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
Australians ready to buy property in 2021 after record savings’
Tawar Razaghi Domain (Paywall)The housing market will take off in 2021 after a long year plagued by the pandemic-induced recession that saw Australians squirrel away $110 billion in savings, according to experts.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australians-ready-to-buy-property…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.The three retirement pillars: How the experts are grappling with the retirement income review
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When Josh Frydenberg and Jane Hume stood in front of Melbourne's Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices last month to reveal a landmark review into the nation's retirement system, they were expected to also unveil the Morrison government's policy response. … But the Treasurer and Assistant Minister for Superannuation did not provide details about what policies the government would implement to tackle financial problems facing some retirees identified by the review panel. … The review panel was asked to look at three pillars of the nation's retirement system: the age pension, compulsory superannuation and voluntary savings, which includes home ownership.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-three-retirement-pil…
# Must read Australia, Home ownership, Older people.Take up of First Home Loan Deposit Scheme slower for new homes than established properties
Rachel Wells Domain (Paywall)First-home buyers have been slower to take up a government offer to buy new homes with a deposit as low as 5 per cent, compared with the previous rush to buy established homes through the program, new figures show.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/take-up-of-first-home-loan-deposi…
# Australia, Home ownership.Mascot Towers’ owners get their court date over ‘catastrophic damage
Sue Williams Domain (Paywall)Owners of apartments in the blighted Mascot Towers are finally to get their day in court, accusing the developer, builder and engineers of the next-door development of being responsible for work that caused catastrophic damage to their homes. The case is due to be held in the NSW Supreme Court this week on December 11 before Justice David Hammerschlag.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/mascot-towers-owners-go-to-court-…
# Legal significance NSW, Security and safety, Minimum habitability standards.Dealing with apartment defects: a how-to guide for strata owners and buyers
Sian Thompson and others The Conversation (No paywall)If you own an apartment – or are thinking of buying one – the recent news about building quality has been worrying. There have been evacuations at the Opal and Mascot apartment towers in Sydney, cladding fires at the Lacrosse and Neo200 towers in Melbourne and the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London. While most buildings won’t have such serious defects, many do have significant problems, and owners must get these fixed so they aren’t a health and safety risk. … This how-to guide takes current and potential owners through the steps of identifying and rectifying defects, with links to helpful resources. It includes advice on getting a defect report, whether the developer or builder might be responsible for fixing the issue, how to choose and manage building experts, and how to manage communication with owners and workers.
https://theconversation.com/dealing-with-apartment-defects-a-how…
# Must read NSW, Strata, Asbestos, lead, hazardous materials, Housing market.“The government wants your super”: How Dominique Grubisa sells her wares.
Richard Baker The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A leading Australian property spruiker warned her prospective clients that COVID-19 meant the federal government might try to take their superannuation, but promised she could “bulletproof” their assets for life.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/the-government-…
# NSW, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Ugly duckling turned brutalist beauty
Eliza Spencer (No paywall)Eliza Spencer explores the controversial plans to transform the Sirius building from public housing complex to boutique apartment building for the wealthy. (Sydney Sentinel)
https://sydneysentinel.com.au/2020/12/ugly-duckling-turned-bruta…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Heritage listings, Housing market.Half of surveyed renters suffered mental health decline during COVID-19
AHURI News AHURI (No paywall)New research shows how Australian renters have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 … Australian renters have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 facing income loss, the inability to pay rent, tenure insecurity and eviction risk and a new AHURI publication provides a stark analysis of the impacts of these unprecedented challenges. Twenty leading thinkers from housing, economics, policy, urban planning, and epidemiology have explored the results from a survey of 15,000 renting households for the publication ‘Rental Insights: A COVID-19 Collection’ at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/research-papers/rental-insights-a-covid-19-collection]
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/news/half-of-surveyed-renters-…
# Research alert Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health.