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Home renovation is a global phenomenon, where households seek to remodel, reconfigure, and retrofit their home. While often a response to the material conditions of a dwelling, such as decay and damage, renovation also as emerges as a practice central to identity creation, sense of home, and leisure. Importantly, improving household sustainability is increasingly driving renovation activities, as governments and households seek to reduce the environmental impact of residential dwellings. Drawing on data collected from a national survey developed by the authors, this paper explores sustainable renovation practices in Australia. The paper provides a three-level analysis of home renovators. First, the paper profiles recent renovators. Second, the extent to which sustainability was considered by recent renovators during the renovation process is investigated. Third, the relationship between personal values placed on household sustainability and the sustainable renovation practices are explored. The analysis reveals that sustainability is an important renovation driver. However, sustainable renovation practices differ between groups of homeowners, with educated and wealthy homeowners most likely to undertake sustainable renovation. Further, those with a stronger commitment to household sustainability are the most likely to include expensive sustainability technologies as part of their renovations. However, it is younger households, who are less committed to the principles of household sustainability, that are most likely to access government subsidies to support the inclusion of these technologies as part of their renovation. The different profiles and actions of these renovator groups reveal a series of challenges and opportunities for governments seeking to promote household sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young adults staying with parents is definitely a growing housing tenure in Australia. This paper, for the first time, unearths individual-level housing tenure choices of young Australians from the household-level data of owning/renting from the 2017 Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. In addition to owner-occupation and private rental, the paper explores the influence of personal characteristics on two types of multigenerational co-residence: young adults who live with parents rent-free and pay board. The results show that, in Australia, young women are more independent in their housing tenure choices (i.e., owning and renting) in comparison to young men. There is a growing trend towards mature and high-earning young people living with parents for free, which might be explained by the aim of saving money to buy a house or investment property and also care arrangements for their elderly parents. Marital status has also a significant effect on housing tenure choices. Never married young adults prefer to live with parents either for free or pay board; while those divorced/separated or widowed prefer to rent privately to maintain their residential independency, after life circumstances changed. This study informs policy makers to provide more support to young adults in a fully or partly independent housing tenure (renting and paying board) in assisting them to climb up the housing career ladder—becoming a homeowner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper provides an evidence base for practice in Australia from an integrative literature review of research on co-designing housing with people with an intellectual disability. The study asks: what methods and outcomes have been reported from including people with an intellectual disability in the co-design of their housing? Method: The integrative review framework described by Whitemore and Knafl (2005) was used to analyse the literature. Results: The literature searches yielded 16 articles after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Important gaps in the literature were found relating to: co-designing with people with an intellectual disability; the co-designing of housing with people with an intellectual disability; specific frameworks or benchmarks for co-designing with people with an intellectual disability; processes on use of proxies; and on design outcomes. Conclusions: Considerable work is required to explore and evaluate co-design processes in the design of housing with adults with intellectual disabilities, as well as how the outcomes of these processes are evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of rising numbers of people with disability in Australian cities, this paper describes a study determining actions to overcome unintended obstacles in the built environment to city-scale accessibility and inclusivity in a regional city in Australia. Prior studies have largely failed to connect social inclusion obstacles in the built environment with factors leading to social exclusion in other domains that have impact on, and are impacted by, the built environment. An approach based on systems thinking allowed a wide range of stakeholders, including many with lived-experience of disability, to exchange ideas in a short timeframe linking the built environment with other obstacles to accessible and inclusive cities. One hundred and nineteen actions were identified to overcome these obstacles, with 37 of these prioritised according to impact and feasibility. Nineteen of these 37 are imbedded in the built environment. Access to appropriate and affordable housing was identified as a key factor across all domains. Importantly, it was found that access for people with disability to appropriately designed and affordable housing was at the fulcrum of many other issues, across numerous city domains, that created obstacles to meaningful living and fulfilled lives. The process advanced understanding of how housing is impacted by, and has impacts on, a wide sphere of socio-political and physical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proposals for the development of affordable housing are frequently opposed by local community members due to concerns about the potential deleterious impacts on host neighbourhoods. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, this paper considers whether there is any empirical basis for this opposition in the Australian context. First, a hedonic regression analysis is used to examine the impacts of 17 affordable housing developments on local property sales values in Brisbane. Second, the qualitative impacts of affordable housing development on neighbours are assessed through a doorstep survey conducted with 141 householders in Sydney. The results of both the hedonic analysis and doorstep survey indicate that the impacts of affordable housing development on host neighbourhoods are likely to be slight in the majority of cases. We found that affordable housing development can have positive or negative impacts on property sales values, but that these impacts are minimal where they exist. Our doorstep survey findings revealed that 78% of people had experienced no negative impacts as a result of affordable housing development in their area. The paper concludes by considering the practical implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2009 the Australian Federal Government introduced the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan ( NBESP) to halt possible descent into recession. The NBESP mobilised a number of economic triggers, such as family and business payments. However, the bulk of funds were allocated to large capital works programs focused on building educational infrastructure and new sociaxl housing. This paper explores the planning and delivery of the Social Housing Initiative ( SHI) in New South Wales. The SHI rests at the centre of a series of complex and competing objectives of the Federal government responding to global economic conditions, State governments operating within timeline and budget constraints established by the Federal government, and councils and residents responding to local contexts. Global economic conditions acted as the catalyst for the most significant expenditure on social housing in decades. Nevertheless, support for construction was far from universal as a series of localised conflicts arose around the planning and implementation of the SHI. Using a series controversial development sites, this paper traces community and council concerns over social housing provided under the NBESP. These positions are contrasted by State government employees charged with implementing the program. The paper explores the major areas of local concern. What is apparent is that communities opposed to social housing development mobilised complex points and modes of resistance which extend beyond NIMBYism and anti-social housing rhetoric. This resistance encompass concerns around planning processes, urban design, local democracy, infrastructure provision and the character of place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of recent policy moves to reduce environmental impacts, it is argued that significant improvements are required to heritage housing stock. Existing housing stock is recognised in planning/legislation for some form of protection based upon its heritage significance. Although renovation of existing dwellings is the principal means promoted to reduce energy and associated environmental emissions, little attention has been given to how this is achieved in practice. This paper joins an emerging body of work that draws on social practice theory, as an alternative to rational and behaviourist perspectives, to investigate renovation practices in heritage housing. Based on analysis of interviews with homeowners, this paper discusses the common social understandings associated with heritage buildings, environmental sustainability, and comfort, and how these intersect in home-renovation. The study explores how households balance emerging needs for environmental sustainability with retaining heritage significance. Questions are raised as to the extent to which renovations can contribute to objectives for reducing energy use and emissions, and implications are drawn for future policy approaches regarding the attainment of more sustainable practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ways in which a lack of adequate housing and welfare provision for people with different kinds and degrees of disabilities reinforces their marginalization and dependency on carers, support agencies and the State. This paper argues that even though most people have to rely on others for help and assistance at some point in their lives, the ways in which dependency and disability are socially constructed reproduce the marginalization of people with disabilities. Drawing on findings from qualitative research with people with disabilities and family carers in urban and regional Victoria, Australia, this article explores how this lack of adequate housing and welfare provision reinforces the dependency of people with disabilities through low incomes, unsuitable housing design and poor housing conditions, restrictions in terms of location and place, and the lack of suitable care and assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developer paid infrastructure charges are a commonly used mechanism for Australian municipalities to shift the funding of new urban infrastructure to private sector property developers. In a climate where housing affordability is a policy objective for many governments, a clear understanding of the impacts these charges have on the price of housing is imperative. This paper empirically examines the effect of infrastructure charges on housing affordability in Brisbane, Australia, applying a hedonic house price model to 4699 new and 25,053 existing house sales in Brisbane from 2005 to 2011. The findings of this research are consistent with international studies that support the proposition that infrastructure charges are over passed to home buyers. This study provides evidence of infrastructure charges being over passed to both new and existing home buyers in the order of around 400 %. These findings suggest that infrastructure charges are thus a significant contributor to increasing house prices and reduced housing affordability in Australia. By testing this flow-on effect to both new and existing homes, this research provides evidence in support of the proposition that not only are infrastructure charges over passed to new home buyers, but also to buyers of existing homes. Thus the price inflationary effect of infrastructure charges are being felt by all home buyers across the community, resulting in increased mortgage repayments of close to $1000 per month in Australia. These results are important as they inform governments on the outcomes of current infrastructure funding policies on housing affordability, providing the first empirical evidence of its kind in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia emerged relatively unscathed by the foreclosure crisis in the US in 2007 and the subsequent global finance crisis (GFC) and, at least to date, appears to be well placed to face the sovereign debt crisis that has threatened and continues to threaten stability in a number of European countries. In part, its survival period can be attributed to a number of key interventions in its mortgage and housing markets prior to, and during, the GFC. Its apparent survival beyond 2010 and through subsequent crises has been built on these foundations. This paper provides an overview of the Australian housing finance system in order to understand some of the context within which these key interventions were undertaken. It outlines relevant responses to the crises and assesses the extent to which these have been successful in terms of their impact on Australia's housing and mortgage markets. It argues that some of the interventions have been good and some bad but that even the good interventions reflect missed opportunities likely to affect Australia's housing and mortgage markets into the future. It concludes by pointing to the lessons that might be learned from its experience to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Residential density' is a frequently used concept often applied in planning practice. The notion of density policy is well understood; however, it is perceived, and by extension applied, differently across the world. Despite the increased focus and awareness of housing density, there appears to be little coherence or consensus within the planning and development sector, political circles and the general community about what it is, how it should be applied, and whether or not it is a positive or negative feature. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify stakeholders' understanding of density. In order to achieve this, a case study approach was adopted in order to know the various stakeholders' awareness and comprehension of density, and to that end, Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, was selected as a case study city for this purpose. The research demonstrated that the stakeholders' perception of density is strongly influenced by the built form of residential areas (for example, public image) rather than that of measurement or scale, even though there is no direct relationship between built form and density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the US sub-prime mortgage meltdown into a global financial crisis clearly demonstrates the increasingly integrated nature of mortgage and capital markets. However, notwithstanding the global scale and severity of the recent financial crisis, the effects of the credit crunch were mediated by nationally constituted housing markets, the activities of local financial institutions and national housing policies. Adopting an institutional perspective this paper critically examines the manner in which the financial crisis impacted upon the Australian and New Zealand housing markets. These countries had actively participated in the liberalisation of mortgage markets and experienced significant house price inflation post-2000 but, in contrast to the USA and some European experiences, they escaped a severe housing downturn. It is argued that a combination of pre-existing institutional practices, market conditions and government policies acted to shelter these markets and created the potential conditions for a new housing boom. While avoiding a deep housing slump, both Australia and New Zealand have to address the on-going macroeconomic implications of a system predicated on housing inflation and capital gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continued outward growth from a central business district has been the dominant characteristic of most cities in Australia. However, this feature is seen as unsustainable and alternative scenarios to contain the outward growth are being proposed. Melbourne is currently grappling with this issue while simultaneously trying to reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions. Housing size, style and its location are the three principal factors which determine the emissions from the residential sector. This paper describes a methodology to assess the combined impact of these factors on past and possible future forms of residential development in Melbourne. The analysis found that the location of the housing and its size are the dominant factors determining energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is seen as being at the forefront of shifts to an explicit asset-based policy in its approach to maintaining post-retirement living standards, having initiated a move away from an unfunded retirement income system to a universal, funded system in the early 1990s. This move supplemented a considerable implicit asset-based policy based on home ownership. This paper examines the potential that asset-based welfare has to protect households from poverty after retirement by focusing on the role of home ownership in preventing poverty among older Australians and on likely future trends in asset accumulation. It suggests that, although asset-based welfare has the potential to ease the fiscal constraints faced by the state, it may well lead to poorer social insurance outcomes for households with limited saving capacity over their lifetime. Older households who miss out on home ownership are shown to be multiply disadvantaged: they have lower non-housing wealth, lower disposable incomes and higher housing costs in retirement than homeowners and they have significantly higher after-housing poverty rates. Projections suggest that this group will grow in size in the coming decades. These outcomes suggest that Australia’s asset-based welfare system is crumbling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]