About
Affordable Housing
- Henry Review
- Making Housing Affordable Again
- Plibersek Speech
- Planning Policy - QLD
- Creating Inclusive Communities
- Forum Summary
- Expanding Affordable Housing Services in Australia
- Barker Review Report
Affordable
Housing
There
are
many competing definitions of affordable housing. The Queensland
Affordable
Housing Consortium uses the definition developed by the National
Affordable
Housing Summit Group*.
“Affordable
Housing is housing which is reasonably adequate in standard
and location for lower or middle income households and does not cost so
much
that a household is unlikely to be able to meet other basic needs on a
sustainable basis”
*
The Summit Group consists of the: Housing
Industry Association, Australian Council of Trades Unions, Australian
Council
of Social Services, The Community Housing Federation of Australia and
National
Shelter.
Other
definitions use a benchmarking approach. For example,
that housing costs should be
less then 30 per cent of gross household income. This is a generally
useful
guide for households in the lowest 40 per cent of incomes.
However
affordability is not simply a
matter of housing costs. A well located dwelling might save significant
household travel costs and therefore improve overall family economics,
even if
the rent is higher than a dwelling in a poorer location.
The
peak body for community housing providers, Queensland Community Housing
Coalition, has created a
chart and a set
of principles for affordable housing that may help to improve public
understanding of our commitment to good quality housing outcomes: Affordability Chart.
