Indicator Rationale
Secure, safe and suitable housing is essential if the physical and mental health of individuals is to be maintained. Unsuitable housing due to location, overcrowding, tenure insecurity or unaffordability can have serious health impacts.
Unaffordable housing is an issue for many low-income households and may lead to difficulty affording food, healthcare and other basic necessities. Affordable housing supports physical and mental health and is an important social determinant of health and wellbeing.
Relevant Sustainable Development Goals
Measures
Percentage of households in the bottom 40% of the income distribution spending more than 30% of household income on housing costs
Dwelling Density
Methodology
The housing affordability data set, i.e., the percentage of households in the bottom 40% of the income distribution spending more than 30% of household income on housing costs data, was created by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Information Consultancy Services as a customised report at SA1 level.
Methods used to create the measure of dwelling density can be found here.
References
Marco E, Burgess S. (2015). Healthy housing. In: Barton H, Thompson S, Burgess S, Grant M, editors. The Routledge handbook of planning for health and well-being: Shaping a sustainable and healthy future. Oxon, UK: Routledge, 97
Yates J. (2012). Housing policies and wealth inequality. In: Tomlinson R, editor. Australia’s unintended cities: the impact of housing on urban development. Melbourne, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing