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
Competitive rental market forces pet owners into homelessness
Georgia Hewson ABC (No paywall)It is a decision that more Australians have had to face over the last eighteen months — keeping a best friend or having somewhere to live. Record low rental vacancy rates have pushed low-income earners with pets out of the running.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-03/homeless-face-fight-to-ho…
# Australia, Discrimination, Rent, Homelessness.We need a top-level inquiry into runaway home prices - and Ken Henry’s up for it
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)From my observations, combatants in the housing affordability debate usually fall broadly into one of two camps. On the supply side, they predominantly blame restrictive planning laws, regulations and excessive developer charges. On the demand side, they emphasise the role of tax breaks in encouraging speculative investment in property and ultra-low interest rates for facilitating higher borrowing. ... Call it an elephant, or call it a gorilla, what’s crystal-clear is that Australia’s growing housing affordability crisis is wreaking havoc on the quality of life of all Australians and it needs to be stopped.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/we-need-a-top-level-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development, Tax.Through-the-roof home prices nothing short of a crisis
Editorial (Paywall)Lockdowns have given people in Melbourne and Sydney plenty of time to reflect on what their homes mean to them, and some will find considerably more comfort in that than others. ... This apparent rise in wealth and prosperity might bring a warm inner glow to the nation’s home owners, but the size of these figures and their trajectory will be chilling for those who have endured lockdown in a home owned by someone else and have dreams of buying their own.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/through-the-roof-home-prices-…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government, Tax.New Zealand reserve bank to toughen mortgage-lending rules in bid to tackle housing crisis
Helen Livingstone The Guardian (No paywall)New Zealand’s reserve bank has announced plans to tighten up mortgage-lending, as the country struggles to tackle its housing crisis. One measure, which would come into force from 1 October after consultations, will involve reducing the portion of loans banks can make to owner occupiers with less than 20% of their deposit.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/03/new-zealand-reserv…
# International, Home ownership, Housing market.ATO's warning for 1.8 million property owners: 'Expect consequences'
Lucy Dean (No paywall)The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has put property investors on notice this tax time, warning that it will be scrutinising these claims closely. More than 1.8 million Australians owning rental properties claimed $38 billion in deductions in the 2019-20 financial year, with ATO assistant commissioner Tim Loh flagging extended surveillance this year. He said the most common mistake investors make is failing to declare all their income, including capital gains from selling the investment property or holiday home. (yahoo!finance)
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/ato-property-investor-warning-…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents, Tax.First-home buyers dropping out of the property market as investors return, new data shows
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)First-home buyers are getting crowded out of the hot property market by stiff competition from investors, downsizers and buyers in between. ... Rising prices have tempted investors back into the market in recent months, attracted by the prospect of future capital growth and the chance to borrow at interest rates that could stay low until 2024. Those same price rises have pushed homeownership further out of reach for some first-home hopefuls, who struggle to save enough to keep up with the increased deposit requirement.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/first-home-buyers-dropping-out-of…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Climate change: Wales set to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes
Steffan Messenger BBC (No paywall)Plans to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes for rent in Wales by 2026 have been set out by the Welsh government's climate change minister. The hope is to tackle both a housing shortage and the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. Housing associations say it could lead to thousands of jobs and training opportunities. But the Welsh government's opponents have said they would have gone further and built more. All the houses will meet what the government describes as "bold, new quality and environmental standards".
# International, Public and community housing, Climate change, Minimum habitability standards.‘One life event away’: Homeless urged to complete the census
Julie Power The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Welfare groups expect next Tuesday’s census to record a significant increase in homelessness, particularly in regional areas because of unemployment and high rents caused by the pandemic. ... Homelessness advocates and welfare groups are working with the Australian Bureau of Statistics to encourage anyone who is homeless - or living in insecure and uncertain housing - to complete the census form accurately. It is the only national record of homelessness. ... Mission Australia’s chief executive James Toomey said contrary to popular belief, only seven per cent of families and people who were homeless were sleeping rough on the streets or in cars. ... At Rev Bill Crews Foundation in Ashfield, staff from the ABS will help visitors lining up for a free meal or the vaccine to complete the census. Rev Crews said the demand for free meals and the need for affordable public housing was “off the charts”. “If I am really blunt, governments know the situation, they really honestly know, they just don’t act upon it,” he said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/one-life-event-away-homeless-urg…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Health, Homelessness.