Hidden homes? Uncovering Sydney’s informal housing market

Nicole Gurran, Madeleine Pill and Sophia Maalsen
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Nicole Gurran: University of Sydney, Australia
Madeleine Pill: The University of Sheffield, UK
Sophia Maalsen: University of Sydney, Australia

Urban Studies, 2021, vol. 58, issue 8, 1712-1731

Abstract: Australia faces a chronic shortage of affordable rental housing, as do many other nations in the Global North. Unable to access the formal rental sector, lower-income earners are increasingly resorting to share housing and other informal arrangements, sometimes occupying makeshift accommodation or illegal dwellings. This article examines informality in Sydney’s housing market, an important case because of the explicit policy efforts geared towards supporting diverse and higher density housing supply. It draws on analysis of the regulatory planning framework and primary data derived from interviews and focus groups with housing advocates, support workers and building compliance officers from across the metropolitan region. It seeks to understand the drivers of supply and demand within the informal housing market and constructs a typology of informal tenures and dwelling provision. The article contributes new empirical data on the outcomes of planning policies designed to enable flexible housing responses which legitimise some informal practices, and the wider dimensions of informal housing provision within formal urban systems of the Global North.

Keywords: housing; informality; local government; planning; poverty/exclusion; ä½ æˆ¿; é žæ­£è§„æ€§; 地方政府; 规划; è´«å›°/排斥 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:8:p:1712-1731

DOI: 10.1177/0042098020915822

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