澳大利亚的住宅投资与个人租房业(英文版)

UrbanStudies,Vol.36,No.2,255±269,1999HousingInvestmentandthePrivateRentalSectorinAustraliaAndrewBeer[Paper®rstreceived,July1997;in®nalform,January1998]Summary.Overthepasttwodecades,theprivaterentalsectorhaschangeditsrolewithintheAustralianhousingsystemasithasmovedfrombeingatenureoftransition,comprisedprincipallyofyounghouseholdssavingtoenterhome-ownership,toatenureoflong-termoccupancy.Risingrealhouseprices,soaringinterestrates,changesinthenatureofpaidworkandanincreaseinthenumberofhouseholddeathsthroughdivorceorseparation,hasseenanincreasingproportionofhouseholdseitherunabletoenterhomepurchase,orunabletomaintaintheirpositionwithinthistenure.Inaddition,accesstopubliclyprovidedhousinghasdeclined.ThispaperconsidersthechangingenvironmentforprivaterentalhousinginAustraliaandexaminesthenatureofinvestorsandthesizeoftheirinvestmentinthehousingstock,aswellastheimpactoftheirinvestmentstrategiesontheoperationofthehousingmarket.Privaterentalhasoftenbeenconsideredthe`lostchild’oftheAustralianhousingsystemandAustralianhousingstudies.Inthe30yearsfrom1945,privatetenancywaslargelyignoredbyacademics,policy-makersandthepopulationatlargeasAustralia’sinfatuationwithhome-ownershipandthe`suburbandream’encouragedthenotionthatprivaterentalwasatenureoftransitionandthatmostAustralianswerewellhousedanyway.Thetenuredidnotreceivesustainedandin-depthinvestigationbyacademicsuntilthe1980s(Paris,1984and1985).ItisnowrecognisedthattheprivaterentalsectorisacrucialpartofhousinginAustraliaandthatmanyindividualsrentfor10yearsorlonger.Inthefuture,evengreaterdemandswillbeplacedontheprivaterentalsectorasdemo-graphic,economicandsocialfactorscom-binetoreduceaccesstobothpublichousingandhomepurchase.Thispapercanvasesthechangesthathavetakenplacebothinthesupplyanddemandforprivaterentalhousingandarguesthattherestructuringoftheecon-omyhashadsubstantialimplicationsfortheAustralianhousingsystem.Oneconsequencehasbeenanewsetofrolesforprivaterentalhousingandagreateremphasis,bothinapolicyandinapracticalsense,ontheabilityofthissectortomeetdiversehousingneeds.Further,itisarguedthatanunderstandingoftheinvestmentdecisionsofprivatelandlordsiscentraltoanyforecastofhowthissectorwillevolve.ThepatternofinvestmentinAustraliacanalsoprovideimportantlessonsforothernations,suchastheUK(McCroneandStephens,1995;CrookandKemp,1996),wheretheprivaterentalsectorcontin-AndrewBeerisintheSchoolofGeography,PopulationandEnvironmentalManagement,FlindersUniversityofSouthAustralia,GPOBox2100,Adelaide,SouthAustralia5001.Fax:[phone].E-mail:andrew.beer@¯inders.edu.au.TheauthorwouldliketoacknowledgethehelpfulcommentsofProfessorChrisParis,DrBrianChalkleyandtwoanonymousrefereesonanearlierdraftofthispaper.0042-0980/99/020255-15$7.00Ó1999TheEditorsofUrbanStudiesANDREWBEER256uestodecline(Yates,1996).Thispaperisinthreeparts.The®rstsectionsketchesoutanoutlineoftheevolutionandcharacteristicsofprivaterentalhousinginAustralia.These-condconsiderstheroleofhousingwealthwithintheAustralianeconomy.ItmakesuseoftheJuly1993surveyofrentalinvestorsundertakenbytheAustralianBureauofStatisticstoinvestigatethebehaviourandmotivationsofprivatelandlords.The®nalpartofthepaperconsiderstheforcesthatwillshapeprivaterentalhousingoverthenext20yearsandthelikelyimpactofthoseforcesoncurrentandfuturelandlords.ThePrivateRentalHousingMarketinAustraliaPrivaterentalhousingisimportantwithintheAustralianhousingsystem.Atthe1991Cen-sus,17.2percentofhouseholdsrentedpri-vately,comparedwith37.6percentofhouseholdswhoownedtheirdwelling,31.9percentpurchasingtheirdwellingandthe6.9percentwhorentedfromaStateHousingAuthority(SHA)orothergovernmentbody.Thetenureappearstobegrowingbothabso-lutelyandrelativetoothertenures,withtheDepartmentofSocialSecurity(DSS)esti-matingthatby1996privaterentalhousinghadexpandedto17.9centofhouseholdsthroughtherecruitmentofanadditional34600dwellingsperyear(DSS,1996).Theincreasingprominenceofprivaterentalhousingisanewphenomenonwithinpost-warAustralia.In1945privatetenancywasthesinglelargesttenureinAustralia,accountingfor45percentofhouseholds,butitfelltolessthanhalfthatproportionwithin20years(Williams,1984;Beer,1993).Alargeproportionofthisstockwasfoundintheinnersuburbs,andintheimmediatepost-warperiod,landlordswerestronglyencour-agedtoselltotheirtenantsasrentcontrolsintroducedin1941madethisanunpro®tableinvestment(Kendig,1979).TherapidgrowthofAustralia’scitiesandtheequallyrapidexpansionofhomepurchaseoverthenexttwodecadesalsocontributedtothelesserimportanceoftheprivaterentalsector.How-ever,owner-occupationpeakedin1966at72percentofhouseholds,whilethepercentageofthehousingstockrentedprivatelyhasnotdeclinedsince1961(DSS,1996).Privaterentalhousingwaslargelyatenureoccupiedbyhouseholdsintransitionuntilthelate1970s(Kendig,1981).Newimmigrantsandhouseholdssavingforadepositpriortoentryintohome-ownershipdominatedthetenure.Kendig(1981)foundthatfewhouseholdsrentedprivatelyforanyconsiderabletime,withmostmovingintohomepurchasewithinashortperiod.Thissetofcircumstanceswassupportedbytherelativelyeasyaccesstopublichousingenjoyedbymanyhousehold