Why is it important to boost the supply of affordable housing in Australia—and how can we do it?

Housing affordability has fallen in Australia over the past decade, in spite of sustained economic growth in the national economy. This paper argues that this outcome raises serious economic and social questions, especially in relation to the prospects and welfare of younger Australians. A lack of affordable housing has negative consequences for the competitiveness and efficiency of the Australian economy and for the maintenance of social cohesion in society. Existing housing policies, it is also argued, are demonstrably not working to offset or reverse the trend of declining affordability. New policies are required, especially those that would attract more private investment into the affordable end of the housing market. The main part of this paper outlines and critically compares a range of possible models or approaches that have recently been put forward to this end.     

How Much Extra Affordable Housing is Needed in England?

Booming housing markets in the UK have once again brought into sharper focus the issues of housing affordability, housing need and ‘affordable housing’ solutions. This paper reviews issues in the measurement of problems of affordability, particularly access to homeownership, and reports on modelled estimates for England at regional and local levels. These models provide a method for comparing pressures in different areas, but also for measuring market change over time and its relationship with the economy. They are also useful for identifying and assessing the scope for ‘intermediate’ forms of provision between conventional homeownership and social renting. Measures of recent and prospective needs for additional affordable housing provision, derived from this analysis of affordability, are presented and assessed. These findings are linked to a broader contemporary policy debate about housing and planning policy in England.     

Planning for Mixed Use: Affordable for Whom?

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Mixed-use zoning is widely advocated to increase density; promote active transportation; encourage economic development; and create lively, diverse neighborhoods. We know little, however, about whether mixed-use developments affect housing affordability. We question the impact of mixed-use zoning on housing affordability in Toronto (Canada) between 1991 and 2006 in the face of waning government support for affordable housing and increasing income inequality due to the occupational restructuring accompanying a shift to a knowledge-based economy. We fi nd that housing in mixed-use zones remained less affordable than housing in the rest of the city and in the metropolitan region. High-income service occupations experienced improved affordability while lower wage service, trade, and manufacturing occupations experienced stagnant or worsening affordability. Housing in mixed-use zones is increasingly affordable only to workers already able to pay higher housing costs. Our findings are limited to Canada's largest city but have lessons for large North American cities with similar urban economies and housing markets.

Takeaway for practice: Mixed-use developments may reduce housing affordability in core areas and inadvertently reinforce the sociospatial inequality resulting from occupational polarization unless supported by appropriate affordable housing policies. Planners should consider a range of policy measures to offset the unintentional outcomes of mixed-use developments and ensure affordability within mixed-use zones: inclusionary zoning, density bonuses linked to affordable housing, affordable housing trusts, and other relevant methods.     

Affordable Housing Plans in London and New York: Between Marketplace and Social Mix

The article reviews and critically analyzes contemporary housing policies and plans in London and New York in the context of neoliberal urban governance. In both cities, we find severe housing affordability problems, an increasing dependence on market provision of affordable housing, and a gradual shift from supporting low- and moderate-income residents to promoting housing for households around and above the median income. Affordable housing plans in both cities also link their “marketplace” orientation to “social mix” objectives. The article addresses some socio-spatial implications of these plans and raises concerns regarding the implementation and unintended consequences of mixed-income housing. The conclusion discusses ideas and tools for more equitable affordable housing policies. Finally, we suggest that our analysis of the policy trends in London and New York and the implications we draw may be relevant to other global and globalizing cities, which face similar affordability concerns and rely on the marketplace to address housing needs.     

The Limits and Potentials of the Housing Market Enabling Paradigm: An Evaluation of China's Housing Policies from 1998 to 2011

This paper examines the housing policies in China in the last 14 years in the context of the international debate on the World Bank's housing market enabling strategy to improve low-income housing provision in developing countries. A review of China's urban housing outcomes reveals housing price inflation and shortage of affordable housing in the fast expanding housing market. The paper analyzes policies to increase both demand for and supply of housing and argues that these policies have contributed to worsening affordability. This situation has been exacerbated by problems in the institutional framework managing the housing sector. The paper concludes that market enabling alone is not sufficient to achieve a satisfactory housing outcome for low- and middle-income groups in Chinese cities. It advocates more effective and direct public intervention for enhancing social housing provision and tightening market regulation to address both market and government failures to improve housing conditions for lower income groups.     

不同地区住房市场供给结构比例研究——以江苏省部分城市为例

不同地区住房市场发展日趋差异化,“因城施策”成为住房市场调控的主导原则。如何科学制定住房供给政策,合理确定住房供给结构中保障性住房与商品房的比例大小,一直是各方研究的难点与重点。针对这一问题,从居民可支付能力和政府可负担性两个方面,通过住房支付能力、房价收入比和地方财政收入的可负担性3 个指标,以江苏省部分城市包括南京市、苏州市、镇江市为例进行实证分析,分别得出3 个城市住房市场供给结构。实证结果可为相关决策部门合理制定住房供给策略提供科学依据。     

Impacts of contrasting housing policies on low-income households in Australia and the Netherlands

This paper aims to contribute to the debate in comparative housing studies about the significance of national housing policies by considering what can be learnt from analysing the consequences of different policy paths. In particular, the paper looks at the evidence of the long-run impacts of different housing strategies adopted to assist lower-income households in Australia and the Netherlands, using housing affordability as a measure of their impact. Australia is an example of a country that has promoted mass home ownership across the income distribution supplemented by a very small public housing system. In contrast, the Netherlands has relied more on a large and diversified social housing sector. The comparative analysis shows that there are many similarities in the patterns of affordability among low-income households in the two countries despite the use of different policy means. In the past, both countries had good success providing secure and affordable housing for poorer households. Now, lower-income households are experiencing greater affordability problems that are linked to societal changes and the retrenchment of government housing assistance in both cases. However, the study also finds that affordability problems among lower-income households are worse in Australia because of the greater reliance on private housing in that country.     

经济适用房成本控制与分析

经济适用房是国家计划建设,并以微利出售给城镇中低收入家庭的、具有保障性质的商品住宅,它具有经济性和适用性的特征。文章介绍经济适用房项目建设的特点和投资成本控制的要点。     

The challenge of conceptualizing affordable housing: definitions and their underlying agendas in Israel

While critical work has focused on revealing underpinning motives of affordable housing strategy, there has been lesser attention given to how factors beyond affordability undergird affordable housing definition. The cultural embeddedness of affordable housing in Israel enables the concept to exist without formal definition, thus, laying bare the agendas and causal narratives and providing an effective laboratory to explore affordable housing’s varied interpretations. This research is based on 60 interviews, analysis of legislation, policy documents and newspaper articles. We use the framework of problem definition and social construction to explain how affordable housing can be manipulated by various institutions and actors to promote interests or agendas that may have little to do with affordability. The findings reveal that Israel’s affordable housing definition, or lack thereof, reflect both various demographic, fiscal, social and political interests and a perpetuation of an ideological shift from the social welfare state to a neoliberal regime.     

Factors Shaping the Dynamics of Housing Affordability in Australia 2001–06

This paper investigates factors shaping the dynamics of housing affordability in Australia over the period 2001–06. Panel model findings indicate that those with children and the unwaged are more prone to persistent housing affordability stress. However, residential moves during spells of housing affordability stress alleviate housing cost burdens. Survival in affordable housing has become progressively more difficult over the 2001–06 timeframe, an unsurprising finding given a house price boom over the period of analysis. Residential moves are again influential, but those made by households during a spell in affordable housing are associated with the onset of housing affordability stress.     

广州金沙洲城市保障房社区研究——“日常生活实践”的视角

住房问题已经成为中国城市所面临的主要问题。进入新世纪,保障性住房建设大规模展开,保障房社区作为一种独特的新社会空间,受到广泛关注。基于米歇尔·德塞都的日常生活实践理论,本文对广州金沙洲新社区展开实证研究,探讨当前中国城市保障房社区居民的日常生活机制。研究主要采用典型案例、实地观察、半结构式访谈、深度访谈相结合的综合研究方法,从“日常生活实践”的角度探讨地方政府、市场和保障房社区居民的“结构化”互动,梳理和解析居民日常行为规律。研究表明,保障房作为地方政府为推进劳动力再生产而实施的一种空间战略,目的在于解决“集体消费”下的城市问题。在此背景下,保障房社区居民面临着社会、经济和文化上的“边缘化”及“空间锁定”问题。作为应对,社区居民采取各种生活“战术”予以应对：生活回市区、巧妙改造、隐性就业、维护社交网络、积极生活等。本文以此为保障房研究提供新视角,并为相关政策的制定和实施提供参考和借鉴。     

The economics of housing programmes in Ghana, 1929–66

Researchers have generally assumed that housing policies of the colonial and the immediate post‐colonial governments were shaped solely by social and political considerations. From a social perspective, some have argued that governments intervened in the housing field purely on health grounds to create good sanitary conditions and prevent the spread of diseases, especially amongst the colonizers and indigenous educated elites. From a political perspective, writers have argued that the key goal for most housing programmes was to prevent unrest and ensure political longevity. Even though each of these arguments has some merit, little, if any, consideration has been given to the economic logic of housing policies and programmes. Indeed, researchers have generally assumed that colonial and immediate post‐colonial governments never considered the economic significance of housing. This assumption is incorrect. Through surveying published and archival sources, this paper aims to rectify the neglect of the economic logic of housing policies by demonstrating that economic implications were considered in the implementation of housing policies and programmes. As will be shown, housing was seen not only as a necessary tool to secure labour and improve productivity, but also as an essential element for the success of economic development projects, especially industrialization programmes.     

Affordability of housing and accessibility of public services: evaluation of housing programs in Beijing

Acute housing poverty and low housing affordability among low-to-medium-income households have become challenges in the pursuit of a harmonious society in China. Promoting housing subsidies and stimulating investment on affordable housing have been at the center of China’s housing policy. This paper analyzes the correlation of affordable housing program in Beijing with household affordability of adequate housing and accessibility to public services, which include elementary and middle schools, hospitals and public transportation. Economic and Comfortable Housing is studied based on unique database of eligible household and affordable housing projects. We find that the program fails to make housing affordable and accessible for eligible households. The implications of housing policy design in the context of the economic and social well-being of targeted households are highlighted in the study.     

The affordability of “affordable” housing in England: conditionality and exclusion in a context of welfare reform

Abstract

Contemporary debates around affordability have largely focused on homeownership and private renting. This article considers the affordable social rented sector in England, in which reforms to social welfare assistance, reduced security of tenure, and a shift towards mid-market rents, are changing access to ‘affordable’ housing for those on the lowest incomes. Drawing on in-depth interviews with housing associations and stakeholders, the article highlights the increasing use of affordability assessments for prospective tenants. These assessments interact with mid-market rental products to increase the potential for exclusion from affordable housing on the grounds of ability to pay. This conditionality is applied not only at the point of tenancy access, but also at renewal of fixed-term tenancies. The research highlights that the combination of welfare and housing policies, in the context of a financialising housing association sector, has the potential to erode access to social housing for those who are perceived as a financial risk, reshaping the focus of social housing.     

Parisian eco-districts: low energy and affordable housing?

This paper examines how policies and practices for affordable housing in Paris, especially ‘green’ housing for the poor, are being subverted to retain or attract the middle class: the ‘greentrification’ of lower-class neighbourhoods. From the 1960s onward, many middle- and working-class households have left Paris due to de-industrialization and the city’s high housing costs. To bring these middle classes back, the municipality initiated a policy calling for increased social diversity, using social housing as its main policy tool. In France the provision of public housing is legally mandated, and compared with international standards, the income ceilings for gaining access to it are high. Thus, municipalities may pursue urban renovation and construct social housing for the middle class to replace substandard buildings occupied by low-income populations. The Paris municipality has established ‘green’ residential eco-districts known as ‘eco-quartiers’. In the national eco-district programme, the neighbourhoods must meet environmental performance criteria, show potential for economic development, and provide social and functional diversity. Thus, housing location and price must fit the needs of the existing residents. However, most ‘green’ subsidized housing in Paris is for the middle class. Social diversity has become a means of redistribution: more middle class and fewer poor people.     

转型语境下深圳保障性住房建设观察与思考

深圳作为人口倒挂问题突出的城市,日益高昂的房价、巨大的住房缺口成为留住人才、促进产业升级、城市转型的重要制约。回顾深圳住房发展历程与特征,分析了目前深圳保障性住房建设过程中出现的需求结构矛盾鲜明、空间供给制约突出、分配机制有失弹性公平3方面的核心问题。基于以上问题,以社会公平为导向,对转型语境下的保障性住房如何建设进行了针对性探讨,进而指出深圳在转型期间保障性住房政策的创新集中体现在服务人群扩展、空间配置引导、管理机制完善3个方面。具体而言,通过鼓励以需定建,满足不同阶层的住房需求;拓宽住房供给,优化保障性住房空间分布;制定准入退出机制,维护保障性住房社会公平。     

中国经济适用住房政策评析与建议

经济适用住房的建设、流通与消费必须遵循市场经济运行规律,以销定产;同时考虑中低收入家庭的承受能力和对住区生活环境的要求,合理选择建设区位和确定销售价格,实现国家提出的加快住房建设,促进国民经济增长,满足城镇居民日益增长的住房需求目标。本文就这些方面的问题进行了深入探讨,提出了看法和建议。     

新时期保障性住房演化的进程与对策研究——以南京市为例

新时期住房发展目标从"住有所居"转为"住有宜居"、城市更新由增量转为存量。本文通过对南京市保障房进行调查研究,从选址建设趋势、住区空间特征和社会保障情况3个方面梳理20年来南京市保障房演化的绩效以及实践过程中存在的问题,并指出政策和市场是影响空间和人群发展的核心因素。进而预测新时期保障房发展将以"精细化"管理和"微更新"为趋势,并从政策调整、规划设计、更新改造及社区营造过程对多方参与主体提出建议。     

Defining and measuring housing affordability using the Minimum Income Standard

Abstract

There is growing concern about a crisis in housing affordability in the UK, renewing longstanding debates about what constitutes ‘affordable’ housing. The growing use of the private rented sector by low income households has also led to increased interest in understanding the impact of housing costs on living standards. This paper builds on existing work on ‘residual income’ measures of housing affordability, accepting that what households can afford to pay for housing is related to their ability to cover other costs, and so not directly proportional to income. It proposes a new approach to defining and measuring housing affordability, based on the Minimum Income Standard (MIS). The paper then uses data from the Family Resources Survey (2008/09 to 2015/16) to examine housing affordability within the rented sector across the UK, exploring the value of this measure both in revealing the scale of the ‘problem’ and assessing the likely impact of suggested interventions.     

Houses without people and people without houses: a cultural and institutional exploration of an Italian paradox

According to basic economics, when vacancy rates rise, house prices should decrease and vice versa, responding to supply and demand mechanisms. However, previous studies have observed that, before the economic crisis, this was not the case in Spain and Malta. It has been questioned whether this paradox is a Mediterranean phenomenon or simply the result of isolated cases of malfunctioning housing market. This paper contributes to this discussion by reviewing the pre-crisis housing market of a third case study: Italy. A Mediterranean housing system perspective is used to analyse the paradox, and methodological issues regarding the definition and measurement of vacancy are addressed. Moreover, the paper explores the consequences of the high Italian vacancy rate within a context of housing shortages and affordability problems. We argue that a better understanding of the characteristics and implications of vacancy is necessary in order to be able to implement sustainable housing and planning policies.