Housing precariousness: The need for and feasibility of sustainable housing in Australia

Abstract

Housing precariousness is a current issue across all tenures in many urban centres globally. As a response, civilian-driven initiatives as well as scarce government-led examples have tried to address the problem. Still, these are yet to be acknowledged as viable alternatives supported by legislation and trusted by prospective occupants. This article maps the potential of environmentally and socially sustainable housing options based on the group-build (Baugruppen) model in Australia. A case study was conducted to detect the role contemporary socio-spatial tensions together with urban and environmental unsustainability play in creating housing precariousness. As part of it, the possibility of a housing shift grounded in the group-build (Baugruppen) model was explored by looking into a prospective project in Queensland and completed projects in Victoria. The findings of the case study demonstrated that the existing housing model is contributing to conditions of spatial injustice and urban unsustainability. Additionally, they revealed the limited feasibility of a paradigm shift.