Housing unaffordability at the statistical local area level: new estimates using spatial microsimulation

As well as reviewing the results and implications of the housing unaffordability estimates for New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, Elizabeth Taylor, Rachel Lloyd, Marcus Blake and Ann Harding provide a general overview of the scope of the linkage project, and the methodological approaches taken in building the estimates. This background includes attention to methodological issues encountered and solutions developed, and to methods of data validation

Long run trends in Victorian housing affordability and tenure shares

The State of Australian Cities (SOAC) national conferences have been held biennially since 2003 to support interdisciplinary policy-related urban research. This paper was presented at SOAC 2 held in Brisbane from 30 November to 2 December 2005. SOAC 2 was hosted by the Urban Research Program at the South Bank campus, Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. The principal intention of the conference was to lead a dialogue between leading researchers on the state of Australian cities and where they might be headed. SOAC 2 was designed to lead to a better understanding of the research needs of Australian cities and to provide those in the public and private sectors with a better appreciation of the current state and capacities of researchers. SOAC 2 brought together participants from a wide range of fields, including: academics, researchers, policy makers, private and public sector practitioners, leaders in government, social commentators and the media. Conference papers published fromSOAC 2 were subject to a peer review process prior to presentation at the conference, with further editing prior to publication

Mortgage Equity Withdrawal in Australia and Britain: Towards a Wealth-fare State?

Across the decade to 2007, a combination of house price appreciation and relaxed credit constraints gave a boost to consumption through the mechanism of mortgage equity withdrawal (MEW). Arguably, this kept developed economies buoyant, even through periods of recession. This paper uses panel data on British and Australian homeowners to show that, notwithstanding its macro-economic effects, such borrowing has far-reaching implications for the micro-economy of households. The data indicate that, for the period 2001-2005, equity borrowing was a common tactic. The sums involved were not trivial, were not limited to older cohorts, or the province simply of the rich. In fact, the events and circumstances associated with equity borrowing at the zenith of the last housing cycle were consistent with an insurance, as well as a general consumption, role for MEW. As house prices fall and credit constraints are re-introduced, the options for such borrowing will shrink. Recent financial shocks may, by reducing the availability of a key channel from housing wealth into consumption, prompt a crisis of welfare. They pose challenges for housing and social policy as well as for economic management.Mortgage equity withdrawal, mortgage debt, equity borrowing, housing equity, precautionary savings, panel data,

The implications of a loss of a partner for older private renters

This study of the implications of loss of a partner for older private renters is being conducted collaboratively across several AHURI Research Centres, led by the AHURI RMIT-NATSEM Research Centre. The study focuses on how older Australians' (defined as 50+years) housing outcomes are influenced by the loss of a partner through death, divorce or separation. The main focus of the study is the impact on renters rather than owners as the housing circumstances of renters is considered more susceptible to financial stress and uncertainty. However, there are homeowners who lose homeownership status following loss of a partner, and the absence of housing assistance programmes targeted on existing homeowners means that divorcees in this tenure can be vulnerable to housing affordability stress. An important theme of this study is then the important role of losing a partner in determining the housing careers of both older owners and renters. Finally, it should be stressed that most divorces and separations occur well before the partners in a marriage turn 50 years of age. A focus on older Australians ignores the housing career adjustments that divorcees and separated persons make in the initial years following household dissolution

A review of private rental support programs: final report

This report shows that although each state and territory rental support program has similar aims, their operation varies considerably. A number of barriers were identified that undermined the programs, including limits on the amount of support provided and antipathy from some landlords. The consensus among housing and welfare professionals was that the programs would be more effective if accompanied by on-going support mechanisms, but that resources available are not currently sufficient for this mode of operation

The implications of loss of a partner for older private renters

This positioning paper explores the implications of loss of a partner for private renters aged 50 years and over. It focuses on renters rather than owners as the housing circumstances of renters are considered more susceptible to financial stress and uncertainty. &nbsp

A review of private rental support programs: final report

Melbourne, VI

The implications of a loss of a partner for older private renters

This project aims to examine the effects of divorce, separation or bereavement on the housing and related financial circumstances of people aged 50 or over in different housing tenures, and in particular those on income support payments. Household dissolution results in loss of income and loss of economies of scale in consumption, which in turn affect the financial and housing circumstances of those who have been bereaved, separated or divorced