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
'It’s a game-changer': Victoria commits $5.3bn to 12,000 social housing homes
AAP The Guardian (No paywall)Experts say package is “massive leap” towards solving homelessness crisis but Greens say more than 100,000 people on waiting list for public housing.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/15/its-a-gam…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing, Home, Coronavirus COVID-19.Inheritance, not work, has become the main route to middle-class home ownership
Lisa Adkins and Martijn Konings The Guardian (No paywall)In many of the world’s largest and most expensive cities, young people find themselves in a strange predicament. Although their educational credentials and employment prospects put them in the “middle-class” category, many have virtually no chance of ever making it on to the property ladder.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/09/inheritanc…
# Hot topic International, Young people, Home ownership.COVID to halve international student numbers in Australia by mid-2021 – it’s not just unis that will feel their loss
Peter Hurley The Conversation (No paywall)Our research shows the location and density of the reductions in international students vary by city. For instance, an estimated 72,000 fewer international students are living in Sydney because of the pandemic. ... inner-city regions have been the most affected. Areas with large Chinese international student populations, such as Hurstville in Sydney’s south-west and Strathfield in Sydney’s west, also show significant reductions.
https://theconversation.com/covid-to-halve-international-student…
# Hot topic Australia, Students, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.‘'It's totally dead now": Overseas student exodus cost Sydney's economy $2.5b
Anna Patty and Matt Wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The exodus of international students due to the COVID-19 pandemic has cost Sydney's economy $2.5 billion as small businesses go quiet and rental properties remain empty.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/it-s-totally-dead-now-overse…
# NSW, Sydney, Coronavirus COVID-19, Students, Housing market.Australian property bubble hasn't yet burst, but can house prices keep rising amid the pandemic?
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)After years of dire predictions that Australia's property bubble could burst, national house prices continue to withstand the otherwise devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and once again the doomsayers have been proven wrong.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-06/property-bubble-burst-cor…
# Australia, Housing market, Coronavirus COVID-19.Australians are building larger homes and renovating more, thanks to COVID
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)What happens when governments ask millions of Australians to work from home and only leave when absolutely necessary? They build bigger homes, according to Commsec.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2020/11/09/australia…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Australian house sizes are increasing, led by the ACT: CommSec report
Jessica Taulaga Domain (No paywall)New Australian houses are getting bigger after years of shrinking amid a widespread rethink of living arrangements prompted by the pandemic, and the ACT is leading the charge with the biggest houses in the country, new research shows.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-house-sizes-are-increa…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Cash-strapped retiree? PLS reverse mortgages are providing answers
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A federal government reverse-mortgage scheme that for years failed to gain any traction with cash-strapped retirees is finally seeing a big increase in the number of applications. COVID-19-induced erosion of retirement funds and falling interest rates for term deposits have left many pensioners scrambling for new options to generate enough income to live on.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/cash-strappe…
# Australia, Housing market, Older people, Coronavirus COVID-19.