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
After a decade of lost opportunity to fix NSW’s planning mess, here’s a model for success
James Weirick The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Liberal-National Coalition came to power a decade ago promising reform of a NSW planning system ... [But] the sale of public assets ... has been justified on the basis of capital recycling to fund new infrastructure ... These are part of a long list of undertakings – the stadiums, the Powerhouse Museum, the Millers Point social housing sell-off, redevelopment of the Waterloo Estate, sale of the Bridge Street heritage buildings, sale of the Land Titles Registry, the Aerotropolis land deals, treeless suburbs in western Sydney – that have one thing in common. They are all mistakes. Or more accurately, they are the ruinous outcomes of persistence in folly ... NSW needs an Independent Planning Commission. [Read on]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/after-a-decade-of-lost-oppor…
# NSW, Planning and development, State Government.The housing market is exploding again
Alan Kohler The New Daily (No paywall)Australia is one of the few countries in the world that encourages speculation in residential housing, which means we get boom/bust cycles in shelter. To avoid that, many countries have rent controls or direct regulation of house prices, or both. ... After all, accommodation is an essential service ... so it’s arguably a responsibility of government to ensure we can all afford it. ... It’s also an unproductive asset, so over-investing in it can hold back a country’s productivity. But in Australia, housing speculation is actively encouraged: Tax is applied to only half of the capital gain, and if you live in it rather than rent it out there’s no capital gains tax at all. Plus, negative gearing ... But wait, there’s more ... [Read on]
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2021/03/22/alan-kohler-housin…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, State Government, Tax.Only a small fraction of buildings with flammable cladding have been fixed, and owners are feeling the strain
Trivess Moore and others The Conversation (No paywall)Australia has more than 3,400 buildings with flammable cladding. In Victoria alone, at least 71 of these buildings have been classified as “extreme risk” and another 368 as “high risk”. Despite the tragic evidence of the risks of cladding fires, rectification work had been completed on only 11 of these buildings by February 2021.
https://theconversation.com/only-a-small-fraction-of-buildings-w…
# Australia, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.First homebuyers urged to proceed with caution as Sydney's housing surge continues
Kathleen Calderwood ABC (No paywall)It’s a cold reality of Sydney’s white-hot property market and experts are warning it could land newly minted homeowners in trouble. ... It’s prompted a warning some people could be taking on more debt than they can handle.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-20/first-homebuyers-cautione…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.Housing market tipped to power on despite end of JobKeeper: economists
Tawar Razaghi Domain (Paywall)The property market is set to roll on full steam ahead despite economic support measures coming to an end from this week, defying long-held worries about a looming fiscal cliff, according to top economists. The strength of bricks and mortar barely crumbled during the pandemic-induced recession, with property prices edging lower briefly then soaring in major cities and regional towns – flying in the face of forecasts.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/housing-market-tipped-to-power-on…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Young buyers face 'perfect storm' in the housing market
Anna Levy ABC (No paywall)Young people looking to buy their first property are facing stiff competition - and online 'bidding' platforms might be making it harder. High demand, limited supply and low interest rates have led to what experts call a perfect storm for the housing market, with prices reaching record highs. (Triple J Hack)
https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/housing-affordabili…
# Hot topic Australia, Home ownership.Why buyers should think twice before taking out a low-deposit home loan
Matt Johnson The New Daily (No paywall)Australians have been warned to consider the ‘what ifs’ before taking on a low-deposit mortgage as buyers swallow more risk to beat the house price surge.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/03/18/high-risk…
# Australia, Home ownership.Sydney’s cluster of Seidler buildings at risk of being demolished
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Buildings designed by internationally acclaimed architect Harry Seidler are at risk of being bulldozed under Sydney’s planning rules that do not recognise the 1960s apartment blocks as having heritage value. The City of Sydney council classifies Seidler’s unit blocks as detracting from the heritage precincts around Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay in Sydney’s inner east because they’re only 50 to 60 years old. “At the moment, heritage is the only means we have of recognising qualities of buildings,” said architect Philip Thalis, who is also a City of Sydney councillor.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-s-cluster-of-seidler-…
# NSW, Heritage listings.