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City Futures Housing

Personalise

Housing research has been a key pillar of City Futures since it was established. The Centre’s housing research encompasses:

  • Owner-occupied housing, private rental, and social and affordable housing – as well as minor sectors such as lodging houses and housing for retirees;
  • Housing stress and affordability, housing conditions, and homelessness;
  • Housing market performance, finance and relationship to the wider economy; and
  • Housing policy governance

Competitive advantageÌý

Researchers in the Housing program have a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, including architecture, criminology, economics, geography, sociology, law and planning.

The Centre has an international reputation for research on apartment (strata-titled) housing, rental housing (private and social), and homelessness.

Our research is strongly policy-oriented, and we are experts in housing policy governance and policy development processes. We have strong working relationships with policymakers in Australian and international government agencies, housing industry associations, and community sector organisations, through funded research projects and regular liaison.

The Housing program has an excellent track record in research funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and the Australian Research Council (ARC).Ìý

Impact

Our research findings inform housing policy discussions at local, state, national and international levels. Governments and key housing sector organisations seek our advice on housing policy development and our researchers are trusted voices in the media on housing issues.

Our researchers’ and on the need for a national housing strategy in Australia are key sources in contemporary policy debates. Our debunking claims about rental disinvestment has helped remove stumbling blocks to tenancy law reform.

Our apartment housing research is cited in reports by the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission, parliamentary inquiries and legal deliberations (including the Singapore Strata-Title Tribunal) and government inquiries (including the English Leasehold Reform Inquiry).

Our research is also used in multiple university courses in Australia and overseas.

Successful applications and research highlights

Our Housing program researchers have recently won highly competitive researching funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) for research projects on rental vulnerability, evictions and land lease communities for older persons, as well as AHURI projects on lodging houses, public housing stock transfers, and collaborations between homelessness and health services.

Our current research on apartment housing includes projects on renewing and retrofitting ageing apartment buildings, and improving apartment living for families.

Recently completed projects include research on housing after prison, living on the social housing waiting list, housing sector contributions to economic productivity, first home buyer assistance schemes, and housing and homelessness policy innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Housing program researchers are key participants in the ACOSS-ºÚÁÏÍø´óÊÂ¼Ç Sydney Poverty and Inequality Partnership, which brings high-quality evidence to the policy reform agenda of Australia’s peak non-government organisation for low-income households.

Capabilities and facilities

The Housing program is home to the team behind the Australian Homelessness Monitor, the leading source of analysis of data and perspectives from Australia’s homelessness services. We also collaborate with tenant orgainsations and the University of Sydney on the Rental Vulnerability Index.

Our bi-annual Strata Insights Report provides the only national data resource on the scale and value of strata property in Australia. We have also developed resources for Ìýstrata managers and residents, including:

  • Navigating defects in strata
  • How to implement sustainable retrofits in your strata scheme

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Teaching

Housing theme research is closely linked to a number of courses within ºÚÁÏÍø´óÊÂ¼Ç Planning Program. The following courses are led by Centre staff who leverage considerable research experience into delivering to students the most up to date knowledge relevant to today’s changing urban landscape:

  • (UG)Ìý
  • (PG)
  • (PG)

Projects

Current