The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has released a new report, Understanding and Addressing Local Opposition to Affordable Housing Projects.

The report investigates the roots of local opposition to affordable housing projects in Australia. The authors found that community opposition to affordable housing is often exacerbated by dismissive attitudes by government.

The findings indicate that developers and government should improve communication and engagement strategies to educate the public about what affordable housing is and to ensure that planning processes are clear and fairly implemented.

In preparing the report, the authors conducted interviews, focus groups, and interview-surveys with a range of stakeholders in affordable housing developments, as well as residents located in suburbs affected by them, in Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne and Sydney.

The report is available at http://www.ahuri.edu.au/publications/projects/p71007.