427 Measuring housing affordability: Scoping the real cost of housing 3 Executive summary Measuring the housing-energy-transport nexus The various studies and research methodologies analysed in this report collectively offer a more comprehensive and refined understanding of housing affordability beyond the normative measure of housing stress through the 30:40 housing cost-to-income ratio. [...] Housing and non-housing goods and services Related to both housing affordability and housing quality, research has shown how experiences of housing stress can limit a household’s capacity to consume essential housing-related goods and services, the outcome of which can lead to material deprivation, including food insecurity, medical care hardship and energy hardship (Acolin and Reina 2022; Azpitar. [...] Critical commentators have stressed the need for policy makers to consider the spatial dimensions of housing affordability issues beyond housing cost-to-income ratios (Haffner and Hulse 2021; Rowley and Ong 2012), and to recognise the health, social and economic implications related to the spatial diffusion of housing that is both affordable and accessible to lower-income households (Burke, Stone. [...] This involves highlighting the significance of housing quality and location, housing-related poverty (such as energy, transportation and commuting hardship), and the ways in which the geographies of housing affordability shape the capacity of lower-income households to access essential resources and services. [...] Commonly identified data sources include the ABS Housing Expenditure Survey and ABS Survey of Income and Housing; the HILDA survey; the Australian Housing Conditions Dataset; and a suite of location-specific and organisation-specific housing affordability surveys.
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- Australia
Table of Contents
- Table 1: Reviewed housing, planning and infrastructure strategies, by jurisdiction 23
- Table 2: NCC 2022 implementations by state and territory 27
- Table 3: Infill housing targets across Australia’s major capital cities 34
- Table 4: Zero-emission vehicle incentives, by jurisdiction 37
- List of tables 5
- Acronyms and abbreviations used in this report 6
- Glossary 6
- Executive summary 7
- 1. Introduction 14
- 1.1 Why this research was conducted 14
- 1.2 Existing research 17
- 1.3 Research methods 21
- 2. Policy and programs to support affordability across the housing-energy-transport nexus 25
- 2.1 Measures to improve housing quality standards 26
- 2.1.1 Minimum standard of housing 26
- 2.1.2 Minimum rental standards 27
- 2.1.3 Energy-efficiency schemes 28
- 2.2 Energy hardship mitigation 30
- 2.2.1 Responsive measures 30
- 2.2.2 Proactive measures 31
- 2.3 Locational dimensions of housing affordability 32
- 2.3.1 Non-spatial focus on housing affordability 32
- 2.3.2 Spatial focus of housing affordability 33
- 2.4 Transportation and accessibility measures 35
- 2.4.1 Strategic infrastructure programs 35
- 2.4.2 Transportation concession schemes 36
- 2.4.3 Zero-emission vehicle schemes 36
- 2.5 Overview and implications 37
- 3. Measuring the housing–energy–transportation nexus 39
- 3.1 Quality dimensions of housing 40
- 3.1.1 Measuring housing standards 40
- 3.1.2 Thermal performance of rental housing 41
- 3.2 Energy hardship 42
- 3.2.1 Measuring poverty after housing costs 42
- 3.2.2 Measuring persistent energy hardship 43
- 3.2.3 Measuring household energy expenditure and wellbeing 43
- 3.3 Locational dimensions of housing 44
- 3.3.1 Mapping spatial and demographic characteristics of housing affordability 44
- 3.3.2 Mapping socio-spatial disadvantage 45
- 3.3.3 Mapping spatial segregation: neighbourhood porosity-exclusion index 46
- 3.3.4 Mapping inclusionary zoning in Australia 46
- 3.4 Transportation disadvantage 47
- 3.4.1 Developing a housing and transportation affordability index 47
- 3.4.2 Scoping commuting patterns of key workers 48
- 3.5 Overview and implications 49
- 4. Policy development options 51
- 4.1 How might existing methodologies and datasets be integrated into housing affordability policy? 51
- 4.2 What policies, programs or policy reforms could better support housing affordability across the housing-quality-transportation nexus? 52
- 4.3 Final remarks 54
- References 55
