Briefs

The most recent Housing Occupancy and Costs data from the ABS reveals that the percentage of Q1 and Q2 households who either own their home outright or are in public housing fell in the years between 2000–01 and 2013–14. This shows the shift for lower income households from more secure housing tenures (i.e. outright home ownership and public housing) to the less secure tenures of buying their own home and private rental.

In 2013–14, the cohort of Q1 households had the largest proportion of households who were outright home owners. It is likely many of these Q1 households comprised retired householders living in the homes they bought when they were working and are now on government support such as age pensions.

In January 2016 the Australian Government announced the establishment of an Affordable Housing Working Group to investigate ways to boost the supply of affordable rental housing through innovative financing models. One of the challenges for any national system to improve the supply of affordable housing proposed by the Affordable Housing Working Group will be to respond to the very different circumstances in the State and Territory capitals.

Research looking at the decade 2001 to 2010 found there were three groups of home owners: ongoing owners who are able to buy and keep their home either as outright owners or buyers; leavers, who sold their dwelling and didn't buy another; and churners, who sold their dwelling and then after a period of renting bought another dwelling to live in.