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Category Archives: Housing
JOHN MENADUE. Principles to guide housing policy and programs.
Housing policy should be based on three important principles. First, we should value housing for its use-value, not its exchange-value. Second, housing policy should be part of community and neighbourhood building. Third, housing policy should promote social mixing and sharing, rather than stratification.
Posted in Housing, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged housing, housing and neighbourhoods, housing and social mixing, housing for use value, housing principles, John Menadue, Making Housing Affofdable series, The Castle
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SUSAN RYAN. Tent City, Martin Place.
The Berejiklian government in NSW showed this last week that it could act fast. To deal with the reported discomfort of the Premier, caused for months by a tent city of the homeless situated in Martin Place just opposite the … Continue reading
JOHN MENADUE. Making housing affordable. (Repost from Housing Series)
Pearls and Irritations recently posted a series of articles on the theme Making Housing Affordable. The series focuses on Australia’s housing affordability crisis. Most of the articles were posted just before the Federal Budget, but a few were posted afterwards, … Continue reading
SAUL ESLAKE. Housing affordability and the 2017-18 Budget: a missed opportunity
Housing affordability was to be a key focus of the Government in this year’s federal budget, according to the ‘nods and winks’ that traditionally precede the Treasurer’s budget speech. A journalist who has often been privy to the thinking of … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged foreign investment in housing, housing affordability, housing demand, housing supply, Saul Eslake
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NICOLE GURRAN and PETER PHIBBS. Policy sentiment rather than substance in housing policy
The Federal Treasurer clearly understands the housing affordability pressures facing moderate and low income renters and Australia’s growing homeless. His budget speech set the scene for a package of measures to boost affordable housing supply and recalibrate demand settings. A … Continue reading
Posted in Housing
Tagged affordable housing, federal budget., housing affordability, housing policy, housing supply, social housing
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IAN MCAULEY. The budget – still tough on the young
The Commonwealth’s budget has a Keynesian boost for a sluggish economy, and is based on an optimistic, or even heroic, assumption that economic growth will deliver a fiscal surplus within a few years. We have heard similar claims from treasurers, … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Housing, Infrastructure
Tagged budget, economy, housing, Ian McAuley, infrastructure, politics, superannuation, tax
2 Comments
MICHAEL KEATING. The 2017 Budget – A welcome change in direction. Part 2 of 2
Budget repair was never going to be easy. That is one reason why it has taken so long with quite a few false starts. While some of the individual decisions in this Budget are debateable, overall the quality of the … Continue reading
LIONEL ORCHARD. Housing Policy: a social democratic response
The missing element in current debates about Australian housing policy is consideration of the social democratic case for building a genuine mixed economy in the housing system respecting the different purposes of the sectors involved – public, private and household. … Continue reading
Making Housing Affordable Series. HAL PAWSON. Can Institutional Funding be Channelled into Rental Housing?
Channelling institutional finance into affordable rental housing has long been a ‘holy grail’ urban policy aspiration. Recent developments suggest that this may be edging towards reality.
Making Housing Affordable Series. ROB KOCZKAR. How institutional investment could help housing affordability
Competition between first home buyers and investors is dominating the discussion about housing affordability, but it’s what’s happening a few rungs down the property ladder that is perhaps the greatest cause for concern – the challenges for people trying to … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged affordable housing, AHFA, Australian Housing Finance Aggregator, CHPs, Community Housing Providers, first home buyer, HESTA, housing affordability, Housing Finance Corporation (UK), institutional investment, investors, Making Housing Affordable series, private capital, Rob Koczkar, scale, social housing, SVA
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Making Housing Affordable Series. JACK DE GROOT. Homelessness – the potential to implement a widespread housing first policy
Having a roof over one’s head, a place to call home, is a fundamental right for every individual. Until all levels of government collaborate with institutional investors and the not-for-profit sector to provide more affordable housing and accessible services, housing … Continue reading
Making Housing Affordable Series. MICHAEL PERUSCO. Revitalising social and affordable housing
The discussion and commentary about housing affordability in Australia has reached a crescendo in recent months. But an important piece of the housing puzzle cannot be overlooked in the debate: the role of social housing. It is time for governments … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged affordable housing, bond aggregator, home ownership, Making Housing Affordable series, Michael Perusco, mixed tenure, NAHA, social housing, subsidy
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Making Housing Affordable Series. SAUL ESLAKE. The causes and effects of the housing affordability crisis, and what can and should be done about it.
Treasurer Scott Morrison is right in saying that “there are no single or easy solutions” – even though he (and others on his side of politics) tend to ignore this advice in emphasising ‘supply-side solutions’ and decrying any suggestion of … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged affordable housing, first time buyers, foreign investors, home buyers, home ownership, housing affordability, housing investment, housing supply, immigration, land tax, Making Housing Affordable series, rental housing, Saul Eslake, stamp duty, tax
5 Comments
Making Housing Affordable Series. PETER PHIBBS. The politics of property and the role of urban planning
The narrative provided by the property industry and by some politicians is that the planning system creates large bottlenecks to more supply. Yet the reality is that we have been generating record levels of supply in Australia in recent years. … Continue reading
Making Housing Affordable Series. NED CUTCHER. Running the private rental market at a loss, for profit
Understanding how unaffordable housing affects renters is increasingly important, since more Australians can expect to rent for longer. How do negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount affect affordability, amenity and security for renters? Encouraging “mums and dads” to … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged capital gains tax, first home buyers, home ownership, housing affordability, investors, Making Housing Affordable series, Ned Cutcher, negative gearing, owner occupiers, private rental, rental affordability, rental housing, renters, renting, supply
1 Comment
Making Housing Affordable Series. DAMIEN WEBB. An institutional scale solution for the social and affordable housing challenge – from a super fund’s perspective
Many well-intentioned solutions have been proposed to address Australia’s housing affordability problem, yet fail to gain traction because the challenges faced by key stakeholder groups aren’t being addressed simultaneously. We believe success on a material scale will be more likely … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged affordable housing, Affordable Housing Bonds, AHB, CAHC, CHPs, Community Housing Providers, Damien Webb, financial mechanism; investment model, institutional investment, Making Housing Affordable series, return gap, social housing
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Making Housing Affordable Series. MARCUS SPILLER. The planning system, politics and housing affordability
Forever expanding supply on the urban fringe is unlikely to provide a solution to retreating affordability of home ownership. Housing needs to be expanded in those places where good jobs, services and infrastructure are. The inner and middle suburbs – … Continue reading
Making Housing Affordable Series. JOHN DALEY, BRENDAN COATES AND TRENT WILTSHIRE (1). Why should we care about housing affordability?
Housing affordability includes a grab-bag of concerns: less money to spend on goods and services other than housing; falling home ownership rates; worsening access to jobs; increasing wealth inequality between and among generations; and increasing risks of a housing-led economic … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged Brendan Coates, budget, capital gains tax, house prices, housing, housing affordability, housing policies, John Daley, land taxes, Making Housing Affordable series, negative gearing, renting, social housing, Trent Wiltshire
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Making Housing Affordable Series. JOHN DALEY, BRENDAN COATES and TRENT WILTSHIRE (2). Sorting reality from the appearance of action on housing affordability.
Governments have raised expectations among voters anxious to see action on housing. There is no shortage of proposed policy solutions. But how do we sort the good from the bad? Many policy ideas sound good, but won’t do much in … Continue reading
Making Housing Affordable Series. TIM WILLIAMS. Housing affordability is not just a supply problem
The housing affordability debate is being wrongly understood as just a supply problem. The real cause of house price inflation is excess liquidity and debt, combined with overly generous tax incentives.
VIVIENNE MILLIGAN and HAL PAWSON. Ready for growth? Has Australia’s affordable housing industry got what it takes?
Australia lacks any enumerated and resourced plan for expanding affordable housing. Recent growth opportunities in this industry have largely been small-scale, fragmented and ad hoc. As a result, providers have been highly constrained in their ability to predict and plan … Continue reading
OLIVER FRANKEL. Sydney house prices – an increase of 18.9% in one year!
With only a month to go to the federal budget, the news that Sydney’s median dwelling prices rose by 18.9% in the 12 months to March is sobering. It is surely enough to jolt the Turnbull government into finally adopting … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, Infrastructure
Tagged Australian household debt, capital gains tax, houses vs apartments, housing policy, housing price increases, negative gearing, Oliver Frankel
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ALLAN PATIENCE. Is it time to resurrect the Albury-Wodonga city plan?
The housing crisis, hitting young Australians in particular, is one of the cruelest consequences of economic rationalist policy making to which both our major political parties remain super-glued. Neither party has a clearly articulated, long-term solution to this ideologically generated … Continue reading
IAN VERRENDER. Distribution of debt poses new trigger to the property, housing market
The trigger has been cocked. Our attitude to property has changed. No longer is it merely a castle, a family retreat and a place in which to find shelter. It’s now a highly geared investment vehicle. It will take enormous … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Housing
Tagged ABC, economic trends, housing debt, housing industry, Ian Verrender
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BOB BIRRELL and DAVID McCLOSKEY. Sydney and Melbourne’s housing affordability crisis: no end in sight.
Our projections show that, on these demographic assumptions, new migrants will add about 64 per cent to the need for extra dwellings in Sydney over the decade 2012 to 2022 and 54 per cent in Melbourne.
Posted in Housing, Refugees, Immigration
Tagged Bob Birrell, David McCloskey, housing affordability, migration and housing, The Australian Population Research Institute
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OLIVER FRANKEL. Saul Eslake’s well timed warnings help inform the housing affordability debate
Saul Eslake, one of Australia’s most highly respected independent economists, has sounded some sobering warnings about the impact of declining rates of home ownership (and rising levels of mortgage debt) on Australia’s retirement income system. He has also once again … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Housing, Politics
Tagged housing affordability, Oliver Frankel, public housing, Saul Eslake, superannuation and housing
4 Comments
JOHN DALEY and BRENDAN COATES. The latest ideas to use super to buy homes are still bad ideas.
Treasurer Scott Morrison wants to use the May budget to ease growing community anxiety about housing affordability. Lots of ideas are being thrown about: the test for the Treasurer is to sort the good from the bad. Reports that the … Continue reading
CAMERON MURRAY. Affordable housing reform.
While the decline of our economic diversity, has failed the average worker, it has been a boon for the landlord class. Those who already own land and housing benefit at the expense of those who want access to housing for … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Housing, Politics
Tagged Cameron Murray, housing affordability, Sustainable Australia
6 Comments
SUSAN RYAN. Older women need housing too.
In the growing discourse around affordable housing, the federal and some state governments are edging forwards. Recently proposed changes have merit, but they may exclude poorer older women in need of housing.
Posted in Housing, Infrastructure, Politics, SERIES: Making housing affordable
Tagged affordable housing, bond aggregators, homelessness, housing investment, mandatory inclusion, older women, Susan Ryan
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PETER PHIBBS. we must call governments out on this ‘Game of Homes’.
When politicians say supply will fix the problem, ask them why it hasn’t worked yet. And also send them a copy of the graph from Chapter 1 of any first-year economics text book showing that price is the result of … Continue reading