Climate change adaptation and the rental sector Final Report Lesley Instone, Kathleen Mee, Jane Palmer, Miriam Williams and Nicola Vaughan CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND THE RENTAL SECTOR Rental housing, climate change and adaptive capacity: a case study of Newcastle, NSW. Centre for Urban and Regional Studies University of Newcastle AUTHORS Lesley Instone Kathleen Mee Jane Palmer Miriam Williams Nicola Vaughan Published by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility ISBN: 978-1-925039-11-5 NCCARF Publication 40/13 © The University of Newcastle Australia and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the copyright holder. Please cite this report as: Instone, L, Mee, K, Palmer, J, Williams, M, Vaughan, N 2013 Climate change adaptation and the rental sector, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, pp. 182. Acknowledgement: This work was carried out with financial support from the Australian Government (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF). The role of NCCARF is to lead the research community in a national interdisciplinary effort to generate the information needed by decision-makers in government, business and in vulnerable sectors and communities to manage the risk of climate change impacts. We wish to acknowledge the major contribution made to this research by those tenants and property managers who agreed to be interviewed and who participated in the Focus Groups and in the production of video clips for YouTube. We also acknowledge the valuable contribution of the members of our project Steering Committee, who provided expert advice and guidance throughout the project: • Mr Peter Dormand - Manager, Environment and Climate Change Services, Newcastle City Council, NSW • Professor Robyn Dowling - Department of Environment and Geography, Faculty of Science, Macquarie University NSW • Dr Geoff Evans - Environmental Security Coordinator, Sustainability Department, Lake Macquarie City Council, NSW • Mr Ross Fallins - Assistant Manager, Asset Supply, Department of Finance and Services, Newcastle, NSW • Mr Wayne Stewart - Past President, Real Estate Institute of NSW, Newcastle NSW. Disclaimer The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth or NCCARF, and neither the Commonwealth nor NCCARF accept responsibility for information or advice contained herein. Cover image/s ’Rental Life’ © 2013 Peter Lankas TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 3 1 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH ..................................................................... 6 1.1 Background: The reason for undertaking this research ........................................ 6 1.2 The objectives of the research ............................................................................. 6 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction: Themes of the literature review ....................................................... 8 2.2 Asset-Based Community Development................................................................ 8 2.3 Pro-poor Asset-based Climate Change Adaptation ............................................ 10 2.4 Combining asset based and pro-poor approaches ............................................. 11 2.5 Vulnerability, resilience and adaptation: A climate justice approach ................... 12 2.5.1 Vulnerability, lack of assets .............................................................................................. 13 2.5.2 Kinds of resilience ............................................................................................................. 15 2.5.3 Multistranded approaches: More-than-adaptation ............................................................ 15 2.6 The role of the housing manager ....................................................................... 17 2.6.1 Overview of literature ........................................................................................................ 17 2.6.2 The work of housing managers/ housing management .................................................... 19 2.6.3 Managing and influencing tenants, landlords, and relationships ...................................... 21 2.6.4 Managing buildings ........................................................................................................... 23 2.7 Tenants and theories of everyday practice and homemaking ............................ 25 3 RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND METHODS ......................................................... 27 3.1 Overview ........................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Document collection and analysis ...................................................................... 27 3.2.1 Types of documents analysed .......................................................................................... 27 3.2.2 Document review process ................................................................................................ 29 3.3 Interviews and focus groups .............................................................................. 30 3.3.1 Interviews and focus groups methods .............................................................................. 30 3.3.2 Case study selection ......................................................................................................... 32 3.3.3 Recruitment methods ........................................................................................................ 33 3.3.4 Recruitment ....................................................................................................................... 34 3.4 Conducting the interviews and focus groups ...................................................... 35 3.4.1 Interviews .......................................................................................................................... 35 3.4.2 Focus groups .................................................................................................................... 36 3.5 Coding and analysis of primary data .................................................................. 37 Climate change adaptation and the rental sector i 3.6 Enhancing adaptive capacities: Development of public resources ..................... 37 3.7 University Ethics Approval ................................................................................. 38 4 RESULTS, DISCUSSION AND OUTPUTS.......................................................... 40 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 40 4.2 Discussion: Document analysis.......................................................................... 41 4.2.1 Media reporting on the rental sector.................................................................................. 41 4.2.2 Resources for renters ........................................................................................................ 50 4.2.3 Policy and legislation ......................................................................................................... 59 4.3 Housing NSW .................................................................................................... 79 4.3.1 Environmental Strategy ..................................................................................................... 80 4.3.2 ‘Welcome to Your Home’ brochure ................................................................................... 82 2.6.5 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 83 4.4 Climate change adaptation and rental housing in Newcastle: analysis of interviews and focus groups ........................................................................................ 83 4.4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 83 4.4.2 Summary of findings .......................................................................................................... 84 4.4.3 Assets: Tenants’ understanding and commitment to sustainability and climate change adaptation .................................................................................................................................... 91 4.4.4 Assets: Property managers’ understanding and commitment to sustainability and climate change adaptation ....................................................................................................................... 94 4.4.5 Assets: Action by tenants on climate change and sustainability ....................................... 95 4.4.6 Assets: Action on climate change and sustainability by property managers .................... 98 4.4.7 Limits on tenants’ capacity to act .................................................................................... 107 4.4.8 Limits on housing managers’ and landlords’ capacity to act ........................................... 117 4.4.9 ‘Unmaking