Michael speaks to Catherine Cashmore, president of Prosper Australia, who for years have conducted research into how many of Australia’s 9.8 million homes are left vacant.

Prosper’s tenth analysis of vacant land and housing conducted in 2019 found that 69,004 properties were likely vacant in 2019. This represents a 4.1% speculative vacancy rate.

This research has been cited by a recent United Nations study on the pernicious effects of the financialisation of the housing sector, and has likely been a key reason for the adoption of a vacant housing tax in Victoria, and probably in Canada as well.

It is timely, therefore, to consider some of the economic and practical realities of vacant housing.

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