Living with density: will Australia’s housing crisis finally change the way its cities work?

Housing and urban planning experts say an increase in medium-density developments in established suburbs is vital to ease Australia’s housing crisis. Composite: Alamy

For many Australians it must seem as though the housing crisis cannot get any worse.

Rents have skyrocketed with record low vacancy rates, while assistance to lower-income families is being wound back, young people face often insurmountable obstacles to buying a property and some who have obtained a mortgage are struggling to stay above water after repeated interest rate rises.