Matthew Bowes
@mbowes.bsky.social
(He/him) Posting about public policy, housing and economics. Associate at the Grattan Institute.
https://grattan.edu.au/expert/matthew-bowes/
https://grattan.edu.au/expert/matthew-bowes/
‘Australia’s economy is in a post-pandemic slump. To dig us out, state and federal governments must tackle the chronic shortage of housing in our biggest cities.’
Catch our latest piece in Pearls and Irritations:
Catch our latest piece in Pearls and Irritations:
To fix the economy, fix housing
Australia’s economy is in a post-pandemic slump. To dig us out, state and federal governments must tackle the chronic shortage of housing in our biggest cities.
johnmenadue.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:18 AM
‘Australia’s economy is in a post-pandemic slump. To dig us out, state and federal governments must tackle the chronic shortage of housing in our biggest cities.’
Catch our latest piece in Pearls and Irritations:
Catch our latest piece in Pearls and Irritations:
'Housing in Australia’s cities is now among the least affordable in the world. At the heart of the problem is the fact we just haven’t built enough homes to meet rising demand.'
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
How planning stops more housing - and how to fix it - Grattan Institute
Planning regulations limit the density of our major cities. But changing planning restrictions could help fix the housing crisis.
grattan.edu.au
November 7, 2025 at 12:37 AM
'Housing in Australia’s cities is now among the least affordable in the world. At the heart of the problem is the fact we just haven’t built enough homes to meet rising demand.'
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
Reposted by Matthew Bowes
1/ Housing in Australia's major cities is among the least affordable in the world.
A big reason is that we no longer build enough homes, especially where people most want to live.
A big reason is that we no longer build enough homes, especially where people most want to live.
November 5, 2025 at 10:57 PM
1/ Housing in Australia's major cities is among the least affordable in the world.
A big reason is that we no longer build enough homes, especially where people most want to live.
A big reason is that we no longer build enough homes, especially where people most want to live.
Housing in Australia is both too scarce and too expensive. Yet our major cities are among the least dense of their size in the world. Our latest Grattan report show how we can reform our urban planning rules to allow for more homes and better cities. 🧵
More homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want
Three-storey townhouses and apartments should be permitted on all residential land in all capital cities as part of a concerted policy assault on Australia’s housing crisis.
grattan.edu.au
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Housing in Australia is both too scarce and too expensive. Yet our major cities are among the least dense of their size in the world. Our latest Grattan report show how we can reform our urban planning rules to allow for more homes and better cities. 🧵
Reposted by Matthew Bowes
3-storey townhouses and apartments should be permitted on all residential land in all capital cities to help fix Australia’s housing crisis.
Building more homes will create cheaper housing and more productive cities. Our new report shows how. buff.ly/NfAM6C7 #auspol
Building more homes will create cheaper housing and more productive cities. Our new report shows how. buff.ly/NfAM6C7 #auspol
November 5, 2025 at 10:01 AM
3-storey townhouses and apartments should be permitted on all residential land in all capital cities to help fix Australia’s housing crisis.
Building more homes will create cheaper housing and more productive cities. Our new report shows how. buff.ly/NfAM6C7 #auspol
Building more homes will create cheaper housing and more productive cities. Our new report shows how. buff.ly/NfAM6C7 #auspol
Reposted by Matthew Bowes
I'm back again telling everyone who'll listen and a lot of people who won't that we need more politicians!
Today, the ACT Assembly's inquiry into the 2024 election published a submission from @francismarkham.bsky.social and myself arguing it's time to make the Assembly bigger... again.
Today, the ACT Assembly's inquiry into the 2024 election published a submission from @francismarkham.bsky.social and myself arguing it's time to make the Assembly bigger... again.
October 14, 2025 at 4:39 AM
I'm back again telling everyone who'll listen and a lot of people who won't that we need more politicians!
Today, the ACT Assembly's inquiry into the 2024 election published a submission from @francismarkham.bsky.social and myself arguing it's time to make the Assembly bigger... again.
Today, the ACT Assembly's inquiry into the 2024 election published a submission from @francismarkham.bsky.social and myself arguing it's time to make the Assembly bigger... again.
It’s notable to me that recent media reports on the low and mid rise housing policy in NSW struggle to explain the details of how it works, and miss the fact that it was scaled back from the policy originally proposed. A short 🧵
August 24, 2025 at 12:42 AM
It’s notable to me that recent media reports on the low and mid rise housing policy in NSW struggle to explain the details of how it works, and miss the fact that it was scaled back from the policy originally proposed. A short 🧵
A common meme in housing policy is that such and such a view (e.g. supply scepticism or neoliberalism) is dominant among policymakers. I’ve increasingly come to think that this is just wrong: there’s remarkably little agreement on what our housing problems actually are.
August 15, 2025 at 10:46 PM
A common meme in housing policy is that such and such a view (e.g. supply scepticism or neoliberalism) is dominant among policymakers. I’ve increasingly come to think that this is just wrong: there’s remarkably little agreement on what our housing problems actually are.
A great project here by Michael Weibe, who is writing accessible literature reviews on topics in housing research. The first article is all about vacancy chains.
open.substack.com/pu...
open.substack.com/pu...
August 8, 2025 at 11:03 PM
A great project here by Michael Weibe, who is writing accessible literature reviews on topics in housing research. The first article is all about vacancy chains.
open.substack.com/pu...
open.substack.com/pu...
Reposted by Matthew Bowes
Low density suburbs in growing cities often face a problem - as property values rise and older homes are replaced with larger new ones, they become steadily less affordable. But as this paper from the US shows, thoughtful zoning reforms can change this story. 🧵
July 23, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Low density suburbs in growing cities often face a problem - as property values rise and older homes are replaced with larger new ones, they become steadily less affordable. But as this paper from the US shows, thoughtful zoning reforms can change this story. 🧵
Low density suburbs in growing cities often face a problem - as property values rise and older homes are replaced with larger new ones, they become steadily less affordable. But as this paper from the US shows, thoughtful zoning reforms can change this story. 🧵
July 23, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Low density suburbs in growing cities often face a problem - as property values rise and older homes are replaced with larger new ones, they become steadily less affordable. But as this paper from the US shows, thoughtful zoning reforms can change this story. 🧵
The claim here that we can't (or won't) build more than 50 homes per hectare is puzzling. When Marcus Spiller's SGS colleagues estimated housing capacity in Boroondara LGA, they assumed 75-100 homes per hectare even for 'general' residential areas.
www.abc.net.au/news/...
www.abc.net.au/news/...
Where is Australia going to build thousands of new homes?
To meet the government's housing target every year there will need to be infill land created about 26 times the size of Melbourne's CBD across Australia.
www.abc.net.au
July 6, 2025 at 11:30 PM
The claim here that we can't (or won't) build more than 50 homes per hectare is puzzling. When Marcus Spiller's SGS colleagues estimated housing capacity in Boroondara LGA, they assumed 75-100 homes per hectare even for 'general' residential areas.
www.abc.net.au/news/...
www.abc.net.au/news/...
I’m old enough to remember when the swing vote in the US Senate on major party-line reconciliation bills was so concerned about US government debt levels he had an aide text him the $ value every morning. Ah the good old days.
July 4, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I’m old enough to remember when the swing vote in the US Senate on major party-line reconciliation bills was so concerned about US government debt levels he had an aide text him the $ value every morning. Ah the good old days.
Earlier this week I presented to an ABS/RBA conference on data insights in housing. While my presentation was on Grattan’s February report, ‘Renting in retirement’, the conversation in the room left me with a range of important takeaways on housing tax and productivity. 🧵
June 29, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Earlier this week I presented to an ABS/RBA conference on data insights in housing. While my presentation was on Grattan’s February report, ‘Renting in retirement’, the conversation in the room left me with a range of important takeaways on housing tax and productivity. 🧵
I’ve often enjoyed Annie Lowery’s work, but as an Australian, it was painful to read this nonsensical article about preferential voting. PV isn’t more ‘chaotic’ because candidates recommend preferences instead of choosing whether to drop out entirely.
www.theatlantic.com/...
www.theatlantic.com/...
June 15, 2025 at 10:35 PM
I’ve often enjoyed Annie Lowery’s work, but as an Australian, it was painful to read this nonsensical article about preferential voting. PV isn’t more ‘chaotic’ because candidates recommend preferences instead of choosing whether to drop out entirely.
www.theatlantic.com/...
www.theatlantic.com/...
Planning reform discourse is confusing because it often revolves around abstract terminology such as ‘red tape’ and ‘deregulation’, rather than the underlying policy reality that for decades we’ve effectively outlawed new townhouses and flats in large parts of Australian cities.
June 14, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Planning reform discourse is confusing because it often revolves around abstract terminology such as ‘red tape’ and ‘deregulation’, rather than the underlying policy reality that for decades we’ve effectively outlawed new townhouses and flats in large parts of Australian cities.
A cool research paper here that 1) uses weather-related delays to housing completions in Germany to estimate the reduction in rents from new homebuilding and 2) models how new market-rate housing supply reduces rents for low-income earners. 🧵
June 10, 2025 at 9:50 PM
A cool research paper here that 1) uses weather-related delays to housing completions in Germany to estimate the reduction in rents from new homebuilding and 2) models how new market-rate housing supply reduces rents for low-income earners. 🧵
Cities across Australia often have rules on the books that mandate a certain amount of parking as part of new housing projects. As one study from Colorado shows, removing them wouldn’t just make many homes cheaper to buy - it would also help more homes get built. 🧵
June 3, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Cities across Australia often have rules on the books that mandate a certain amount of parking as part of new housing projects. As one study from Colorado shows, removing them wouldn’t just make many homes cheaper to buy - it would also help more homes get built. 🧵
The ACT’s ‘missing middle’ planning reforms show that Canberra doesn’t have to choose between protecting the “garden city” and making housing more affordable. It can, and it should, do both.
Read the full op-ed below from Brendan Coates and myself.
grattan.edu.au/news/...
Read the full op-ed below from Brendan Coates and myself.
grattan.edu.au/news/...
Planning for more homes will create a better capital - Grattan Institute
Canberra doesn't have to choose between protecting the ‘garden city’ and building more affordable housing.
grattan.edu.au
May 26, 2025 at 7:49 AM
The ACT’s ‘missing middle’ planning reforms show that Canberra doesn’t have to choose between protecting the “garden city” and making housing more affordable. It can, and it should, do both.
Read the full op-ed below from Brendan Coates and myself.
grattan.edu.au/news/...
Read the full op-ed below from Brendan Coates and myself.
grattan.edu.au/news/...
Something that comes up often in housing policy discussions right now is the idea that planning reforms won't shift the dial because construction costs are just too high, so new homes will only be profitable if prices rise. A few thoughts on why I don’t think it’s this simple. 🧵
May 21, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Something that comes up often in housing policy discussions right now is the idea that planning reforms won't shift the dial because construction costs are just too high, so new homes will only be profitable if prices rise. A few thoughts on why I don’t think it’s this simple. 🧵
Reposted by Matthew Bowes
One of the big reasons I left Canberra was that it was almost impossible to live near your friends. So many left the city, it was so hard to meet new ones and the ones who stayed are spread across a giant sprawling city.
This is a pro-social policy.
This is a pro-social policy.
May 19, 2025 at 11:20 PM
One of the big reasons I left Canberra was that it was almost impossible to live near your friends. So many left the city, it was so hard to meet new ones and the ones who stayed are spread across a giant sprawling city.
This is a pro-social policy.
This is a pro-social policy.
Big news on housing policy in the ACT, which is proposing to allow low-rise flats and townhouses in its most restrictive residential zone. Previously, apartments and townhouses were effectively banned on 80% of Canberra’s residential land.
www.abc.net.au/news/...
www.abc.net.au/news/...
Rules around building a second dwelling on a residential block in Canberra could be about to change
The ACT government signals it's looking at zoning changes to enable construction of more "missing middle" housing — such as townhouses, duplexes, terrace houses, and small apartment buildings.
www.abc.net.au
May 19, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Big news on housing policy in the ACT, which is proposing to allow low-rise flats and townhouses in its most restrictive residential zone. Previously, apartments and townhouses were effectively banned on 80% of Canberra’s residential land.
www.abc.net.au/news/...
www.abc.net.au/news/...
A gentle suggestion to those opposing planning reforms that allow denser housing in existing suburbs: it does somewhat undermine your credibility when you claim that the reforms won’t increase supply, even though they will lead to reckless unchecked development.
May 16, 2025 at 7:49 AM
A gentle suggestion to those opposing planning reforms that allow denser housing in existing suburbs: it does somewhat undermine your credibility when you claim that the reforms won’t increase supply, even though they will lead to reckless unchecked development.
Charging for or allocating rights to scarce public space is one of core policy tools available to local councils to manage congestion. That so many of Melbourne’s councils refuse to charge for parking shows an abject lack of respect for the public they serve.
Full article below.
Full article below.
May 12, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Charging for or allocating rights to scarce public space is one of core policy tools available to local councils to manage congestion. That so many of Melbourne’s councils refuse to charge for parking shows an abject lack of respect for the public they serve.
Full article below.
Full article below.
Housing policy was central to the federal election. But when it comes to building more homes, it is state planning reforms - like those that are underway in Victoria - that could really shift the dial. Our latest for The Conversation outlines why they matter.
theconversation.com/...
theconversation.com/...
Victoria’s planning reforms could help solve the housing crisis. But they are under threat
Councils have made it hard to build more townhouses and apartments in the suburbs. That’s why these planning reforms are needed.
theconversation.com
May 12, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Housing policy was central to the federal election. But when it comes to building more homes, it is state planning reforms - like those that are underway in Victoria - that could really shift the dial. Our latest for The Conversation outlines why they matter.
theconversation.com/...
theconversation.com/...