Affordable rental housing: the problem and its causes

Focusses on the interconnected nature of various segments of the housing market and how the affordable rental housing “crisis” has stemmed from and been exacerbated by multi-faceted structural deficiencies in the private rental, home ownership and public segments of the housing market. Introduction Stable and affordable housing, with access to jobs and services, is fundamental to support employment and wellbeing by enabling social and economic participation in society. Importantly, “it provides a stable base for raising children and supports community engagement."   As pointed out by the Affordable Housing Taskforce, “by a range of indicators, there is a housing affordability issue facing NSW and this is particularly acute in Sydney and other large regional centres.” While this affordability issue affects households across all segments of the market, it is particularly pressing for lower income households in need of affordable rental housing.   An initial point to make is that affordable housing can be understood in a narrower and broader sense. The focus of the current paper is on the broader understanding of affordable housing. This encompasses any private rental housing for low to middle income residents, where rents for these households is at a level that enables them to meet other basic living costs. In this context, housing is usually considered affordable if it costs less than 30% of gross household income