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
Father of six buys new home only to be driven into caravan by mould
Declan Gooch and Emma Pedler ABC (No paywall)When Joe Treagus bought a new house on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula a year ago he did not expect to end up living with his wife and six kids in a caravan. Mould has infiltrated the front wall of the house and the ensuite and, with its smell permeating every room, Mr Treagus felt he could not put his family – including a week-old baby – at risk.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-12/sa-family-driven-out-of-n…
# Australia, Home ownership, Mould.Brisbane's only inner-city caravan park is closing up shop after 65 years
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Newmarket Gardens Caravan Park in Brisbane's inner city is closing its doors after more than 60 years.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/brisbanes-only-inner-city-carava…
# Video Australia, Land lease communities.Tories’ manifesto pledge to build 300,000 houses a year now ‘almost impossible’
Michael Savage The Guardian (No paywall)Boris Johnson’s election pledge to build 300,000 new houses a year is in serious jeopardy in the face of labour and material shortages that are causing major disruption across the economy, industry figures have warned.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/10/tories-manifesto…
# International, Home ownership, Housing market.Evergrande’s rags-to-riches founder in race to save his empire
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Four years after vying with Jack Ma for the title of Asia’s richest man, Evergrande chairman Hui Ka Yan’s fortune is plunging and his sprawling real estate empire is on the verge of collapse. It’s a stunning reversal for a man who fought his way from poverty in rural China to build one of the world’s largest property companies.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/evergrande-s-rags-to-r…
# International, Housing market, Landlords and agents.ACT law change possible after Canberra developer 3 Property Group rescinds more contracts for off-the-plan properties
Antoinette Radford, Elizabeth Byrne and Michael Inman ABC (No paywall)Sheridan Burnett purchased an off-the-plan apartment from 3 Property Group's Allegro development. The developer has now pulled out of the deal, leaving Ms Burnett and others like her angry at being left high and dry.
# Australia, Strata, Housing market.The lenders who pay mortgage insurance for you
Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)There is a new battleground in the bid to attract mortgage customers in a fiercely competitive home loan market: Covering the cost of Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance (LMI). LMI is payable on mortgages with a loan-to-valuation ratio (LVR) of more than 80 per cent, and can set a borrower back about $11,000 on a loan of $700,000 with an LVR of 87.5 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/the-lenders-who-pay-mortg…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Only London’s highest earners able to rent privately at affordable cost, ONS says
Hilary Osbourne The Guardian (No paywall)Only the top 25% of earners in London were able to privately rent a property in the city at an affordable rate last year, according to official figures on costs across England. Data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that for three-quarters of households, rents in the capital were set at a level equal to more than 30% of their income.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/oct/06/london-rent-privat…
# International, Rent, Housing affordability.Ombudsman makes double severe maladministration finding against London landlord
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)A small London housing association has been hit with a rare double severe maladministration finding by the Housing Ombudsman after it left a resident living with damp and mould for two years. The arbitration service found severe maladministration in Inquilab Housing Association’s failure to respond to the resident’s request to deal with the problem and its subsequent complaint-handling. According to the resident, the leaks and outstanding repairs left her daughter’s bedroom unusable, damaging their belongings and impacting on their physical and mental health. Inquilab, which owns around 1,300 homes, was ordered to pay the resident £3,633 in compensation, prepare a detailed schedule of works to deal with outstanding repairs, and offer redress to reflect the damage to the resident’s possessions. It was also told to conduct a “senior management review” into why it failed to carry out the repairs and respond to the formal complaint despite multiple interventions from the ombudsman.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/ombudsman-makes-double…
# International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Mould.