Making a Rental Property Home

TLDR

Literature on home and dwelling has largely focused on the benefits of homeownership and social rental for ontological security, with limited attention to private tenants. The paper investigates the capacity of private renters in Australia to exercise control over their dwellings. It does so by analyzing Australian legislation, policy, market, and cultural contexts and comparing them with Germany to illustrate alternative approaches. The paper concludes by calling for a broader debate on the significance of home and how social norms about tenure types influence housing policy and tenants' rights and well-being. Acknowledgements: the paper thanks co‑authors Kathleen Hulse, Vivienne Milligan, Mariette Haffner, anonymous referees, and notes funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

Abstract

AbstractEnglish-language literature on the relationship between home and dwelling has largely focused on the benefits of homeownership and (to a lesser extent) social rental in facilitating ontological security. Less consideration has been given to the experiences of private tenants. This paper draws on findings of a study on security of occupancy to discuss the ability of private renters to exercise control over their dwellings in Australia. The paper discusses the limitations of Australian legislation, within its policy, market and cultural context, in enabling private tenants to exercise control over their dwellings, and compares the Australian situation with Germany to demonstrate that alternative approaches that afford more control to private tenants are possible in rental systems dominated by private rental. The paper concludes with a call for a wider debate about the importance of home and the impact of social norms regarding the purpose of different types of tenure on housing policy and thus on the rights and well-being of tenants.Keywords:: Homehousing tenuresecure occupancyproperty conditionprivate rental AcknowledgementsThis paper draws on research which was funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. I would like to acknowledge the co-authors of the Secure Occupancy in Rental Housing report on which this paper is based, Kathleen Hulse and Vivienne Milligan. Special acknowledgement is also due to Mariette Haffner who completed the expert case study report for Germany. Many thanks also to Vivienne Milligan and three anonymous referees for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.Additional informationFundingThe research on which this paper is based was funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.