Boarding houses - is there a case for government intervention?
Summary
Boarding houses in cities across Australia are being demolished or replaced, leading to a decline in the stock of this form of low-cost accommodation. Governments intervene reluctantly to slow the decline because boarding houses are normally run as private for profit businesses. Yet, the on-going problems faced by governments, the community and residents from the continuing loss of boarding houses are significant.
Project Number: 20180
Research Theme: Homelessness, Housing_Affordability
Project Leader: Minnery, John
Funding Year: 2002
Research Centre: Queensland
Research & Policy Bulletin
Issue 048: Government assistance to boarding houses
Although a range of strategies is available to governments to support the continued provision of boarding house accommodation, lack of evaluation and monitoring of these interventions makes it difficult to assess their effectiveness.
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86 KB PDF Document
Description
Boarding houses are an important source of low cost accommodation in most Australian cities. What is becoming clear is that they are no longer considered to cater for only a transient population. For many residents boarding house accommodation provides a long-term housing option. Moreover, this form of accommodation can be a housing option of last resort for very disadvantaged people on low incomes in inner city areas including a large number of people with disabilities who have been deinstitutionalised.
The role Governments should play in intervening in housing markets to protect/encourage particular types of stock in recent times has been open to considerable debate. This study aimed to explicitly examine the policy options available to governments to work through private and community sector providers to facilitate improvement in boarding house supply. It also identified the likely impacts and potential costs of such policies. This study posed three research questions: What are the costs of boarding house decline in metropolitan Australia for residents and Government? What strategies are available to Governments to support boarding house providers (essentially the private market and community housing organisations) and so reduce the level of decline? What are the likely impacts and costs of these Government strategies? Whilst this project does not provide a particular Indigenous focus, boarding houses are a source of low cost accommodation for Aboriginal people.
More Information
Research and Policy Bulletin: Issue 048: Government assistance to boarding houses
86 KB PDF Document
Final Report: No. 054: Boarding Houses and government supply-side intervention
2.68 MB PDF Document
Positioning Paper: No. 067: Boarding houses and government supply-side intervention
2.4 MB PDF Document
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