Housing
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Axing negative gearing won’t have any effect on rentals
Negative gearing costs Australian taxpayers billions each year. Its defenders say abolishing it will cause a rental crisis. That’s not true. Continue reading »
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Retirement villages: are they really a safe haven for retirees?
The looming question for me and my partner is “where might we live as we grow older and frailer?” For us, the ideal place is likely to be a retirement village. But at what cost? Continue reading »
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The cost of living crisis is really a housing crisis
The evidence shows that the only households whose living costs have risen faster than their incomes are those homeowners with a mortgage. For the other two thirds of households, their incomes have risen faster than their living costs. Policy should therefore focus on why mortgage costs have risen so dramatically. Continue reading »
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Dutton’s ignorant, incompetent policies contradicted by evidence
Dutton has finally started to show his hand and build his campaign for the next election around energy policy and housing affordability. The problem is that his ignorance of the evidence demonstrates his incompetence. Continue reading »
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There is no simple fix to residential aged care
Aged care staff are unhappy and many older people in residential aged care are unhappy. Certainly, the NSW Health Minister and the hospitals are unhappy because there are 600 people sitting in acute hospital beds who could be in aged care facilities. Continue reading »
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How our tax system is making the rich richer. And the poor poorer
Australians frozen out of the housing market cannot expect that government is going to do anything that effectively closes the gap between current house prices and what most of the unhoused could afford as a deposit. Modern politicians of all stripes are all agreed that their political survival depends on doing the maximum to sustain Continue reading »
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Housing battle lines for election 2025 begin to emerge
With last week’s announcements from the Coalition and Australian Greens, the contours of next year’s election housing debate have begun to take shape. It’s pretty clear that, as in four of the past six national polls, this policy area will be a flashpoint of the coming contest. Continue reading »
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How Albanese could tweak negative gearing to save money and build more new homes
There are two things the prime minister needs to get into his head about tax. One is that saying he won’t make any further changes no longer works. The other is that negative gearing doesn’t do much to get people into homes. Continue reading »
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It’s time to break the impasse on rent controls
Rent controls may be off the immediate political agenda, but they are very much an issue for the nearly 30% of voters who rent. As more and more people face deep poverty and homelessness, the ethical imperative for revisiting rent controls is impelling. And yet, the recent negotiations between the government and the Greens revealed Continue reading »
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The RBA is on a knife-edge between recession and inflation
Monetary policy operates with a lag. The pain from increased interest rates is only now starting to really bite. However, the substantial increase in interest rates is reducing demand and thus bringing inflation down. While on the other hand, further interest rate increases add to the risk of a recession. It is time therefore to Continue reading »
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Are the Greens losing the renters’ vote?
One of the emerging political challenges of the 2020’s in Australia is the contest for the votes of renters. Continue reading »
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Public housing options for Australia
Figures show that the level of public housing has hardly increased in more than 20 years, even though the Australian population has increased markedly (by about 30%). Continue reading »
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Please sir I want some more. The case for needs-based funding for the Northern Territory
When unpacking the way in which national funds for front line services such as homelessness are handed out, arguably little has changed for modern day Darwin since the garrison town was bombed in 1942. Continue reading »
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Federal housing minister needs policy renovation
Federal member for Franklin, Labor’s Julie Collins, is the Minister for Housing and Homelessness. Her current plans to fix the housing crisis look like putting a Band-aid on a broken leg. And breaking the other leg for good measure. Continue reading »
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High stakes in the climate diaspora
Weeks and months after devastating floods hit many regional centres across NSW and Victoria, there emerged a fresh crop of mycelium-like symbols, otherwise known as ‘for sale’ signs. Pitched on lawns in front of stud-exposed and newly renovated houses, or on empty blocks of land. These commercial hoardings have become the grim tell-tale signs of Continue reading »
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How will our stretched housing market cope with surging immigration?
Respected ABC commentator Alan Kohler has recently raised this issue in an article provocatively titled Labor’s immigration and housing policies are an explosive combination. Continue reading »
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It is critical that the housing bubble is safely deflated
Stratospheric housing prices are perhaps the most critical domestic issue in Australia. Not only are a collapse of the housing bubble and a recession now threatening, but homelessness and rent stress, unaddressed and exploited, can quickly fester into ugly politics. Continue reading »
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Tenancy rights offer opportunities for change
The threat of being unable to afford to buy a home is now supplanted by the fear of being unable to afford ever increasing rents. Continue reading »
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Housing in the coming federal election
Very largely thanks to economic stimulus pumped into the economy to ward off COVID recession, Australia’s housing is now 30% more expensive than in 2019. Continue reading »
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Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness
The latest monthly digest of articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material about housing stress/affordability and homelessness. Continue reading »
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Zoned out: how land use restrictions divide the nation
Housing policies ensure continual wealth gains for current home owners while leaving renters and potential buyers locked out of the market. Continue reading »
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Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness
This is the latest monthly digest of articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material about housing stress/affordability and homelessness. Continue reading »
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Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness
This is the latest monthly digest of articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material about housing stress/affordability and homelessness. Continue reading »
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Home truths: the housing emergency must shift Australian politics
The failures of Australia’s fragmented and ineffective housing policy are accumulating — governments should take heed or pay a political cost. Continue reading »
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Housing should be for use value, not exchange value
Housing policies should reflect the sort of society we want to live in, not the quest for wealth accumulation.A home is not a commodity. Continue reading »
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Unprecedented land price increase provokes division across society.
As our federal politicians look the other way whilst housing prices continue to escalate, a national record reminds why this issue won’t go away. Continue reading »
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Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness
This is the latest monthly digest of articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material about housing stress/affordability and homelessness. Continue reading »
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Housing policy is a failure for young and old
Blaming Baby Boomers for the housing crisis is a diversion. What we need is a complete rethink of our housing supply. Continue reading »
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Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness – Aug/Sept 2021
The following is the latest instalment of a monthly digest of interesting articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material relevant to housing stress/affordability and homelessness — with hypertext links to the relevant source. Continue reading »
