In this qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with fifteen older public housing tenants in inner-city neighbourhoods in Sydney, the life circumstances of older public housing tenants are explored. A primary aim of the study was to interrogate the notion that public housing is a form of housing tenure that is no longer worth pursuing due to it being a harbinger of misery and social exclusion for its residents. The research suggests that this conclusion is, in many ways, mythology. For the older public housing tenants interviewed, being accommodated in this tenure form was viewed as a ‘life-saver’. Despite the ever-increasing residualisation of public housing, the provision of affordable, adequate and secure accommodation in convenient locations gave them the capacity to pursue a life that they valued.
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