Housing News Digest
Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
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Archive
Property prices jump 2.2 per cent as housing boom rolls on
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Australia’s housing boom continued apace in May as buyers buoyed by the economic recovery rushed to take advantage of record-low interest rates. National property values surged 2.2 per cent over the month and ended it 10.6 per cent higher than the same time last year. The sharp rise was stronger than expected as analysts had thought a rise in the number of properties listed for sale combined with growing affordability concerns would curb the pace of growth.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/06/01/house-pri…
# Australia, Housing market.Supply failing to keep up with demand in red-hot property market
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Buyers are snapping up properties faster than vendors can list them for sale in a housing market that barely noticed the recession and has now recorded eight consecutive months of price rises. Demand for housing is so strong that even a jump in the number of new listings to 15 per cent above the five-year average was not enough to cool the market in May. National property values increased 2.2 per cent over the month and are now 10.6 per cent higher than the same time last year – with new data from CoreLogic showing that for every new property added to the market, more than one property is exchanging hands.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/06/01/housing-m…
# Australia, Housing market.Tomorrow? The future being sold at our weekend auctions
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s a sign of how unhinged the national property market has become that a friend who bought a house last Friday was told his new home had risen $20,000 in value by Tuesday.
He hasn’t even got the keys to the place but so separated from reality has the national parlour game that is bricks and mortar become that it is showing increasing similarities to a Ponzi scheme.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tomorrow-the-future-bein…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Renters short by £360m as pandemic protection disappears
Kate Hughes (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Tenants caught between the pandemic fallout and rising housing costs are now more likely to lose their homes after the ban on evictions expired this week leaving £360m of rent unpaid, poverty activists warn. Evictions can now resume again in England after a pandemic hiatus that had protected up to a million people from being forced to leave their homes. Also, the required minimum period of notice will come down from six to four months, the housing ministry has confirmed. (Independent)
https://www.independent.co.uk/money/rent-arrears-eviction-help-l…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.McGowan reveals $377 million to target household fees and charges
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)West Australian Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan says the state government will commit $377 million to keeping household charges low with a 1.6 per cent increase for the coming financial year – or $99.37 for the average household. ... Electricity and water charges for households will go up in line with the projected increase to the consumer price index, a rise of 1.75 per cent, as per an election commitment made by the Premier. “We have been very focused on keeping costs and living pressures down for families across Western Australia and this budget will continue that course,” Mr McGowan said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/watch-live-mcg…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet.COVID-19: Lockdown support for Victorian tenants
Lauren Vardy (No paywall)Victoria has moved to circuit-breaker restrictions from Friday, 28 May to Thursday, 3 June. Here’s what you need to know about Victoria’s 7-day lockdown and tenancy support. (Rent.com.au)
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Welfare.Global solutions to a global crisis: International housing policy lessons from the pandemic
AHURI (No paywall)AHURI Brief: Overall, the consistency in the policy responses to the pandemic across the participating countries was striking. All countries addressed street homelessness, had eviction moratoria (or limits on forced evictions), and provided additional income support measures. However, due to different systems and pre-existing social conditions the way in which these were implemented and framed varied significantly.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/ahuri-briefs/global-solutions-…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Housing market, International, Welfare.A safe place to call home: Ending unfair evictions & reforming renting
(No paywall)Everyone has the right to a secure and decent home. For too many of England’s 11 million private renters, this basic right is out of reach. In the two years since the Government pledged to end Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, the world has been turned on its head. The pandemic highlighted the insecurity built into the private rented sector, and the poor and overcrowded conditions that many have experienced for years. Reform of the private rented sector is evidently long overdue, and the Government’s upcoming White Paper provides an opportunity to transform our housing system and deliver lasting change. Generation Rent has long called for an end to Section 21, but this paper is an opportunity to go further. This report sets out our vision for a private rented sector which provides a stable home for everyone who relies on it. (Generation Rent)
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/npto/pages/7534/attachment…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Home, No-grounds evictions.