@article{a85aef04c1164fdf844a56adc30273f5,
title = "Australian local governments and affordable housing: Challenges and possibilities",
abstract = "For an increasing proportion of Australian households, the Australian dream of home ownership is no longer an option. Neoliberal housing policy and the financialisation of housing has resulted in a housing affordability crisis. Historically, Australian housing policy has afforded only a limited role to local government. This article analyses the results of a nation-wide survey of Australian local governments{\textquoteright} perceptions of housing affordability in their local government area, the possibilities for their meaningful intervention, the challenges they face, the role of councillors and councils{\textquoteright} perceptions of what levels of government should take responsibility for housing. Almost all of the respondents from Sydney and Melbourne councils were clear that there is a housing affordability crisis in their local government area. We apply a framework analysing housing policy in the context of neoliberalism and the related financialisation of housing in order to analyse the housing affordability crisis in Sydney and Melbourne. We conclude that in order to begin resolving the housing crisis in Australia{\textquoteright}s two largest cities there has to be an increasing role for local government, a substantial increase in the building of social and affordable housing and a rollback of policies that encourage residential property speculation. JEL Codes: R31, R21.",
keywords = "Australia, financialisation, homelessness, housing, housing affordability, housing stress, local government, public housing, real estate versus home ownership",
author = "Alan Morris and Andrew Beer and John Martin and Sandy Horne and Catherine Davis and Trevor Budge and Chris Paris",
note = "Funding Information: Morris Alan University of Technology Sydney, Australia Beer Andrew University of South Australia, Australia Martin John La Trobe University, Australia Horne Sandy University of South Australia, Australia Davis Catherine University of Technology Sydney, Australia Budge Trevor La Trobe University, Australia Paris Chris Ulster University, UK Alan Morris, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia. Email: alan.morris@uts.edu.au 10 2019 1035304619880135 {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2019 2019 University of New South Wales For an increasing proportion of Australian households, the Australian dream of home ownership is no longer an option. Neoliberal housing policy and the financialisation of housing has resulted in a housing affordability crisis. Historically, Australian housing policy has afforded only a limited role to local government. This article analyses the results of a nation-wide survey of Australian local governments{\textquoteright} perceptions of housing affordability in their local government area, the possibilities for their meaningful intervention, the challenges they face, the role of councillors and councils{\textquoteright} perceptions of what levels of government should take responsibility for housing. Almost all of the respondents from Sydney and Melbourne councils were clear that there is a housing affordability crisis in their local government area. We apply a framework analysing housing policy in the context of neoliberalism and the related financialisation of housing in order to analyse the housing affordability crisis in Sydney and Melbourne. We conclude that in order to begin resolving the housing crisis in Australia{\textquoteright}s two largest cities there has to be an increasing role for local government, a substantial increase in the building of social and affordable housing and a rollback of policies that encourage residential property speculation. JEL Codes: R31, R21 Australia financialisation homelessness housing housing affordability housing stress local government public housing real estate versus home ownership australian research council https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000923 ARC Linkage Project LP150100160 edited-state corrected-proof The authors would like to thank Dr Violet Xia for her meticulous scrutinising of the data. Declaration of conflicting interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This research team received funding from the Australian Research Council. This article draws upon ARC Linkage Project (LP150100160 Local Government and Housing in Australia for the 21st century). Funding Information: The authors would like to thank Dr Violet Xia for her meticulous scrutinising of the data. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This research team received funding from the Australian Research Council. This article draws upon ARC Linkage Project (LP150100160 Local Government and Housing in Australia for the 21st century). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2019.",
year = "2020",
month = mar,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1177/1035304619880135",
language = "English",
volume = "31",
pages = "14--33",
journal = "Economic and Labour Relations Review",
issn = "1035-3046",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "1",
}
