Getting in front of homelessness: housing single older women now

Single older women in Australia have emerged as a growing population group vulnerable to housing insecurity and at risk of homelessness in their old age. Their vulnerability arises from the gendered nature of labour and child rearing in Australia which compromises women's lifetime capacity to earn, acquire and retain housing equity. This is exacerbated by inflated housing purchase prices, increasing rental costs, low rental vacancies, and an age pension system that assumes full home ownership at retirement. This research is in response to the growing number of women entering the welfare system in old age due to insufficient capital resources and income to provide for their retirement. The research sought to find out more about their current housing situation and needs and their aspirations and capacity for meeting their longer-term housing needs. It also tested women's attitudes to an alternative affordable housing model based on a land trust where land would be donated and in which they would be required to contribute equity but would have restrictions, for instance, on capture of capital gains. The research wanted to understand whether an affordable housing model based on a land trust would be viable in terms of consumer capacity to pay and preferences.