Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning publications

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Browsing Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning publications by Author "Australasian Housing Researchers' Conference (5th : 2010 : Auckland, New Zealand)"

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    Gate-keeping and the impact of administrative processes in shaping access to housing assistance
    (University of Auckland, 2011) Beer, A.; Baker, E.; Wood, G.; Raftery, P.; Australasian Housing Researchers' Conference (5th : 2010 : Auckland, New Zealand); Dixon, J.; Dupuis, A.; Lysnar, P.
    Housing assistance remains one of the fundamental pillars of social security policy in most developed economies, even though the nature and form of that support has been transformed in many nations. Countries such as the USA, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand maintain taxation and other policies that provide wide-ranging support for home ownership and/or social housing. In virtually all jurisdictions there are additional policies targeted at helping those with the greatest housing needs. This paper considers policies and programs directed at those with the most acute needs and examines how, in a government environment marked by a limited number of alternative policy instruments, administrative processes determine which population groups are able to gain access to each form of assistance. The paper draws upon both the housing careers/housing pathways literature and the earlier body of work focussed on urban gatekeepers. The paper shows that within population of low income households eligible for targeted housing assistance in South Australia, access to particular forms of assistance is highly differentiated, with some groups over-represented and others virtually excluded. This differentiation reflects both the characteristics of each group and the application of administrative criteria that act to exclude some groups, while assisting others. It is argued that this outcome has negative implications for equity and efficiency in society, as it can serve to reinforce discrimination and prejudice against some tenures, while limiting the capacity of others to improve their quality of life.
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    Is there a gradient to housing assistance in Australia?
    (University of Auckland, 2011) Beer, A.; Baker, E.; Wood, G.; Raftery, P.; Australasian Housing Researchers' Conference (5th : 2010 : Auckland, New Zealand); Dixon, D.; J, J.; Dupuis, D.; A, A.; Lysnar, A.; P, P.
    Over the last decade housing has been at the forefront of public discourse and policy debate in Australia and this has been a significant shift from its neglected position over the last three decades. Evidence of this change in emphasis includes the commitment of the incoming Rudd Labor Government to a raft of housing affordability measures as part of its election campaign in 2007. More recently, Prime Minister Gillard commenced her election campaign in 2010 with a commitment of funds for housing in non metropolitan Australia (ABC 2010a; 2010b). Two inter-related factors have recast housing in the public and political consciousness: first, there has been an on-going housing affordability crisis that first emerged in the 1990s (Berry and Dalton 2005) and became more acute after the year 2000. Second, turmoil in world financial markets from 2007 highlighted the level of vulnerability within Australia's housing markets, with both home purchasers and landlords reliant upon access to affordable and secure credit. Instability within financial markets threatened to increase the cost of housing finance, raised the prospect of house price deflation and the subsequent risk of wide spread negative equity in housing markets and, at the same time, reduced the supply of housing finance for the most marginal borrowers. In combination these processes have recast public awareness of housing issues and forced governments to reconsider the ways in which they engage with housing market processes in Australia.