Latest housing insights released at international conference in Adelaide

Whether its Mumbai or Moorabbin, the place of home in the wellbeing and survival of communities is central. Issues surrounding homelessness, housing affordability, social and sustainable housing are a global occupation for researchers.

As Adelaide hosts the 2024 Asia Pacific and Australasian Housing Researchers Conference this week, a team from the Australian Centre for Housing Research (ACHR) which includes experts from the University of Adelaide, will be releasing the first copies of its Our Housing Australia Report.

For the first time the publication brings together perspectives beyond house prices, construction materials and bare population statistics to uncover the drivers and impacts of housing insecurity, the complex factors that influence the quality of rental properties, myths about the affordability of social housing, and new social patterns such as rentvesting. 

“For all of Australia’s preoccupation with housing, we know surprisingly little about the homes Australians live in, beyond sales prices and population averages.Emma Baker, Professor of Housing Research, University of Adelaide.

ACHR Director and Professor of Housing Research at the University of Adelaide Emma Baker says the new book features a range of articles from leading Australian researchers who have looked at housing issues in all Australian states and territories.

“So much of the conversation around housing both here in Australia and globally is about its investment returns or affordability, but when you cross the threshold, housing plays a much larger role in determining the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and societies,” Professor Baker says.

“For all of Australia’s preoccupation with housing, we know surprisingly little about the homes Australians live in, beyond sales prices and population averages.

“Acknowledging the data gap, the ARC funded a collaboration of universities to develop a multi-year national housing data infrastructure which is providing us a view ‘behind the front door’ of 22,500 Australian homes across tenure and income.” 

The Our Housing Australia Report features 16 highly accessible articles under three sections – Rental experiences: Wealth, home ownership and inequality, and Housing conditions, cold and climate, from researchers and industry professionals from around the country.