Dr Chris Martin

Dr Chris Martin

Senior Lecturer

Bachelor of Economics (Social Sciences) (Honours 1), University of Sydney

Bachelor of Laws (Honours 2), University of Sydney

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney

Arts,Design & Architecture
City Futures Research Centre

Chris is a Senior Research Fellow in the City Futures Research Centre. 

Chris's research interests are in rental housing and housing affordability, with special interest in:

  • tenancy law;
  • the private rental market and related institutions;
  • social housing;
  • lodging and boarding houses;
  • residential parks and land lease communities;
  • housing investment and finance;
  • housing policy and intergovernmental relations;
  • history of housing policy
  • international comparative housing studies; and
  • intersections between housing and criminal justice.

Chris has led and participated in numerous inquiries and research projects for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), the Australian Research Council (ARC) and other research funders.

Chris was previously the Senior Policy Officer of the Tenants' Union of NSW, and is the author of the 'Tenants' Rights Manual' (4th edition), the leading text on tenancy law and policy for tenants and community workers in New South Wales. He is also a past Chair of Shelter NSW. 

Chief Investigator, Regulation of residential tenancies and impacts on investment (AHURI 2021-22)

Chief Investigator, Exiting prison with complex support needs (AHURI 2019-20)

Chief Investigator, Boarding houses in New South Wales: growth, change and implications for equitable density (Shelter NSW, 2018-19)

Chief Investigator, Poor quality housing: review of evidence (Shelter NSW, 2018-19)

Chief Investigator, Social housing legal responses to crime and disorder (AHURI, 2017-18)

Chief Investigator, Rental Vulnerability Index (Tenants Queensland, 2017)

Chief Investigator, The changing institutions of private rental housing: an international review (AHURI, 2016-17)

Team member, project manager, The financialisation of older persons residential parks and rental villages (ARC, 2021-23)

Team member, Assisting first home buyers: an international review (AHURI, 2021-22)

Team member, Retirement villages: business models, consumer expectations and regulation (AHURI, 2021-22)

Team member, COVID-19: rental housing and homelessness policy impacts (UNSW-ACOSS Poverty and Inequality Partnership, 2020-21)

Team member, Filtering as a source of low-income housing in Australia: conceptualisation and testing (AHURI, 2020-21)

Team member, project manager, Housing sex offenders (ARC, 2019-21)

Team member, Demand-side assistance in Australia’s rental housing market (AHURI, 2019-20)

Team member, Social housing as infrastructure: conceptual foundations (AHURI, 2017-18)

Team member, Technological disruption in private housing markets: the case of Airbnb (AHURI, 2017-18)

Team member, The institutional dynamics of the Australian private rental sector: prospects and opportunities (AHURI, 2016-17)

Team member, Developing the scale and capacity of Australia's affordable housing industry (AHURI, 2015-16)

Team member, Investing in disadvantage: the role of investor landlords in restructuring Australia’s major cities (ARC, 2015-17)