Transforming Housing: Affordable Housing for All is an action-research project focused on influencing and supporting the transformation of the housing policy and delivery environment in Victoria. It aims to facilitate collaborations with industry, government and philanthropic organisations in order to improve affordable housing outcomes for very low to moderate income households. We advocate for housing that is affordable, well-located, diverse and well-designed.
The aim of the project is to generate partnerships based on mutual respect and co-learning that result in substantial and sustainable policy shift, as well as industry innovations, towards more and better affordable housing. The project team host frequent workshops to facilitate networking and co-learning opportunities for industry, government, NGOs and researchers. Transforming Housing also releases reports, papers and statements to inform and evaluate innovative affordable housing projects, financing arrangements and government policy.
The project acknowledges the severe shortage of affordable and appropriate housing options available to households on very low to moderate incomes in Melbourne. Transforming Housing is about advocating for and supporting the development of solutions to solve this issue. To this end, the project has four objectives:
- Policy reform, development and advocacy
- Innovative project development, delivery support and evaluation
- Industry capacity building
- Research capacity building, embedded action research, research dissemination and influence
The current research project is the third iteration of Transforming Housing: Affordable Housing For All. See our previous work here.
Research Project in Progress
Researchers at the University of Melbourne are investigating the likely impact of voluntary affordable housing negotiations in Victoria and are seeking industry input.
What are voluntary affordable housing negotiations?
The Planning and Environment Act 1987 was changed in 2018 to include an additional objective "to facilitate the provision of affordable housing in Victoria." Responsible Authorities (usually local councils) can now enter into an agreement with landowners under section 173 of the Planning and Environment Act for the provision of affordable housing as part of a development. More information is provided by the State Government here.
The above elements represent a significant change in the landscape of affordable housing delivery in Victoria and have the potential to deliver much-needed affordable housing. However, these voluntary negotiations will have variable outcomes, and will be decided on a case-by-case basis. We currently have little understanding of how they will be implemented and the degree of housing they will generate across Victoria.
What is the research about?
Researchers at the University of Melbourne are conducting research into the implementation of voluntary affordable housing agreements in Victoria. We are interested in the likely outcomes of these negotiations. The research is particularly concerned with the underlying positions and priorities of the key stakeholders involved in negotiations, the real and perceived capacity for beneficial outcomes and the levels of access within organisations to the information and skills necessary to negotiate agreements.
We are seeking input from the stakeholders most likely to be impacted by voluntary agreements; local councils, private developers, consultants, state government and not-for-profit housing providers.
Please take this survey to provide your opinions on the future of affordable housing agreements in Victoria. The survey will take about 10 minutes and all responses will remain anonymous.
Featured Research
Watch the presentations from the Tap Turners and Game Changers in Affordable Housing event on October 9, 2018.
| Professor Carolyn Whitzman discusses a bold plan for 164,000 new affordable homes in Melbourne over 10 years. | Dr Matt Palm presents research on the capacity for ‘lazy’ government land to significantly increase affordable housing outcomes. | Dr Katrina Raynor discusses the capacity for an innovative affordable homeownership model to support transitions out of public housing. |
Research Tools
Project reports
- Policy, planning and financing options for affordable housing in Melbourne, July 2015 (PDF File 828.5 KB)
- Affordable Housing Summit Report, June 2015 (PDF File 1.0 MB)
- Affordable Housing Partnerships: Lessons for Melbourne’s Transforming Housing Project from Portland, Vancouver and Toronto, May 2015 (PDF File 1.6 MB)
- Partnership Options for policy, investment and demonstration projects, April 2015 (PDF File 826.3 KB)
- Housing Expos and the transformation of industry and public attitudes, April 2015 (PDF File 1.2 MB)
- Industry Workshop for the Housing EXPO, October 2014 (PDF File 643.1 KB)
- Engaging Research (PDF File 3.5 MB)
- Delivering affordable housing in Melbourne (PDF File 2.2 MB)
- Industry workshop Background paper – An affordable housing industry for the 21st century, October 2014 (PDF File 3.9 MB)
Submissions and Advocacy
- Submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Public Housing Renewal Program (PDF File 1.1 MB)
- Response to City of Melbourne’s Proposed Activities (Public Amenity and Security) Local Law (PDF File 555.5 KB)
- Response to Infrastructure Victoria’s Draft 30 Year Infrastructure Strategy (PDF File 1.3 MB)
Conference Papers
- “Every Day I Feel Blessed”: Experiences of New Homeowners Exiting Public Housing into an Affordable Housing Project in Melbourne (PDF File 111.7 KB)
- Building Transformation Through Housing Expos: A multi-pronged strategy to help address the wicked problem of affordable housing, December 2015 (PDF File 298.1 KB)
- Policy, planning and financing options for affordable housing in Melbourne, December 2015 (PDF File 85.3 KB)
- Partnerships for Affordable Housing: Lessons from Melbourne, Portland, Vancouver and Toronto, December 2015 (PDF File 92.8 KB)
- Participatory Action Research on Affordable Housing Partnerships: Collaborative Rationality or Sleeping with the Growth Machine?, October 2015 (PDF File 128.1 KB)
Research updates
Updates about current research projects and upcoming events.
- Transforming Housing Project Update: Edition 5, March 2018 (PDF File 1.7 MB)
- Transforming Housing Project Update: Edition 4, August 2017 (PDF File 3.4 MB)
- Transforming Housing Project Update: Edition 3, April 2017 (PDF File 689.9 KB)
- Transforming Housing Project Update: Edition 2, January 2017 (PDF File 818.9 KB)
- Transforming Housing Project Update: Edition 1, September 2016 (PDF File 3.7 MB)
Student Outputs
Transforming Housing has built a number of tools to support the provision of affordable housing in Victoria. These tools reflect our commitment to building capacity in the affordable housing industry and generating useful and impactful research outputs.
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Housing Access Rating Tool (HART)
HART is a 20 point tool that scores Greater Melbourne and Geelong for access to key social services, amenities and public transport.
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Affordable Housing Calculator
The Affordable Housing Calculator is an educational tool designed to model the likely impact of various incentives and affordable housing contributions on residential project feasibility.
Partnerships
Transforming Housing is funded by the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne School of Design, the City of Melbourne, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Launch Housing, the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Melbourne Social Equity Institute.
People
Transforming Housing, led by Professor Carolyn Whitzman, is an action research project that brings together a diverse range of academics in collaboration with stakeholders from industry, government and philanthropy.
Transforming Housing hosts a range of events throughout the year designed to foster academic – industry connections, engage with the community and disseminate new research findings.
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Tap Turners and Game Changers
6:30pm to 8:00pm, Tuesday 9 October 2018Transforming Housing is pleased to share three exciting new reports focused on the ‘Tap turners and game changers’ of affordable housing in Melbourne.
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Affordable Housing in Victoria: What's next?
5:30pm to 7:30pm, Wednesday 2 August 2017 Transforming Housing is committed to supporting improved housing outcomes for very low to moderate income households in Melbourne.
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The Housing Summit: Transforming Housing in 2017
June 2, 2017The 2017 Housing Summit will respond to the recent Homes For Victorians strategy document, the refreshed Plan Melbourne and other key changes in the affordable and social housing sectors.
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Collaborative Planning researcher workshop
October 10, 2016This workshop featured Emeritus Professor Judith Innes (UC Berkeley) and brought together 40 researchers and practitioners interested in collaborative planning and participatory action research.
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Affordable Housing For All launch
December 7, 2016 Transforming Housing hosted an event to launch it’s latest report on, Affordable Housing For All: Towards an Integrated Affordable Housing Strategy for Victoria. The event will also feature a status update on the Melbourne Housing EXPO.
Researchers from Transforming Housing are frequently featured in the media. We aim to disseminate our research and affordable housing advocacy through newspapers, radio, podcasts and TV programs – see below for a links to recent media mentions.
- The New Daily, May 17 2018, Build-to-rent apartments and the future of ‘generation rent’
- Nightlife, ABC Radio, 14 May, 2018, Who do you live with? A look at Australian households in 2018
- Domain News, May 5, 2018, Doubts emerge that Melbourne’s record unit construction will meet needs of new residents
- Domain News, April 21, 2018, You know NIMBYs and met YIMBYs, now here come the PHIMBYs
- The Conversation, February 1, 2018, Governments have no excuse for keeping the public in the dark on public housing
- Yourmortgage, February 1, 2018, Melbourne’s median unit price continues to climb
- Domain News, Nov 20, 2017, Three Australian cities named among the world’s best for families
- The Conversation, August 29 2017, ‘Build to rent’ could be the missing piece of the affordable housing puzzle
- News.com.au, September 27, 2017, Housing affordability: Long-term lease, build-to-rent needs foreign investors
- The Conversation, November 13 2017, Portbale units and temporary leases free up vacant land for urgent housing needs
- Your Investment, November 24 2017, Build-to-rent could help house ‘generation rent’
- Domain, January 24 2018, Victorian government to co-purchase houses with 400 first-home buyers
- Your mortgage, January 26 2018, Now is the best time to buy your first home in Victoria
- Herald Sun, 9 August 2017, Melbourne population: Casey, Whittlesea, Wyndham boom suburbs shapes bird's eye view
- The Conversation, 7 August 2017, A 20-minute city sounds good, but becoming one is a huge challenge
- Domain, 8 July 2017, Melbourne property prices: 12,000 families now live in Melbourne high-rises
- The Age, 6 July 2017, Private school explosion on Melbourne's fringe
- Domain, 21 April 2017, Vested interests behind ‘city shapers’ often subvert higher-density policies,
- Phys.org, 7 April 2017, Shared home ownership helps people with disability, https://phys.org/news/2017-04-home-ownership-people-disability.html
- The Conversation, 15 March 2017, What a difference a month makes but Victoria can still do more to get housing and planning right
- The Conversation, 15 March 2017, Business briefing: how the attitudes of the next generation are changing the property market
- ABC news, 1 March 2017, New Melbourne housing blocks will not improve affordability in Victoria, planning experts say
- News.com.au, 19 February 2017, People left out in the cold as Melbourne is in the grips of a rental crisis
- The Conversation and Domain, 16 February 2017, Australian states slow to act on affordable housing, with Victoria the biggest offender
- Science Daily, 13 February 2017, Teens in poorest families go hungry more than younger kids
- The Conversation, 10 February 2017, Shared ownership can help make housing affordable for people with disability
- Domain, 12 November 2016, Melbourne apartment buyers chase a piece of Airbnb’s $95 million market
- Domain, 29 October 2016, Melbourne houses prices: eastern suburbs hit by drop in foreign property activity
- The Guardian, 27 October 2016, Sydney and Melbourne house prices hit all-time high in September quarter
- Domain, 26 October 2016, Shopping centre redevelopments are putting suburbs back on the map
- Domain, 22 October 2016, Melbourne property prices: $2m sales loom as the market’s new benchmark
- Domain, 18 October 2016, How the boom is remaking Australia’s social class structure
- Government News, 18 October 2016, Homelessness in the world’s most liveable city
- The Age, 9 October 2016, Leafy suburbia set for more development under proposed planning shake-up
- The Conversation, 25 August 2016 , Why 100 years without slum housing in Australia is coming to an end
- SBS, 20 June 2016, Why the housing affordability crisis is making the poor even poorer
- The Conversation, 3 May 2016, Federal Budget 2016: Political experts react
- The Conversation, 21 April 2016, Where do record prices leave low-income earners?
- The Age, 9 November 2015, Victoria's public housing waiting list skyrockets
- The Conversation, 3 November 2015, A national affordable housing strategy: necessary, attainable and maybe on its way
- ArchitectureAU, 2 November 2015, Six affordable housing lessons the US can teach Australia
- The Big Issue, October/November 2015, Seeking shelter
- ABC Radio National, 5 August 2015, Who can afford these prices?
- Australian Financial Review, 4 August 2015, Canada cracks affordable housing financing nut: Australia wants the same
- All Being Equal podcast (Melbourne Social Equity Institute), 23 June 2015, Affordable Housing in Melbourne
- The Sunday Age, 15 June 2014, Build a bridge to affordable housing in Melbourne
- The Age, 10 June 2015, Housing affordability crisis brought on by government policy failures
- Your Investment Property, 19 May 2016, High yields around, Investors just need to know where to look
- The Drum, 13 April 2015, City planning: we can learn from Vancouver, Portland
- Election Watch Victoria, 8 October 2014, Last bids: Affordable housing going once, going twice…
- Arup - Shaping our City forum held on 14 August 2014