The high rise life

Nobody likes living in small, noisy, cramped apartments, particularly parents with children, but the rising costs and increasing density of Australia’s cities is leaving people with no choice.

Melbourne dweller’s “Russian” winter

Australia’s housing just isn’t good enough when it comes to dealing with winter temperatures – we need to take lessons from the Northern Hemisphere.

A home of one’s own stays out of reach for many

Despite rising numbers of new home loans amid the COVID-19 economic recovery, the outlook for housing affordability remains bleak and more of us will be renting long term.

Housing locational disadvantages in Sydney

Plans to concentrate new housing in Western Sydney should be revised to ensure adequate additional infrastructure is provided and more diverse and equitable solutions are explored.

A plan for social housing

The Community Housing Industry Association’s Social Housing Acceleration and Renovation Program (SHARP) would deliver an extra 30,000 homes and renovate thousands more over four years.

Repairing the housing market

The fallout from COVID-19 for housing and homelessness just adds to the urgency of fixing the long-standing ills of the housing market. The well-being of Australia’s economy and people depends on it.

Stamping out stamp duty

It’s time to reform stamp duty, one of the most inefficient and distorting taxes collected by Australia’s state and territory governments.

The ‘missing middle’ offers a new housing solution

The days of urban McMansions are numbered and a QUT architecture lecturer says the solution to more flexible, affordable housing lies between a large home and a unit – the ‘missing middle’.

Australian housing needs a shake-up

Millions of Australians are struggling with unaffordable housing. It’s a systemic problem that’s been decades in the making, and only concerted system-wide reforms will fix it.

Tiny houses may not be the big answer

There has been significant growth in small house living, but that doesn’t mean Australia should “go big” on them in terms of overall housing policy.

Renters can be trapped for years in homes they can’t afford

After paying rent, more than half of low-income tenants don’t have enough left over for other essentials, and the latest evidence shows nearly half of them can be stuck in this situation for years.

Bigger on the inside?

Could Australia’s housing crisis be solved, not with a bold expensive plan, but with sneaky, under-the-radar remedies? Architectural researcher Alysia Bennett has been working on some strategies she thinks might work.