Projected social housing commencements 2021-22 – 2023-24, and projected net change in social housing provision

Despite the significant increase in overall social housing construction anticipated over the next three years, the resulting net change in provision will be inadequate to prevent a further reduction in the sector’s share of all housing, Australia-wide. According to our projections this will decline from 4.22% to 4.14% of estimated total dwelling stock over the period.

Rent relief expenditures, 2020

The available evidence is patchy but indicates that many of the rent relief schemes were significantly undersubscribed compared to original estimated costs. The NSW land tax scheme paid rebates on just 4,800 residential properties – equivalent to 0.6% of private tenancies in New South Wales. The total expended on residential rebates was $10m: less than five per cent of originally estimated expenditure (while $86m was expended on rebates for commercial properties: 40% of the original estimate) (NSW Parliament, 2021). Victoria, with its long 2020 lockdown, made cash payments to 33,640 applicants – equivalent to about 5% of Victorian private tenancies – totalling $73m (91% of the original estimated expenditure); however, its total land tax rebate expenditure was $111m, much less than the $400m originally estimated. After a significant underspend in the WA scheme, its terms were changed to pay where a landlord is offering a new fixed term tenancy at an increased rent . The ACT reports in…

Temporary residents’ and international students’ experiences in the COVID emergency, 2020

During 2020, a significant group of temporary residents remained in Australia but excluded from the main means of absorbing the economic shock of the early emergency, and were protected primarily by the eviction moratoriums, rent variations and rent relief schemes. Contemporary surveys of temporary residents and international students show high rates of significant hardship experienced by these groups during the 2020 emergency, as shown in this table.

Sole parents and unemployed face poverty as nation surges ahead

The income gap between people without paid work and sole parents, and the broader community is widening, according to a new study tracking income support over two decades. Australian Income Support Since 2000: Those Left Behind, will be launched today by the ACOSS/UNSW Sydney Poverty and Inequality Partnership to mark Anti-Poverty Week. The report notes median household incomes have grown 45% since June 2000 with Age and Disability Support Pensions almost keeping pace. “People receiving unemployment and single parent income support payments have been badly cast adrift,” said Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of ACOSS. “Those doing it toughest have been held further behind, making it that much harder to look after their health and families, as well as participate in the workforce. “Apart from the brief period when the Coronavirus supplement was paid, the performance of the income support system during this period of robust economic growth has left whole groups of people further and further…

Last year we backed you, this year you’re on your own: COVID’s scorched economic path revealed

New research by the ACOSS/UNSW Sydney Poverty and Inequality Partnership reveals the deepest, most enduring economic damage of the COVID pandemic has been felt in lower income areas, like outer north-west and south-east Melbourne, west and south-west Sydney, northern Adelaide, far North Queensland and regions between Brisbane and the NSW border. These areas are also impacted by cuts to economic supports in 2021. The Report shows that, between September 2019 and October 2020, people needing to rely on income support, who became eligible for the Coronavirus Supplement, increased by a dramatic 70%, peaking in the 2020 First Wave of the Pandemic. The Coronavirus Supplement was a vital additional payment supporting this dramatic rise in people hit by unemployment. The Report also shows that, following the Second Wave, by September 2021, the overall number of people on these income support base payments due to unemployment is still much higher than prePandemic, by a full 27%. Yet, the vast…

Quarterly asking median rent per week, houses

This graph shows that in every state capital except Hoabrt, the median asking rent for houses increased during the September quarter 2020 to at least the same level as before the pandemic; and in several cities increased to a greater level.

Change in median asking rents, quarter on quarter and year on year to June 2020

This graph compares hte decline in median advertised rents from both the first quarter of 2020 and the June quarter of 2019 for both houses and units in each of the state capitals, showing the immediate impact of the pandemic on unit rents in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart. Only in Sydney and Melbourne did asking rents fall to lower than the median price for the same time the previous year. In contrast, the effect on median asking rents for houses was much smaller, barring Hobart. In Adelaide, Perth and Canberra, median asking rents remained higher than they had been during the June quarter of 2019.

Airbnb listings for entire houses, Melbourne, January to October 2020

This graph shows the data for listings from InsideAirbnb for Melbourne during the period January to October 2020. It shows that listings for entire homes contracted by 22% since COVID-19 restrictions were introduced, equating to 3,661 dwellings that were presumably available previously for long term lease or purchase. The decline is most pronounced in the inner rings of Melbourne. It suggests that, while many of these properties might have been sold, re-occupied by owners, or left unoccupied, there was likely a substantial increase in the supply of longer term private rental properties in inner-Melbourne.

Airbnb listings for entire houses, Sydney, January to October 2020

This graph shows the data for listings from InsideAirbnb for Sydney during the period January to October 2020. It shows that listings for entire homes contracted by 17% since COVID-19 restrictions were introduced, equating to 4,317 dwellings that were presumably available previously for long term lease or purchase. The decline is most pronounced in the inner rings of Sydney. It suggests that, while many of these properties might have been sold, re-occupied by owners, or left unoccupied, there was likely a substantial increase in teh supply of longer term private rental properties in inner-Sydney.

New private dwelling approvals, Greater Brisbane

This graph shows how apartments and units became the main source of new dwellings in the Greater Brisbane area over 2013-14 to 2015-16.