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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.

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...

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...
HOUSING DIVIDE
Alan Kohler’s The Great Divide: Australia’s Housing Mess and How to Fix It
Peter TulipMarch 17, 2024QUARTERLY ESSAY

Comment by Peter Tulip Public discussion of housing policy suffers from undisciplined eclecticism. Too many...

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...
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...
Planning restrictions harm housing affordability
Peter TulipDecember 3, 2020PP33

Planning restrictions reduce the supply of housing and hence raise its price. This paper summarises...

AP14
RATIONALISING REGULATION: Helping the economy recover from the corona crisis
Gene Tunny, Ben ScottSeptember 23, 2020AP14

Australia’s anachronistic, inconsistent, and excessive regulatory landscape is an area of immense potential for growth-enhancing...

Reforming Social Housing: financing and tenant autonomy
Michael PotterApril 27, 2017RR25

Around 400,000 Australians live in social housing, which includes public and community housing. This sector...

The Age Old Problem of Old Age: Fixing the Pension
Simon Cowan, Matthew TaylorMay 3, 2015

In this TARGET 30 Research Report CIS modelling shows that reforming the pension could deliver...

Eight Housing Affordability Myths
Stephen KirchnerJuly 10, 2014IA146

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

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...

Housing negative gearing tax
Reducing the discount would likely not have any lasting impact in lowering house prices
Robert Carling, Michael StutchburyMarch 21, 2026CANBERRA TIMES

Anyone watching the smoke signals from Canberra knows that moves are afoot to try and...

Alarm bells ringing on more interest rate pain
Michael StutchburyMarch 18, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH
Australians were losing faith that the combination of Labor’s economic policies and the RBA monetary...
Labor’s capital gains tax myths need busting
Robert CarlingMarch 11, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH

Labor has long held an axe over the capital gains tax 50% discount and negative...

Measuring affordability in time, not dollars paints a different inflation picture
Marian L. TupyMarch 9, 2026CANBERRA TIMES

Even before new Middle East conflict sparked concern about petrol prices, Australia’s latest CPI release...

This Millennial moved to regional Australia to own a home
Trisha JhaMarch 2, 2026AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

A brief glance at the past fortnight’s headlines is revealing. High-speed rail is connecting Sydney...

Australia’s housing push is bipartisan
Peter TulipSeptember 17, 2025SPECTATOR FLAT WHITE
The Liberal party has two traditions, conservatism and support for free markets. Normally, those movements...
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...
Rental and Housing Affordability. Submission to the Victorian Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee
Peter TulipJuly 17, 2023

We need to relax zoning restrictions to allow more housing. At a society level, this...

The Need for Reform of Land Use Policy: Submission to the Productivity Commission
Peter TulipMarch 23, 2022

This submission focuses strongly on the housing affordability aspect of Australia’s productivity. Submission to the...

Submission to the Inquiry into Housing Affordability and Supply in Australia
Peter TulipSeptember 13, 2021

Submission to the government review into housing affordability in Australia. Housing in Australia is too...

Submission to IPART Review of Social and Affordable Housing Rent Models
Michael PotterMay 15, 2017CIS Submission

In April, IPART released a draft report into models for setting social and affordable housing...

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