Housing not only provides much-needed homes, it can drive the economy in a range of ways. But do harness its potential, we need to do it differently.
- Professor of Housing Research, University of Adelaide
Housing announcements are everywhere right now, but few are based on evidence. Here’s what the politicians aren’t talking about, but should be.
We know what needs to be done, but it depends on the political will to act. And some states and territories have failed to adopt actions to improve housing quality that were agreed in 2022.
Victoria is leading the way in ensuring poor-quality rental housing is upgraded to be safe, comfortable and energy-efficient.
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.
The people with the worst health often live in rental homes likely to make them sicker, and poor policy could make it worse.
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.
When people’s homes became cold, their risk of severe mental distress significantly increased.
The proportion of housing that’s unoccupied has actually fallen since the last census, but the key issue is most of these dwellings are not in the areas where the need for housing is greatest.
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.
It’s been unusually cold, and energy prices are soaring. That spells trouble for the quarter of Australians who have very cold homes.
Controlling for other factors, the mental health cost of renting can be eliminated through longer tenure and greater security.
In Australia, we do housing and we do health, but they sit in different portfolios of government and the policy dots aren’t joined often enough.
A long-term housing stimulus package that focuses on retrofitting to cut energy demand would also help households repay the debts being accumulated during this crisis.
Many want to do the right thing – tenants and landlords alike. But they lack guidance on how to go about it while still keeping their own heads above water.
A home, a springboard, or a safety net? New research finds a surprisingly large number of Australians have lived in social housing since 2000, using it in several very different ways.
The difficulties for people facing housing disadvantage don’t end as soon as their situation improves. They are at higher risk of poorer mental health years or even decades later.
Hundreds of thousands of Australians are forced into inadequate or unhealthy housing by high housing costs.
Housing affordability is one of Australia’s great unsolved problems. Some households can make adjustments to cover high housing costs, but the ones deprived of essentials are under real stress.
While new buildings may be the glamorous eco-home pinups, retrofitting existing homes is the main game when it comes to creating energy-efficient, comfortable housing stock for all Australians.
The idea of a hot and sunny land is so baked into our thinking about Australia that we’ve failed to design and build houses that protect us from the cold.
Housing affordability is often not the only problem households face. More often the compounding effects of multiple problems leave people unable to cope, which is why one solution won’t work for all.
Research shows that when the government cuts housing benefit, it harms the mental health of those affected.
The effects of unaffordable housing cascade into other areas of life, in particular, affecting mental health.
Many factors have influenced population density change in Australian cities over the past 30 years. Melbourne has led the way in inner-city rebirth as a way to help manage future growth.
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