City Futures Blog

News and research in housing and urban policy, from Australia’s leading urban policy research centre.

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‘I wouldn’t want to buy even if I had the money.’ The rise of renters by choice

February 10th, 2020 · No Comments · Affordability, Guest appearance, Housing, Tenancy

Image: fizkes/Shutterstock By Alan Morris, University of Technology Sydney; Hal Pawson, UNSW, and Kath Hulse, Swinburne University of Technology. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The private rental sector has expanded at more than twice the rate of the increase in Australian households in the last […]

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Why adequate and affordable housing matters to productivity

January 21st, 2020 · No Comments · Cities, Economy, Government, Guest appearance, Housing, Productivity

By Wendy Hayhurst, CEO Community Housing Industry Association. Originally published on John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations. A growing body of research is demonstrating the adverse productivity impacts of inadequate or unaffordable housing in Australia (and elsewhere). These include impacts on human capital through the mismatch between the availability of suitable housing and employment, and the distorting […]

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Household infrastructure spending: new dashboard launched

December 19th, 2019 · No Comments · Cities, Data

By Ori Gudes, City Futures Research Centre, and Kim Johnstone, Astrolabe Group. What do Australian households spend on infrastructure – water and sewerage, energy, transport and telecommunications? And what do they think about infrastructure quality, accessibility and affordability? A new dashboard launched by researchers at City Futures Research Centre and Astrolabe Group allows users to […]

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Australian cities pay the price for blocking council input to projects that shape them

December 17th, 2019 · No Comments · Government, Guest appearance, Productivity, Sydney

By Mike Harris, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, Faculty of Built Environment, UNSW. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. National, state and city governments aspire to increase prosperity through globally competitive and more liveable cities. Through “world class” infrastructure, buildings and public spaces they aim […]

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Your Airbnb guest could be a tenant. Until the law is cleared up, hosts are in limbo

December 16th, 2019 · No Comments · Guest appearance, Housing, Law, Marginal rental, Sharing, Tenancy

Image credit: Daniel Krason/Shutterstock By Bill Swannie (Victoria University) and Chris Martin (City Futures Research Centre). This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. With summer holidays around the corner, many Victorians may be thinking about offering their homes through a home-share platform, such as Airbnb, while they […]

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As simple as finding a job? Getting people out of social housing is much more complex than that

December 12th, 2019 · No Comments · Affordability, Government, Guest appearance, Housing, Tenancy

By Chris Hartley, Center for Social Impact, UNSW and Kathleen Flanagan, University of Tasmania. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. A private member’s bill, moved by Labor MP Josh Burns, recently called on the Australian government “to help build more affordable homes” in response to the growing homelessness crisis. […]

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Lack of information on apartment defects leaves whole market on shaky footings

November 21st, 2019 · No Comments · Construction, Data, Government, Guest appearance, Housing, Housing conditions

By Martin Loosemore (University of Technology Sydney); Bill Randolph, Caitlin Buckle, Hazel Easthope, and Laura Crommelin (City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney). This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.   The litany of defects, poor building standards and regulatory failures has serious implications for apartment owners, occupiers and buyers alike. Fears […]

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Greening for a resilient 21st century

November 19th, 2019 · No Comments · Cities, Government, Sustainability, Wellbeing

By Susan Thompson, City Futures Research Centre. Originally published in New Planner, the journal of the New South Wales planning profession, published by the Planning Institute of Australia. The great green city of the future is ecologically and economically resilient; it’s made up of healthy, livable neighborhoods where the benefits of nature are available to […]

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The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme: Housing affordability action – or just more busy work?

October 31st, 2019 · No Comments · Affordability, Finance, Government, Housing

By Hal Pawson, City Futures Research Centre. The Australian Government has this week revealed the policy details for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS). From 1 January qualifying first home buyers (FHBs) become eligible for a government guarantee that will enable them to access a mortgage with a 5% deposit rather than the normal […]

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Growing numbers of renters are trapped for years in homes they can’t afford

October 21st, 2019 · No Comments · Affordability, Government, Housing, Law, Private rental, Tenancy

By Hal Pawson, City Futures Research Centre. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Low-income tenants in Australia are increasingly likely to be trapped in rental stress for years. New evidence from the Productivity Commission shows almost half of such “rent-burdened” private tenants are likely to remain […]

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