The federal government says it’s committed to addressing the challenges faced by younger generations, including housing affordability and the high cost of living. Does the budget deliver on its promises?
The number of active short-term rental listings is a small fraction of the total number of dwellings in Australia – and many listings are not in the city areas of great housing need.
The government has made housing a federal policy priority after a decade of neglect. But the scale of the housing crisis means its actions to date are just a start – much more must be done.
More Australians than ever live in rented homes, many of which get far too hot. With summers getting longer and hotter, keeping millions of people cool should be a national housing policy priority.
People age differently depending on the lives they lead. DNA testing shows every year of living in a privately rented home add 2.4 weeks of ageing compared to those who own their home.
Other states may well follow Victoria’s lead, but the 7.5% levy is likely to have a very modest impact on rental housing supply. There’s much more governments could do.
COVID-19 halted immigration and housing affordability got much worse. We’d feel the impacts of internal migration and undersupply of affordable housing even if we again blocked migrants from overseas.
An ageing population is caught in a perfect storm of rising house prices and rents, falling home ownership rates, mortgage debt carried into retirement, insecure rentals and a lack of social housing.
Without innovation in all five building phases, the industry won’t have the capacity to meet market demands or to deliver the social and affordable housing the government is promising.
The strategy’s core mission should be to ensure everyone in Australia has adequate housing. That requires 950,000 social and affordable rental dwellings to be built by 2041, dwarfing current targets.
Throughout last winter, 81% of homes in a new study were colder than the recommended minimum – the coldest fell to a minimum hourly average of 5 degrees. Cold homes can have deadly consequences.
Mould is a health hazard and renters are most at risk. Here experts in health, law, building and construction examine the problem of mould in homes and offer guidance for both renters and landlords.
There are no ‘silver bullet’ solutions to a crisis that has left both renters and owners struggling. Only a comprehensive package of bold policies can ensure all Australians are securely housed.
Rent assistance can ease rental stress, but it won’t help low-income earners find secure and affordable housing when it’s in such short supply, nor stop disadvantage being concentrated in some areas.
Professor of Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Housing at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University