Victims of a Flawed Housing Policy: Older Private Renters Battling to Survive in Sydney

Morris, A

Victims of a Flawed Housing Policy: Older Private Renters Battling to Survive in Sydney

Morris, A

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Publisher:: City Futures Research Centre, UNSW
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Refereed Procedings from 2009 Housing Researchers Conference, 2010, pp. 1 - 14
Issue Date:: 2010-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Morris, A https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7652-5370	en_US
dc.date	2010-08-05	en_US
dc.date.issued	2010-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Refereed Procedings from 2009 Housing Researchers Conference, 2010, pp. 1 - 14	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	9781740440325	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/23698
dc.description.abstract	This paper argues that housing policy in Australia over the last couple of decades has contributed towards a situation where an ever-increasing number of low-income older Australians who are not homeowners have to rely on the relatively expensive private rental market rather than on social or public housing for their accommodation. The key interrelated features of this policy trajectory have been a freeze on the building of public housing, restricting access to public housing to people with complex needs (in New South Wales, older people dependent on the age pension `may be approved for housing assistance as an elderly client only when they turn eighty), and an expectation that Commonwealth Rent Assistance will enable low-income households to access affordable and adequate accommodation in the private rental market. Although there have been shifts in housing policy since November 2007, the situation of older private renters remains dire. In the first section of the paper, the policy trajectory is outlined. The second part of the paper, drawing on 21 in-depth interviews with older private renters examines the hardship experienced by older private renters. Many of the interviewees were in serious financial and emotional stress due to them having to set aside a large proportion of their income for rent. Their minimal security of tenure was also a constant concern.	en_US
dc.publisher	City Futures Research Centre, UNSW	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Refereed Procedings from 2009 Housing Researchers Conference	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	4th Australasian Housing Researchers Conference	en_US
dc.title	Victims of a Flawed Housing Policy: Older Private Renters Battling to Survive in Sydney	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location	Sydney	en_US
utslib.location.activity	Sydney	en_US
utslib.for	1605 Policy and Administration	en_US
dc.location.activity	Sydney	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/lnstitute for Public Policy and Governance
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - IPPG - Institute for Public Policy and Governance
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.finish-date	2010-08-07	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Sydney	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.start-date	2010-08-05	en_US

Abstract:

This paper argues that housing policy in Australia over the last couple of decades has contributed towards a situation where an ever-increasing number of low-income older Australians who are not homeowners have to rely on the relatively expensive private rental market rather than on social or public housing for their accommodation. The key interrelated features of this policy trajectory have been a freeze on the building of public housing, restricting access to public housing to people with complex needs (in New South Wales, older people dependent on the age pension `may be approved for housing assistance as an elderly client only when they turn eighty), and an expectation that Commonwealth Rent Assistance will enable low-income households to access affordable and adequate accommodation in the private rental market. Although there have been shifts in housing policy since November 2007, the situation of older private renters remains dire. In the first section of the paper, the policy trajectory is outlined. The second part of the paper, drawing on 21 in-depth interviews with older private renters examines the hardship experienced by older private renters. Many of the interviewees were in serious financial and emotional stress due to them having to set aside a large proportion of their income for rent. Their minimal security of tenure was also a constant concern.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/23698