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• Housing

Australia has some of the most expensive housing in the world.  Rising rents and prices are putting reasonable housing out of reach of large sections of Australian society.  The CIS is exploring ways to make housing more affordable, in particular by relaxing planning restrictions.

Foreign investors not to blame for high house prices
Stephen KirchnerJuly 10, 2014

Government policies have increased demand for housing without tackling regulatory and tax barriers to new...

Eight Housing Affordability Myths
Stephen KirchnerJuly 10, 2014IA146

Australians are conflicted in their attitude to this long-run change in real house prices because...

Don’t blame foreigners for rising house prices
Stephen KirchnerMarch 20, 2014The Age

Shoddy tax laws, not Chinese investors, are driving up the prices of new dwellings. Foreign...

Private Housing on Indigenous Lands
Helen Hughes, Mark Hughes, Sara HudsonNovember 17, 2010PM113

Almost 20% of Australia and almost 50% of the Northern Territory are Indigenous lands. Yet...

Less Crowded Houses. NZ’s housing policy success and implications for Australia
Stuart DonovanFebruary 11, 2025PP60

Introduction Many Australians are increasingly concerned by deteriorating housing affordability and its implications for socio-economic...

Land Use Restrictions and the Australian Housing Policy Debate
Peter TulipOctober 15, 2024FABIAN SOCIETY
Planning restrictions are a major reason why housing in Australia is so expensive. For example,...
Housing Affordability and Supply Restrictions
Peter TulipFebruary 8, 2024PP55
This paper describes the evidence of large effects of planning restrictions on housing affordability. This...
Housing is becoming a pipe dream for young Australians
Emilie DyeFebruary 6, 2024IA149
Housing affordability remains one of Australia’s clearest — and most frequently cited — examples of...
Housing Targets
Where should we build new housing? Better targets for local councils
Peter TulipMarch 9, 2023AP45
We are not building enough apartments and we are building them in the wrong place....
Does high-rise development damage neighbourhood character?
Peter Tulip, Zachary LaniganApril 29, 2021PP40

Local residents often oppose new high-rise development apartment buildings on the grounds that they would...

Central statIon sydney
How heritage protection is cutting down housing development
Simon Cowan, Peter TulipDecember 2, 2023CANBERRA TIMES

How heritage protection is cutting down housing development. More and more people are realising the...

Why we should welcome migrant workers
Simon CowanSeptember 23, 2023CANBERRA TIMES

For a nation with such a high percentage of migrants, Australia’s relationship with migration remains...

The Coalition can create generational voting change by tackling housing affordability
Simon CowanJuly 3, 2023CANBERRA TIMES

Australia’s centre-right political movement is in trouble. This may have seemed obvious from the fact...

A million extra homes won’t fix affordability headache
Peter TulipOctober 27, 2022SMH

The budget’s announcement of one million houses over the next five years will do very...

Election Housing Policies, Getting Close but Still No Cigar
Peter TulipMay 17, 2022Epoch Times

The Australian election campaign has seen a flurry of new proposals for dealing with the...

Housing
Zoned out: how land use restrictions divide the nation
Peter TulipJanuary 14, 2022Pearls and Irritations
Housing policies ensure continual wealth gains for current home owners while leaving renters and potential...
Old buildings and the housing crisis with Peter Tulip
Peter TulipMarch 4, 2026

Peter Tulip explains how several states have recently overhauled their planning legislation. However, the flaws...

‘NIMBYism is a cancer’: Bragg outlines housing policy vision with Peter Tulip & Michael Stutchbury
Andrew Bragg, Peter Tulip, Michael StutchburyDecember 12, 2025

Senator Andrew Bragg and economist Peter Tulip join Michael Stutchbury for a wide-ranging conversation on...

The simple solution to FIX the housing crisis | Emilie Dye
Emilie Dye, Randall EvansSeptember 18, 2024

What is behind the housing crisis in Australia and across the world? Research Analyst Emilie...

How to tackle Australia’s housing crisis one state at a time | NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey
Simon CowanAugust 29, 2024

Sydney is home to some of the least affordable housing in the world, placing immense...

A million extra homes won’t fix housing affordability!
Maya KuranaJuly 23, 2023
The budget's announcement of one million houses over the next five years will do very...
On Liberty EP96 Is the property bubble bursting?
Eliza Owen, Salvatore BabonesAugust 3, 2022On Liberty
Salvatore Babones returns to discuss the future of housing and rental prices with Eliza Owen...
Submission to Heritage NSW
Peter TulipJuly 18, 2025CIS

This submission argues that NSW’s heritage legislation has serious flaws. In particular, costs of listing...

Submission to Victorian Legislative Council Select Committee Inquiry
Peter TulipMay 5, 2025CIS

Victoria Planning Provisions Amendments VC257, VC267 and VC274: Submission to Victorian Legislative Council Select Committee...

Submission to the Inquiry into financial regulation and home ownership
Peter TulipOctober 15, 2024
Regulation of the financial system is needed to protect depositors and avoid financial crises. However,...
Submission to the Inquiry into the Transport Oriented Development Program
Peter TulipApril 4, 2024
Housing policy in NSW has been failing. It has relied on setting targets for local...
Submission to the Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry into improving consumer experiences, choice, and outcomes in Australia’s retirement system.
Peter TulipFebruary 12, 2024
Allowing first home buyers to borrow from their superannuation would transform superannuation from an obstacle...
The Rental Crisis. Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Committee
Peter TulipAugust 31, 2023

Rents are too high. This leads to homelessness, rental stress, long commutes, overcrowding, and a...

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