Affordable Housing Essay

CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

1.1. Introduction

Affordable housing is housing that is affordable to those with a median household income or housing made available at below market rents and allocated according to need (Pawson, Milligan, Phibbs and Rowley, 2014, p. 1). In Australia, this means that a household does not have to spend more than a certain percentage of their income (e.g. 30/40 Rule) on housing cost. For instance; the 30/40 rule used in Australia recommends 30% of a household’s income from the lower 40% of the income quartile to be spent on housing. Any housing cost, greater than 30% to the lower 40% income earners is a housing stress (Yates, 2006). This depends on the region, country, province, city or town which is usually determined by an affordability index calculated for that area (Luffman and Jacqueline, 2006). For example; the housing affordability index used by the National Association of Realtors is 162.6 and 158.1 for the months of April and May in 2016 respectively. According to (Milligan, et al. 2004), affordable housing refers to the housing, which assists the lower income households in having access to (paying and obtaining) appropriate housing without experiencing undue financial constraints. Affordable housing can be broadly defined

Prior to the colonisation of the country, the people of Papua New Guinea (PNG) were accommodated or housed in self-help dwellings which can still be found in the rural areas today (Higgins and Kumar, 1983). These dwellings were constructed using the raw materials that were gathered freely from their communal land (customary land). The dwellings were locally constructed using local skills with varying designs and styles from region to region due to the differences in the local climate, customs and traditions and topography as well as the preferences of the people (Higgins & Kumar,