ACT Shelter

02/09/2026

The ACT Greens say the territory should implement a portable bond scheme, which has recently been introduced in Victoria and parts of New South Wales.

The scheme would stop renters from having to pay thousands for another bond before their old one is returned.

The ACT Greens say the current system where som renters must pay for an extra bond before their old one is returned has made moving home unaffordable for many Canberrans.

02/09/2026

This study examines the relationships between housing tenure and party preferences using unique longitudinal data from the Australian Election Study spanning over 25 years (1996–2022).

From The Deck, a resource hub for the housing and homelessness sector. www.thedeck.org.au

This study examines the relationships between housing tenure and party preferences. We advance existing scholarship on patrimonial economic voting by considering mortgage holders as a separate grou...

01/09/2026

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing is calling for submissions on: Localizing the right to adequate housing: How local governments and community-led initiatives can contribute to the realization of the right to adequate housing.

This will inform the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing to be presented at the 64th session of the Human Rights Council, in February/March 2027.

Deadline for submissions is 21 September.

For details - https://bit.ly/4cm5ksE

01/09/2026

"Research group Cotality argues that the sustained growth we've experienced over the past five years has left Australian households with enough reserves to weather a storm."

Canada and New Zealand have never recovered from their pre-COVID property market records. It is worthwhile examining what we can learn.

31/08/2026

The ACT Shelter rent increase calculator has been updated to include July figures from the ABS released last week.

https://actshelter.net.au/act-rent-calculator/

ACT Shelter has developed this free online calculator to help tenants and landlords understand and apply the ACT's rent increase laws. The calculator estimates the maximum increase permitted under the ACT's CPI-linked formula, providing a practical resource while the ACT Government's own calculator....

31/08/2026

"With the end of the National Rental Affordability Scheme, ABC Four Corners revealed damning evidence that developers were also using the government’s lucrative infill affordable housing scheme to build luxury apartments."

With the end of the National Rental Affordability Scheme, ABC Four Corners revealed damning evidence that developers were also using the government’s lucrative infill affordable housing scheme to build luxury apartments.

29/08/2026

Chris and Alan Kohler talk about the housing crisis that is shaping the Australian economy.

It's a puzzle, so Chris made Alan a crossword - can he crack it while simultaneously explaining why nobody can afford homes anymore?

Chris and Alan Kohler talk about the housing crisis that is shaping...

28/08/2026

"Last month I travelled to Vienna to attend a conference. I also had the privilege of spending a few days looking at the city’s social housing, guided by Beatrix Stambuk-Torres from The Urban Commons. While I was there the ABC published its investigation into Australia’s affordable housing system—an increasingly marketized and financialised system with rents often just slightly below market rates and only for a limited time period. Affordable housing, the ABC declares, is not really affordable, because rents are more than 30% of household income. This is an increasingly common criticism"

Vienna's cost rental as an alternative affordable housing system

27/08/2026

When it comes to house prices, Australia’s political class seems confused.

Peter Mares

When it comes to house prices, Australia’s political class seems confused

26/08/2026

The federal government’s first major tax reform in nearly 30 years was a significant achievement that suggests we may have turned a corner on the housing crisis. It is a good time to revisit Australia’s housing history within the broader history of social policy.

This is a story of public investment for economic growth as well as for the needs of citizens. The railways, telegraphs, hospitals, schools and welfare that gave Australia a reputation for a “pragmatic” rather than “doctrinaire” approach to national development are well known. But governments also invested in housing despite some powerful resistance by interest groups.

When governments make access to housing more equitable, it’s because they recognise its social and economic value