How should government respond to affordability problems in regional and rural housing markets?

How should government respond to affordability problems in regional and rural housing markets? Report

AHURI Research & Policy Bulletin

• Author(s): Beer A., Tually S., Rowley S., McKenzie F., Birdsall Jones C., Corunna V., Schlapp J.
• Published: 2012
• Publisher: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute

Link to resource Report broken link

Abstract: Housing affordability problems have affected rural and regional areas as well as metropolitan areas. Responding to this problem requires programs, land release policies and local governance arrangements adapted to each local context. • Housing markets in rural and regional areas have experienced housing affordability problems. These problems are especially acute in relation to rental accommodation. • Poor affordability undermines regional economic development and exacerbates social inequalities, especially for Indigenous people. • Poor affordability in housing markets is driven by factors common to metropolitan markets, such as rapid population growth. However, it is also influenced by factors peculiar to regional areas, such as lack of scale economies and local geographic factors that limit housing development. • Government programs have sometimes been well understood where they have a high profile but have had uneven impacts between different locations. Governments have not been effective in releasing land and reforming local governance arrangements to improve affordability outcomes. • Government policies need to address market forces, address those that may be disadvantaged by change (e.g. Indigenous people), and ensure decisions about housing supply leverage local knowledge, such as through local government.

• Urls: https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/165, https://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/2049/AHURI_Final_Report_No165_The_drivers_of_supply_and_demand_in_Australias_rural_and_regional_centres.pdf
• Publisher Location: Melbourne