AHURI Grant funded for 2007-2008 ($143,538 excl GST)
Project Leader: Prof B Randolph
Project Team: Prof P Williams (USyd), Prof V Milligan (USyd), Prof J Yates (USyd), Dr S Pinnegar and Dr K Ruming

This project will provide a comprehensive appraisal of the appropriateness and potential for shared equity/ownership models to assist households into affordable home ownership, and the role of Government intervention in this regard. In this early phase of potential application of shared equity/ownership approaches in the Australian context, this research will both explore consumer insight and perspectives as well as issues identified by the mortgage, investment and development sectors to help shape frameworks and move policy forward.

Project website: www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/ahuri/projects.asp?id=sharedownership

AHURI Grant funded for 2007-2008 ($168,877 excl GST)
Project Leader: Dr B Judd
Project Team: Dr D Olsberg, Dr O Demirbilek and Ms J Quinn

The project aims provide a better understanding of recent changes in the location, dwelling type, size of older home owner's dwellings and how these factors are influenced by the age of the occupants, their health, household type and cultural background. In addition to the size of the dwelling and land, the project also examines the design and layout of this space and how this space is used as the resident ages. This will provide a more accurate picture of how efficiently older home-owners currently occupy their housing stock and presents the opportunity to identify housing solutions that can improve the efficient use of housing stock, while ensuring that older occupants' housing and care requirements, and their preferences, are met.

Project website: www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/ahuri/projects.asp?id=olderhomeowners

AHURI Grant funded for 2007-2008 ($111,444 excl GST)
Project Leader: Prof B Randolph
Project Team: Dr N Gurran (USyd), Dr K Ruming and Research Assistant (TBC)

This project will draw on this international research and an objective evaluation of existing Australian data to develop a consistent approach for determining the cost effect of planning regulations and charges on house prices and affordability in Australia . The project will then quantify the cumulative cost impacts of state and local government regulations and charges in a selection of case study developments in new release and urban renewal areas across inner city, suburban, and non metropolitan local government areas. It also aims to evaluate the cost impacts of existing and proposed regulation on housing production against the explicit objectives of the regulation, as a basis for avoiding unnecessary or unjustifiable regulation and for offsetting affordability impacts where these are unavoidable.

Project website: www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/ahuri/projects.asp?id=affordabilityimpacts

AHURI Grant funded for 2007-2008, Run by University of Queensland (Total Project Value: $135,381 excl GST)
Project Leader: Dr T Seelig
Project Team: Dr P Short (UQ), Dr C Warren (UQ), Ms C Susilawati (QUT), Dr S Pinnegar and Ms A Thompson (UQ)

This study aims to assess the present and potential demand for longer-term residential security in the private rental market, and the options and capacities for supply responses. The study builds on previous Queensland research which examined the issues of security of tenure in private rental housing, but will further explore for whom, in what contexts, and under what circumstances longer residential security is desired.

Project website: www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/ahuri/projects.asp?id=residentialsecurity

NSW Department of Housing, funded for 2006-2007 ($59,700 excl GST)
Project Leader: Dr S Pinnegar
Project Team: Prof B Randolph, Dr B Judd, Dr J Stubbs, Dr R Samuels, Dr K Ruming, Prof Ilan Katz (SPRC), Prof B Cass (SPRC), Dr T Eardley (SPRC), Dr E Baldry (School of Social Work)

The NSW Department of Housing and City Futures Research Centre have announced the development of a Community Regeneration Evaluation and Research Partnership. The key focus of this Partnership is to develop a Community Regeneration Monitoring and Evaluation framework and a set of protocols for an ongoing partnership to involve future collaboration and joint initiatives related to community regeneration and social housing estates in the areas of research, data collection, policy analysis and student education. The Partnership will also include researchers from the Social Policy Research Centre and the School of Social Work , both at UNSW.

Community Regeneration is the NSW Department of Housing's new strategy to build strong and sustainable communities in neighborhoods with high proportions of disadvantaged social housing tenants. The project will target five priority estates in the first instance. The aim of the Research Partnership will develop a multidisciplinary approach with the capacity to draw on expertise across a broad range of interconnected social, cultural, economic and environmental issues.

Project website: www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/research/cityfutures/projects.asp?id=communityregeneration