Inquiry into the future of the private rental sector

Abstract

iii AHURI AHURI is a national independent research network with an expert not-for-profit research management company, AHURI Limited, at its centre.AHURI's mission is to deliver high quality research that influences policy development and practice change to improve the housing and urban environments of all Australians.Using high quality, independent evidence and through active, managed engagement, AHURI works to inform the policies and practices of governments and the housing and urban development industries, and stimulate debate in the broader Australian community.AHURI undertakes evidence-based policy development on a range of priority policy topics that are of interest to our audience groups, including housing and labour markets, urban growth and renewal, planning and infrastructure development, housing supply and affordability, homelessness, economic productivity, and social cohesion and wellbeing. AcknowledgementsThis material was produced with funding from the Australian Government and state and territory governments. AHURI Limited gratefully acknowledges the financial and other support it has received from these governments, without which this work would not have been possible.AHURI Limited also gratefully acknowledges the contributions, both financial and in-kind, of its university research partners who have helped make the completion of this material possible.

Navigating a Changing Private Rental Sector: Opportunities and Challenges for Low-Income Renters

“…Comparative institutional differences, in terms of key measures of affordability, adequacy and security, critically influence transitions and pathways into and out of the PRS, as well as the supply of and incentives for affordable private rental (Coulter 2017;Lennartz, Arundel and Ronald 2015;Hulse, Milligan and Easthope 2011;Forrest and Hirayama 2009). The policies and programs intended to support low-income individuals and households to navigate the PRS, as articulated in the broader Inquiry framework on the future of the PRS, exist within embedded social, economic, legal and political institutions governing all housing market exchange (Hulse et al 2016). As such, it is difficult to isolate the impact of one policy lever or set of practices over the other.…”

“…The framework for the broader AHURI Inquiry conceptualises that an institutional analysis extends market analysis by incorporating its focus on the policies, legislation, organisations, structures, social practices and norms that shape and govern the four core components of the PRS: financing, provision, access and management (Hulse et al 2016). In particular, the framework asserts the embeddedness of the 'social, political and legal structures' that shape outcomes within the PRS (Hulse et al 2016;Granovetter 1985;Kemeny 1995: 27). As socially embedded structures, market economies (and market institutions) are dynamic and changeable sites where innovation emerges as an adaptation to former practices which no longer meet current and future needs and objectives.…”

“…Although we have a clear understanding of market trends which shape shortages in the supply of affordable private rental (Hulse et al 2015), we know less about how changing institutional practices impact low-income renters. 'Institutional practices' in this report refer to the embedded and emerging policies, regulations, norms and broader social practices that shape the financing, provision, access and management of the PRS (Hulse et al 2016).…”

“…In considering how low-income renters navigate intermediaries of the PRS, we integrate the AHURI Inquiry PRS institutional conceptual framework (Hulse et al 2016) with Clapham's (2005) 'housing pathways' approach. Our framework is complementary to and expands on a housing pathways perspective, whereby individuals and households navigate moves in and out of the PRS within emerging and existing institutional constraints and opportunities that shape their housing choices.…”

“…Institutions in this report refers to the policies, legislation, organisations, structures, social practices and norms that shape and govern the four core components of the PRS: financing, provision, access and management(Hulse et al 2016).…”