Affordable Housing

2020

• Housing temperature impact on health inequalities: using computer science and simulation modelling

  Living in cold housing leads to poorer health by promoting cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Housing conditions and housing financial stress are linked to socioeconomic position. This means that housing temperature contributes to health inequalities.

  To investigate ways to prevent cold housing, the Population Interventions Unit at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health has developed SHINE (Scalable Health Intervention Evaluation). This tool combines epidemiological models and economic simulations to measure the effects of different interventions. For each one, SHINE evaluates:

  • The health gains (in health adjusted life years)
  • Potential savings for the health system.

  SHINE uses the results of a previous Hallmark project on housing interventions. The tool splits populations into groups – for example, by level of income – for analysis, while ensuring that all groups are representative of the population as a whole.

  We will compare targeted and population-wide interventions, such as:

  • Hypothetical ‘magic wand’ interventions that completely remove lower temperatures. This will help us to see the total potential health gains.
  • Retrofitting houses with insulation, stopping drafts, and making other repairs
  • Providing financial help for home heating.

  We will consider the cost per unit health gain for groups with different socioeconomic positions. The rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease are higher among people in lower socioeconomic groups. We expect that the health gains will be greater for these groups.

  We will then compare the health and cost impacts of these interventions with those of other preventive interventions – such as tobacco tax and colorectal screening – using the Australia and New Zealand Health Intervention League Table (ANZ-HILT).

  Research team: Dr Patrick Andersen, Professor Tony Blakely and Professor Rebecca Bentley (all Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), Dr Nic Geard (School of Computing and Information Systems) and Professor Alan Pert (Melbourne School of Design).

• Fit for purpose:  Establishing regulatory clarity around housing for people with disabilities 

  The policies that regulate housing conditions in Australia are complex. Some are national in scope, some are state-based, and others are at a local council level. People with disabilities have added rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disability and other national and state-based anti-discrimination legislation.

  The National Disability Insurance Agency governs the provision of services to people supported by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and who live in privately owned homes – either as homeowners or renters.

  People with a disability need appropriate housing to move from group homes or residential facilities to the general community. Currently, state and federal governments expect the private sector to invest in and provide most of this new housing.

  Three main areas of law cover housing for people with disabilities:

  • Construction codes designed to ensure that buildings are safe, healthy and fit for purpose
  • Legal rights for tenants, homeowners and people with disabilities
  • Government policy (enabled through the NDIS) around housing provision and requirements to access funding for disability.

  We will examine issues in these areas that relate to housing investment in the disability sector. We will ask:

  • How do the legal responsibilities in these three areas support or inhibit investment in new dwellings?
  • Which responsibilities have legal precedence and so should be used to guide policies for housing people with disabilities?
  • How can we achieve consistency between the various Australian jurisdictions?
  • Can we make the governance around the disability housing sector clearer to allow effective investment from the private sector?

  Research team: Dr Andrew Martel and Dr Vidal Paton-Cole (both Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Phillip Greenham (Melbourne Law School), Owen Jourdain (SDA Alliance), Tony Rutherford (Mills Oakley)

• Remodeling  Build-To-Rent housing to bridge the gap between social housing and private rental market 

  There is not enough public and social housing. People who have been crowded out from the private rental market or who are under financial stress also lack housing options. The Victorian Housing Register has a waitlist of more than 50 000 people hoping to secure public housing. The proportion of people who are placed in social housing is also very low, at 10% per year.

  Our research looks at housing options for low- and moderate-income earners. We aim to design architectural and financial solutions through the Build to Rent (BTR) model. BTR can bridge affordability gaps and serve as an intermediate solution between private rental and social housing.

  We will analyse existing housing options and identify barriers to scaling up BTR models at a reduced cost. We will look at:

  • Subsidised social BTR
  • Private BTR
  • Build to Rent to Own (BTRTO).

  We will research the levels of housing unaffordability for people who are:

  • Low- and moderate-income earners
  • Renting in social housing
  • Entering the private rental market after leaving social housing.

  Estimating the gap between market rent and household affordability is crucial to developing affordable BTR/BTRTO options.

  We hope to develop a housing option between private and social housing that uses social equity and inclusion to:

  • Improve housing accessibility for vulnerable households
  • Reduce financial stress caused by housing unaffordability
  • Prevent vulnerable households moving from private to social housing
  • Decrease the burden on social housing by reducing entries and encouraging exit from social housing
  • Encourage social renters to improve their job and income
  • Enhance the personal and family wellbeing of social renters by speeding up exit decisions.

  Research team: Dr Djordje Stojanovic, Dr Jyoti Shukla and Professor Piyush Tiwari (all Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Erika Martino (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health) and Dr Yi-Ping Tseng (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research)

• Housing market dynamics and affordability in extractive resource-based communities: a comparative study of Australia and Chile

  Mining industries are fundamental to the Australian and Chilean economies. But they also expose them to commodity price cycles. The economic fortunes of resource-based regions are linked to housing market dynamics and housing affordability. However, we lack knowledge of these relationships. We also lack information on:

  • The economic link between housing and commodity price cycles in Australia and Chile
  • How housing market dynamics differ at the national, state and local levels
  • How the property sector responds to commodity cycles
  • The effectiveness of policy interventions related to mining boom and decline.

  We lack accurate and comprehensive data on housing issues at federal, state and local levels. This makes policy interventions less effective. High housing prices in mining regions have:

  • Discouraged permanent residents
  • Reduced attachment to place and participation in community
  • Squeezed out key workers
  • Amplified the socioeconomic conditions of vulnerable groups
  • Increased skills shortages for mining and supporting industries
  • Made it harder for the regions to diversify their economy for a more resilient future.

  Our team will address these gaps in knowledge. We will study housing market dynamics, affordability challenges and policy responses. We will focus on national, regional (Pilbara and Antofagasta) and local resource-based areas (Karratha and Antofagasta city) in Australia and Chile.

  Research team: Dr Julie Miao (Architecture, Building and Planning), Dr Martin Arias-Loyola and Professor Miguel Atienza (both Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile), Dr José-Francisco Vergara-Perucich (Universidad de las Américas, Chile), Dr Ilan Wiesel (Geography), Professor Gavin Wood (RMIT University), Professor Rachel Ong ViforJ (Curtin University) and Professor Chris Leishmann (University of Adelaide)

• The impact of COVID-19 on share households in Victoria: Vulnerability, precarity and resilience

  We will investigate the experiences of renters living in share housing before and after COVID-19 shelter-in-place rules were introduced in Victoria. We will use the concepts of stressors and resilience to investigate how the pandemic affected renters. This includes effects on their financial and social circumstances and their health and wellbeing.

  The project uses an online survey followed by in-depth interviews. We aim to understand:

  • The impacts of COVID on share households
  • The range of coping mechanisms and resources that people used to manage these stressors.

  This work is particularly relevant in the context of previously unthinkable housing outcomes. They include rent freezes, mortgage holidays and the threat of mass mortgage defaults.

  Research team: Dr Katrina Raynor (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning) and Dr Laura Panza (Faculty of Business and Economics)

2019

• Is leaving public housing a reality? An exploration of housing challenges faced by Melbourne’s African migrants and refugees

  Until recently, long-term housing conditions for African migrants and refugees have been unexplored. This project is investigating how African migrants arrive, adapt and integrate in Melbourne.

  This population faces many challenges including unstable housing. They also experience racism, limited access to employment, and health and education inequalities. These stresses add to existing trauma and create barriers to the resettlement process.

  The project is investigating whether these adverse conditions cause homelessness or force families into substandard housing.

  The interdisciplinary research team worked is working with marginalised communities to shed light on their experiences and challenges. The team includes experts in:

  • Communities and housing
  • Built environment
  • Refugee resettlement.

  Research team: Dr Sandra Carrasco Mansilla. Professor Sun Sheng Han, Dr Majdi Faleh, Neeraj Dangol (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Dr Ashleigh Haw (Melbourne Social Equity Institute)

  Collaborators: Haileluel Gebre-Selassie (Africa Think Tank), Professor Gonzalo Lizarralde, and Faten Kikano (University of Montreal).

• Post WWII apartments: analysing medium density housing precedents for contemporary Melbourne

  This project is exploring previous efforts to increase housing density in inner and middle suburban Melbourne.

  The central question is how can we preserve Melbourne’s distinctive character while providing housing for a booming population?

  This project brings together architects, architectural historians and social historians. Together, they’re analysing and photographing post-war medium-density housing, in particular, the classic ‘six-pack’ apartment block.

  The output of this work will combine social and historical research and design analysis. It will assess the achievements and failures of attempts to increase density in inner and middle suburbs. Its aim is to influence and inform contemporary design and policy.

  Research team: Professor Philip Goad, Professor Paul Walker, Catherine Townsend, Dr Amanda Achmadi (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), and Professor Andrew May (School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, Faculty of Arts)

  Collaborators: Dr Tom Alves (RMIT University), Stefan Preuss (Office of the Victorian Government Architect), John Gollings Photography.

• Evaluation of the Safe Place Pilot Program

  More than a third of the people accessing the Victorian homelessness system in 2015–16 cite intimate partner violence as the cause. So, there is a clear link between women’s homelessness and intimate partner violence. Meanwhile, there’s a shortage of emergency housing in Melbourne.

  Safe Steps and its partners are piloting a program that uses vacant homes in Melbourne’s private real estate market to help fill this gap. This provides women with quality, affordable and safe emergency housing.

  This project includes researchers in urban planning, housing economics, public health and geography. Working with Safe Steps and their partners, they’re creating a model for socially and economically sustainable emergency housing.

  This project was also awarded an additional A$5000 from the Melbourne Disability Institute. The institute recognises that women with disability are a large part of the population group that needs to access safe housing.

  Research team: Erika Martino, Professor Rebecca Bentley (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), Dr Andrew Martel (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Ilan Wiesel (School of Geography).

  Collaborators: Safe Place, Save the Children, Safe Steps.

• Modelling the health impact of housing interventions in Australia: an indoor temperature pilot

  In the past, it’s been difficult to compare the health impacts of housing interventions as there’s been limited data. So, policy decisions have been made with limited information.

  This project has changed that. Soon, policymakers will be able to use a new simulation tool to understand the potential impact of housing interventions on health. Specifically, which measures produce the best health outcomes at the best price. This is also known as a cost-to-health-benefit ratio.

  This sort of modelling is being piloted on the indoor temperature of housing. Researchers are assessing the health gains from improving indoor temperature, which has cost-of-living and health implications.

  Previously, this sort of modelling has been applied in the context of tobacco control, nutrition and cancer screening.

  Areas of expertise in this project include knowledge of simulation modelling, epidemiology, statistics, economics and housing.

  Research team: Dr Ankur Singh, Professor Rebecca Bentley, (Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), Dr Julie Miao (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Dr Saber Dini, Professor Tony Blakely (Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health)

  Collaborators: Dr Lyrian Daniel, Professor Emma Baker (University of Adelaide), Dr Anja Mizdrak (University of Otago)

• Is Neoliberalism driving a need for new skillsets for urban planners, developers and government stakeholders? A case study of Melbourne

  New planning mechanisms were introduced by the Victorian Government in 2018. Their aim was to facilitate the supply of affordable housing. They allow authorities such as local councils to enter into voluntary agreements with landowners to deliver affordable housing as part of new developments.

  The success of these voluntary affordable housing agreements will inevitably rely on negotiation. This project will investigate how developers, planners and government can reach a mutually beneficial outcome.

  Through a social responsibility lens, the team is drawing on psychological theories to understand stakeholders’ capacity to negotiate.

  The project is producing a framework to be developed further into action research to enhance negotiations of voluntary affordable housing agreements in Victoria.

  Researchers within the project have expertise in property, urban planning, marketing and geography.

  Research team: Dr Georgia Warren-Myers, Dr Katrina Raynor (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Professor Angela Paladino, Dr Madeline Judge (Marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics)

  Collaborators: Dr Matthew Palm, University of Toronto