Terry Burke, Caroline Neske and Liss Ralston surveyed two groups of low-income households: those who had applied for public housing and those who had not, to examine the characteristics of these two groups and the reasons for their housing decisions.

In the final report of a project which surveyed households entering social housing and rent-assisted private renters, Terry Burke, Caroline Neske and Liss Ralston discuss client aspirations and needs in relation to the two major forms of housing assistance provided by government in Australia.

Using ABS Household Expenditure Survey statistics, this study finds, among other things, that real housing costs in Australia increased substantially (32.9 per cent) over the period 1975-99. Purchasers experienced the biggest cost increase (66.2 per cent), followed by private tenants (24 per cent) and outright owners (21 per cent), with public tenants having the smallest...