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
School gyms and tent cities: Government support fails to ‘hit the mark’ for renters as moratorium ends
Tess Ingram The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)From Western Australia ... When Patricia Dellaporte decided not to renew her rental lease last year, she didn’t realise she would be thrust into one of the worst rental markets in Western Australia in decades. “We had lived there for about a year and a half but it was old and run down, there were white ants and I was paying a lot in rent… I wanted to try and save so I could buy,” she said. “I wish I could go back and choose to stay there.” ... Ms Dellaporte has joined the public housing waitlist and called housing support services. “I have told them I’m homeless, I have a toddler, I don’t want to be on the streets and I need help. They say they can’t help me. They say ring back in a month, or ring back next week but I have been trying for months now.” On Sunday, the COVID-induced ban on evictions and price hikes in WA’s rental market will end ...
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/school-gyms-an…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market.Asian shoppers, greyer citizens and climate: three megatrends shaping NSW
Matt Wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When Gladys Berejiklian became Premier in 2017 she famously cited housing affordability as one of her top priorities, saying it was the “biggest concern people have across the state”. That concern hasn’t gone away. The latest Ipsos Issues Monitor, which asks respondents to select the three most important issues facing the community, showed housing affordability was the equal top concern in NSW in the December quarter, alongside health and unemployment. (You can check the original source at: [https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2021-02/im_nsw_dec20.pdf]) The best solution to this challenge is a plentiful supply of new dwellings, especially in well located parts of Sydney. Shrewd urban planning will be needed to achieve that.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/asian-shoppers-greye…
# NSW, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.Regional services brace for more homelessness as JobKeeper welfare payments dry up
Nathan Morris and Jeremy Story Carter ABC (No paywall)Regional homelessness services say they are at capacity, and the end of JobKeeper and cuts to JobSeeker will see more people needing support — some for the first time. In some areas, vacancy rates are below one per cent and emergency accommodation is full, leaving nowhere for the vulnerable to go.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-30/regional-homeless-fears-j…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Regional NSW, Welfare.A day with NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, who is lifting standards in the construction industry
Ellen Lutton Domain (Paywall)The group of developers, builders and tradies are waiting nervously for the arrival of the man with the unprecedented superpowers to overhaul Sydney’s construction industry. ...
https://www.domain.com.au/news/a-day-with-nsw-building-commissio…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, Planning and development.The three-year housing bomb
Alan Kohler The New Daily (No paywall)As we know, the Reserve Bank’s pandemic money discount sale is having a wild effect on the housing market, but what’s less well known is that it’s a bomb that will go off in three years.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2021/03/29/alan-kohler-housin…
# Australia, Housing market.Investor-economist alliance dominates media's housing response
Hayden Donnell (No paywall)From New Zealand ... A huge squadron of investors and economists blitzed the airwaves following the government's big housing announcement, often drowning out other voices. In the hours after the government's big housing announcement on Tuesday, the top three stories on the Herald's homepage were all angled around reaction from property investors and economists. (RNZ Mediwatch)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/20187…
# International, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Tighter lending rules needed to deal with growing household debt: IMF
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The International Monetary Fund has urged the Reserve Bank and economic regulators to tighten lending standards to deal with the potential negative fallout from high levels of business and household debt caused by record low interest rates. ... the IMF said the low rates used to deal with the coronavirus recession would cause long-term pain without tougher limits on lending from banks and emerging non-banks ... low rates, on top of federal and state government housing support programs, have helped drive house prices above pre-coronavirus levels.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tighter-lending-rules-ne…
# Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, State Government.Sydney rent prices: coming down … or just a downer?
Richie Black (No paywall)Few seismic shifts could compare to the idea of Sydney rents going down – but that’s what’s happening, at least in some parts of the city. Richie Black talks to the people in the thick of a changing rental landscape. (Sydney Sentinel)
https://sydneysentinel.com.au/2021/03/sydney-rent-prices-coming-…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market.