’s new ban on foreign homebuyers will make homes more affordable for Canadians.
Build-to-rent developments have been touted as a way to deliver affordable housing on a large scale. But, to date, the sector has not been focused on housing for people on lower incomes.
The main driver of homelessness in Australia is housing costs – post-COVID rents, house prices and interest rates are all much higher. To house everyone, the housing system needs a major overhaul.
Poorly regulated housing is leading to more greenhouse gas emissions through energy loss, increased energy requirements and greater exposure to weather extremes.
Halfway through its 10-year mandate to address issues like affordability and homelessness, the National Housing Strategy is providing little benefit for the vast majority of vulnerable households.
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.
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.
Unaffordability is only one type of housing vulnerability that has taken its toll on British Columbians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing the housing issue by adopting a human right framework put Canada on an accelerated path to meet newcomer families’ housing needs.
Both major parties’ schemes would put upward pressure on house prices – but not much. Here’s why, according to a former Australian Treasury official.
Relaxing restrictions on small and non-traditional houses can help to increase the supply of affordable rental housing.
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.
In a period when homelessness and housing costs have reached crisis levels, it’s time to look at housing co-operatives as a potential game-changer.
Controlling for other factors, the mental health cost of renting can be eliminated through longer tenure and greater security.
Many young people are bleak about what the future holds - and this is having an impact on their plans to have children.
Top contributors
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Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney
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Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Sydney
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ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University
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Head of Urbanism and Associate Professor of Urban Studies, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney
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Professor of Economics, UNSW Sydney
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Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan Institute
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Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University
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Professiorial Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Professor, City Futures Research Centre, Faculty of the Built Environment, UNSW Sydney
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Emeritus Professor of Housing and Housing Studies, RMIT University
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Honorary Professor – Housing Policy and Practice, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Urbanism, University of Sydney
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Professor of Housing & Social Policy, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology
