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
Covid frontline workers priced out of homeowning in 98% of Great Britain
Pamela Duncan, Hilary Osborne, Lydia McMullan and Niko Kommenda The Guardian (No paywall)Low-paid key workers on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic would not be able to afford to buy the average priced home in 98% of Great Britain, an exclusive Guardian analysis has found. Years of rising prices have put homeownership out of reach of many key workers, who have also experienced pay freezes and had to channel their wages into paying high private rents, rather than being able to save for a deposit.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/30/covid-frontline-…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Work, employment.Axing coronavirus welfare payment forecast to plunge 155,000 Australians into poverty
Luke Henriques-Gomes The Guardian (No paywall)An estimated 155,000 people in Australia will be plunged into poverty this week when the pandemic boost to welfare payments expires ... National Youth Commission Australia warned the reduction in welfare payments would hit young people particularly hard. ... “High housing costs force students and young jobseekers into poverty and sub-standard accommodation, compromising their education and employment outcomes, physical and mental health,” said chair of the commission, David Eldridge from the Salvation Army.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/31/axing-cor…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Welfare, Young people.More retirees trying to avoid going into aged care, exclusive data from Australian Seniors reveals
Laura Francis, Alan Kohler, and Chris Gillett ABC (No paywall)For a growing number of Australians, aged care is less desirable than ever before. Exclusive data from Australian Seniors reveals 43 per cent of Australians aged over 50 who were surveyed for the 2021 Mindset Shift Report say the pandemic has changed their view of aged care.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-01/retirees-trying-to-avoid-…
# Australia, Housing market, Older people.I've been homeless with my four kids for months
Malcolm Sutton ABC (No paywall)"You just see the same people and they're exhausted, deflated, sad, like heartbroken people who can't get a foot in the door." This is the experience of single mother-of-four Kirsty Rich, who took five months to secure a rental home in Adelaide after being squeezed out of the market with countless others during the pandemic. ... She was ... forced to house-sit, couch surf and even squat in a vacant building before being forced into emergency accommodation. (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/being-homeless-with-my-four-kids…
# Australia, Homelessness, Housing market, Women.Banks under pressure to lift long-term rates as funding costs rise
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Banks are under pressure to start raising interest rates on longer-term fixed rate mortgages to preserve profits amid a blow out in funding costs on global financial markets. ... In normal times only about 15 per cent of new Australian home loans are fixed, but that proportion has surged to 40 per cent since mid 2020.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/banks-under-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Hunter homelessness at record levels
Matthew Kelly (No paywall)Rates of homelessness and insecure housing in the Hunter have reached all-time highs, according to long-term welfare workers. Crisis accommodation support is also at breaking point, while rental vacancies are virtually non-existent. ... Hunter Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service coordinator Nicole Grgas, Coordinator described the worsening situation as terrifying. “Hunter Tenants is seeing the highest level of demand for assistance in our history,” she said. “Almost half of our calls are from tenants facing eviction, many of these are for no grounds, or no-fault evictions. “We are speaking with people who have never had issues finding a rental before who are now facing the real risk of homelessness for the first time in their lives. They are terrified.” (Newcastle Herald)
https://app.newcastleherald.com.au/2021/03/29/hunter-homelessnes…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing market, Regional NSW, Welfare.Raising dam wall could lead to more development on floodplain, Emergency Minister says
Angus Thompson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott says raising the Warragamba Dam wall could pave the way for the release of more land for development in Sydney’s north-west, putting him at odds with his ministerial colleagues.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/emergency-minister-says-rais…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development.Approvals for units and townhouses surge
Alex Druce The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Building approvals for houses were at record highs in February, while townhouses and units bounced by nearly 50 per cent off January’s nine-year low. (Viewed in entry at 12.47pm)
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/asx-set-to-rise-brisbane…
# Australia, Housing market.