AHURI’s 2025 research program to tackle critical housing issues
27 Mar 2025
AHURI is very pleased to announce the funded projects for the 2025 National Housing Research Program.
The 2025 program includes a range of projects that will make a crucial contribution to housing and homelessness policy and practice issues.
‘The projects being funded for 2025 will provide evidence on a range of essential contemporary issues facing housing policymakers,’ says Dr Michael Fotheringham, Managing Director of AHURI. ‘This includes two inquiries on climate resilience, and projects exploring offsite construction, office-to-housing conversion, collaborative home ownership, and deepening our understanding of housing stress.’
The research program will also address systemic issues such as housing assistance and the future of private rental systems, and aim to develop policy definitions for ‘well located’ housing.
The 2025 research agenda was developed through extensive consultation with state/territory and federal government officials, industry, researchers and non-government experts. Project funding was awarded following a nationally competitive tender process open to AHURI research partners. Funding for the National Housing Research Program is provided to AHURI by Federal, State and Territory governments.
The 2026 National Housing Research Program agenda is currently in development and will be open for applications from AHURI Research Partners in mid 2025.
2025 National Housing Research Program funded projects
AHURI Inquiries
Inquiry into achieving a climate resilient housing stock by 2050
This Inquiry will establish a framework for building climate resilience into the Australian housing stock by 2050. Informed by a stock vulnerability audit, the research will determine what constitutes a climate resilient home, the cost of retrofitting the entire stock for resilience, and key actors, their roles and regulatory pathways.
Lead researcher: Associate Professor Lyrian Daniel, University of South Australia
The Inquiry is supported by research projects on:
- Climate resilient homes and households
This project will review existing international guidelines for climate-resilient homes, develop guidelines for Australia, and test those guidelines against best-practice case studies. It will then use focus groups to examine the climate-resilience needs and experiences of householders and property professionals.
Lead researcher: Dr Michaela Lang, Monash University
- The cost to deliver climate resilient housing in Australia
This project investigates the extent of resiliency deficit across the Australian housing stock, and the costs and benefits (financial and non-financial) to retrofit this stock to resiliency best practice by 2050.
Lead researcher: Associate Professor Trivess Moore, RMIT University
Inquiry into measuring vulnerability, costing risk, and designing transitions to a climate resilient housing system
This Inquiry program measures climate vulnerability across Australia’s housing system. Combining insights from resilience science, architecture, property economics and planning, Inquiry research projects map household vulnerability, design technical solutions for making dwellings more climate resilient, identify who pays for transition and define policy pathways to a resilient housing system.
Lead researcher: Professor Nicole Gurran, University of Sydney
The Inquiry is supported by research projects on:
- Insurance, finance and the cost of housing resilience. Who pays?
Climate change and natural disasters are increasing risk profiles and costs for insurers, financiers, developers, and households. This project explores how key housing stakeholders, including households themselves, will adapt to this rapidly changing landscape and analyses who will pay for the cost of delivering climate resilient housing?
Lead researcher: Dr Stephen Glackin, Swinburne University of Technology
- Measuring climate change vulnerability in Australia’s housing system
This project uses resilience science to measure housing system vulnerability to climate change across Australia. A multi-dimensional risk index comprising socio-economic and housing risk factors will be applied at national and small area levels to identify priorities for policy intervention, informing the transition to a resilient housing system.
Lead researcher: Dr Francesca Perugia, Curtin University
- Planning for a climate resilient housing system
This project investigates the planning controls and approaches required to foster a climate resilient housing stock, and the extent to which current local plans across Australia embody these approaches. Through a national survey of local planning instruments and interviews with planners, the project charts a path for effective planning interventions.
Lead researcher: Dr Catherine Gilbert, University of Sydney
- Strengthening Australian homes against climate risks
This project assesses the resilience of Australia’s housing stock to climate risk, examining building typologies, hazard susceptibility, and adaptation strategies. It aims to enhance resilience in high-risk areas through informed guidelines and standards, leveraging architectural science to address future climate hazards effectively.
Lead researcher: Dr Ozgur Gocer, University of Sydney
Research projects
A data framework for understanding children’s housing circumstances and their consequences in Australia
Housing plays an important role in children’s lives in ways that are policy amenable and highly relevant to policy concerns. Yet children are relatively understudied in housing research. This project will investigate the existing evidence and data, and develop a framework for the comprehensive study of children and their homes.
Lead researcher: Dr Amy Clair, University of Adelaide
An evidence-based evaluation framework for sustainable office-to-housing conversion
This project examines drivers and barriers of office-to-housing conversion and evaluates its potential to boost sustainable housing supply. It analyses exemplary case studies to identify influencing factors and uses these to assess convertibility of buildings. These investigations are tested through investigative panels and inform an evaluation framework to assist policymaking.
Lead researcher: Associate Professor Sandra Löschke, University of Sydney
Australian housing aspirations in transition: trends, impacts and opportunities
This project examines the housing aspirations of Australian households. It will provide a critical evidence base to inform the Housing Accord and the innovative solutions needed to address short- and long-term housing aspirations into the future amidst persistent cost-of-living pressures and a growing dual tenure divide between renting and owning.
Lead researcher: Professor Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology
Barriers and enablers of off-site construction
Slow adoption of off-site construction is fundamentally an institutional and behavioural economics phenomenon which has not previously been addressed by engineering or construction research. We identify two housing system barriers to its adoption and propose a five-stage mixed methods research program that will reveal the institutional arrangements constraining OSC growth.
Lead researcher: Professor Chris Leishman, University of South Australia
Collaborative homeownership in Australia: Benefits, barriers and growth opportunities
This research identifies how collaborative homeownership can be integrated into Australian housing and housing assistance policy. It maps and typologises established/ emergent Australian collaborative homeownership models; examines community motivations and resident outcomes; identifies financial, governance and regulatory requirements and barriers; and draws lessons from international cases to inform Australian policy.
Lead researcher: Professor Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology
Delivering well-located dwellings: opportunities and challenges
The National Housing Accord has a target of 1.2 million well-located dwellings. There is a need to better define what ‘well-located’ means, and to identify supply barriers and enablers in these locations. This project conceptualises and maps well-located areas, and explores policy options to deliver well-located housing that is affordable.
Lead researcher: Professor Rachel Ong ViforJ, Curtin University
Housing futures: private rental systems beyond 2025
Using innovative futuring methodology, this project aims to generate new ideal future models for private rental housing and identify key policy transitions needed to create a long-term sustainable rental system for Australia in the 21st century, informed by an evidenced account of current trends and international experience.
Lead researcher: Dr Laurence Troy, University of Sydney
Lodging houses in Australia: a framework for coherent policy and practice
Lodging houses can contribute to affordability, accessibility and support delivery, but also come with risks. This project, comprising analysis of laws, policies, business models and lived experience of lodging houses across three states, will produce a national lodging houses typology and a framework for appropriate policy development and regulatory practice.
Lead researcher: Dr Chris Martin, UNSW Sydney
Modelling the dynamics, predictors and mitigators of housing stress in Australia
This project explores the dynamics of housing stress in Australia, using predictive analytics to identify leading indicators that can help target households at risk of housing stress, arrears, default or eviction. Dynamic event analysis and multi-stage budgeting will cast light on the journeys into housing stress and identify potential mitigators.
Lead researcher: Professor Alan Duncan, Curtin University
The balance of housing assistance across Australia: insights and implications
This project maps out the program logic that shapes housing assistance across Australia, making comparisons between jurisdictions and internationally. Through policy review, interviews and a workshop, it provides policy makers with alternative solutions, best practice and ways to align public resources with housing assistance objectives.
Lead researcher: Professor Andrew Beer, University of South Australia