Hal Pawson

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  • Emeritus Professor of Housing, UNSW
Rental stress leaves hundreds of thousands of Australians struggling for years to cover all the other costs of living. Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock

Growing numbers of renters are trapped for years in homes they can’t afford

Hal Pawson, UNSW

After paying rent, more than half of low-income tenants don’t have enough left over for other essentials. And the latest evidence shows nearly half of them are stuck in this situation for years.
In low-rent outer suburbs, almost one in six households could not afford to keep their house cool and went without meals. ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock

Private renters are doing it tough in outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne

Alan Morris, University of Technology Sydney; Hal Pawson, UNSW ; Kath Hulse, Swinburne University of Technology, and Violet Xia, University of Technology Sydney

While politicians ignore calls to raise Newstart, alarming levels of financial stress among private renters, particularly in low-rent outer suburbs, show why current welfare payments are too low.
The numbers of buyers able to celebrate moving into their first home are still well down on pre-GFC levels – and low-income renters are faring even worse. fizkes/Shutterstock

On housing, there’s clear blue water between the main parties

Hal Pawson, UNSW and Bill Randolph, UNSW

Housing policy is a stark point of difference at this election. While the government took promising steps to set up social housing finance, it has yet to give any sign it will finish what it started.
Labor wants housing to be a federal election issue, but to solve the problems of recent decades Australian governments need to comprehensively rethink their approach. Julian Smith/AAP

Housing policy reset is overdue, and not only in Australia

Duncan Maclennan, University of Glasgow and Hal Pawson, UNSW

The problems with housing systems in Australia and similar countries run deep. Solutions depend on a fundamental rethink of our approach to housing and its central place in our lives and the economy.
The current social housing construction rate – barely 3,000 dwellings a year – does not even keep pace with rising need, let alone make inroads into today’s backlog. Joel Carrett/AAP

Australia needs to triple its social housing by 2036. This is the best way to do it

Julie Lawson, RMIT University; Hal Pawson, UNSW ; Laurence Troy, UNSW , and Ryan van den Nouwelant, Western Sydney University

A tenfold increase in building is needed to overcome the current social housing shortfall and cover projected growth in need. But it can be done, and direct public investment is the cheapest way.
Governments have all but abandoned the commitments made a decade ago when Kevin Rudd launched a national campaign to reduce homelessness. Dean Lewins/AAP

Homelessness: Australia’s shameful story of policy complacency and failure continues

Hal Pawson, UNSW and Cameron Parsell, The University of Queensland

A decade after the launch of a national campaign against homelessness, the trends are all going the wrong way. A new annual report highlights what’s gone wrong and what must be done.
Housing policymaking hasn’t gone smoothly since Tony Abbott sidelined the experts by scrapping the National Housing Supply Council in 2013. Alan Porritt/AAP

Mounting housing stress underscores need for expert council to guide wayward policymaking

Hal Pawson, UNSW and Oliver Frankel, University of Technology Sydney

Unaffordable housing and homelessness are burning issues. Policymaking has suffered from a critical lack of data and expert input since the National Housing Supply Council was axed in 2013.
Households are not competing on equal terms in the private rental market – their perceptions of insecurity vary according to their means, location and reasons for renting. April Fonti/AAP

The insecurity of private renters – how do they manage it?

Alan Morris, University of Technology Sydney; Hal Pawson, UNSW , and Kath Hulse, Swinburne University of Technology

Private renters’ security of tenure in Australia has less legal protection than in other countries with high private rental rates. A new study reveals mixed responses to this state of uncertainty.
Restoring and expanding Australia’s run-down public housing stocks will need an increase in funding on top of the reforms in the budget. Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Budget 2017 charts new social and affordable housing agenda

Chris Martin, UNSW and Hal Pawson, UNSW

The budget is pushing for a much-needed reboot of the social housing sector. What it isn’t offering is extra funding to renew and expand run-down housing stocks.
New South Wales is the state that has suffered the biggest fall in available public housing stock since 2009. This has led to protests. Teresa Parker/AAP

Australia needs to reboot affordable housing funding, not scrap it

Chris Martin, UNSW and Hal Pawson, UNSW

Although the federal-state agreement does it inadequately and lacks transparency, an enduring program of federal funding for operational expenses is essential to sustain the social housing system.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian needs to shed the Treasury view of housing construction as a silver bullet and back former premier Mike Baird’s social and affordable housing program. Nikki Short/AAP

If you’re serious about affordable Sydney housing, Premier, here’s a must‑do list

Hal Pawson, UNSW

The new NSW premier is right to identify housing affordability as a priority for the people and economy of Sydney. It’s not just housing supply that’s the problem – action is needed on many fronts.
The problem with the current rezoning approach is that it leads to huge windfall profits and developments aimed at the upper end of the market. AAP

Sydney needs higher affordable housing targets

Laurence Troy, UNSW ; Dallas Rogers, Western Sydney University; Emma Power, Western Sydney University; Hal Pawson, UNSW ; Kurt Iveson, University of Sydney; Louise Crabtree-Hayes, Western Sydney University; Michael Darcy, Western Sydney University, and Peter Phibbs, University of Sydney

The community needs affordable housing and that requires meaningful targets for new developments. The only ones who will lose out are landholders who make windfall profits from rezoning.
With 700,000 vulnerable Australians depending on public housing, any proposal to change its status is likely to set off alarm bells. Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Productivity Commission stance has potential for social housing gains

Hal Pawson, UNSW

The report’s stated goal is to make the social housing system work better. It does not present as a manifesto for an entirely marketised and deregulated framework driven by the profit motive.
Housing affordability, especially in Sydney, is now a source of political protests and the NSW government has announced a funding scheme with the potential to ease the pressure. AAP/Teresa Parker

Are we seeing a new dawn for affordable housing?

Hal Pawson, UNSW and Vivienne Milligan, UNSW

In what looks to be a landmark policy announcement with possible national ramifications, the NSW government has outlined the first phase of a $1 billion fund to develop social and affordable housing.
Housing has become just another investment asset - but the consequences are unsettling. AAP/NewZulu/Peter Boyle

Tackling housing unaffordability: a 10‑point national plan

Hal Pawson, UNSW ; Bill Randolph, UNSW ; Judith Yates, University of Sydney; Michael Darcy, Western Sydney University; Nicole Gurran, University of Sydney; Peter Phibbs, University of Sydney, and Vivienne Milligan, UNSW

The widening cracks in Australia’s housing system can no longer be concealed. Seven leading Australian academics say this 10 point plan can help fix housing affordability.
Higher density housing is being presented as the latest solution for affordable housing, but a more robust policy is required. trevor.patt/Flickr

Australia needs more than dense housing arguments

Bill Randolph, UNSW ; Hal Pawson, UNSW , and Vivienne Milligan, UNSW

Ex-NSW Premier Nick Greiner has proposed that land value embedded in public housing estates be recycled to generate new social housing - by redeveloping the estates into higher density living. Greiner…

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