Digital technologies and the private rental sector in Australia

Digital technologies have the potential to exacerbate housing inequalities, but they also have the potential to create a better housing system and Australian society. The growth of the private rental market on one hand and the creation of new digital technologies aimed at renters, landlords, and property managers on the other form a nexus sometimes called ‘Generation Rent’ and ‘PropTech’, respectively. The intersection of these major changes will have significant impacts on Australian society and calls for significant research and investigation. 

The tech industry views the growing group of renters as a new business opportunity, while the real estate tech companies might not even own, or be in the same country as, the physical real estate assets on their platforms. It’s a situation that profoundly alters the relationships between properties, landlords, tenancy managers, and renters. Some, like Airbnb, have already begun to change the short- and long-term private rentals markets of various cities and neighbourhoods. Working in partnership with the Tenant Union, this project evaluates the potential for innovation among the new digital technology companies targeting the private rental sector. As well as developing a set of housing policy recommendations for different State legislative contexts, it will even more importantly use this data to co-produce a Tenant Advocacy Technology.

• Dallas Rogers - Associate Professor in Urbanism
• Sophia Maalsen - ARC DECRA Researcher