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
Fleeing to the country: a cautionary tale
Tony Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Things moved to a slower rhythm out here in the country. Back then. Before COVID. ... Out here, beyond the suffocating lockdowns of the big city, the restlessness has its landing place in newly enlivened streets, where parking spots are getting scarce and the windows of real estate companies are emblazoned with “Sold” stickers. List a house or a building block these days and it might be as long as a week before a buyer, likely cashed up from selling out of suburban Melbourne for a million or so, turns up and doesn’t even negotiate unless there’s a competition for it, in which case the price edges up. It’s boom time ... It may be that all those city people selling up for a fortune now and fleeing their suburbs for quieter country towns, where COVID rarely threatens and where houses are relatively affordable even in what we call a boom, have thought it all through and will retire contentedly, far from their familiar streets. But in our town, like many in country Victoria and across Australia, they will find it difficult to get a doctor’s appointment. ...
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/fleeing-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Regional NSW.TasCOSS submits to Tasmania Government key initiative for August state budget
Matt Maloney (No paywall)TasCOSS has pitched to the government a $138 million household energy efficiency plan that it says will create 4000 jobs. In the peak social services body's budget priority statement, it said 85,000 Tasmanian homes would be retrofitted with energy efficiency upgrades if the government adopted the plan. (The Examiner)
https://www.examiner.com.au/story/7344408/energy-efficiency-prop…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Fixtures - lights, aircon etc, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government.Number of homes in the hands of investors almost triples since 1986
Geraden Cann (No paywall)From New Zealand ... The number of properties in the hands of investors increased about 191 per cent between 1986 and 2018, research has found. In real terms, that constituted 288,714 more properties entering the hands of investors, resulting in the group owning over a quarter of the occupied housing stock, or 440,025 properties. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/3…
# Research alert International, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Battle royale over putrid sewage leak in Sydney beachside suburb
Julie Power The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A blockage in an old private sewer pipe servicing 27 homes on a hill near Sydney’s Coogee Beach caused a putrid smelling river of faeces and toilet paper to flood downstream residents’ gardens, pavement and the nature strip for more than a month. After a temporary fix last week, the question of who is responsible for permanently repairing the pipe has turned into a “Battle Royale” between Randwick Council and Sydney Water – with each saying it is the other’s responsibility, said local resident Louise Clinton.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/battle-royale-over-putrid-se…
# Legal significance NSW, Utilities water energy internet, Housing market.Australian house prices to soar by up to 16% in 2021, ratings agency says
Ben Butler The Guardian (No paywall)Australian house prices are set to soar by as much as 16% this year, driven by government support and stronger than expected economic growth, the ratings agency Fitch predicts. ... “Low interest rates in Australia have also started to encourage housing investors into the market, potentially replacing demand from first-time buyers as they start to be priced out,” Fitch said.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/16/australia…
# Australia, Housing market.Homelessness, household stress on the rise
John Kidman (No paywall)Homelessness is projected to surge across Australia by nine per cent this year and housing stress could increase 24 per cent. The two are joint symptoms of a broken national system, says advocacy coalition Everybody's Home. Instead of treating the issues separately, the organisation suggests a holistic approach with five prongs. It wants more first-home buyer support, more low-cost properties, a better deal for renters, immediate relief for stressed households and a plan to end homelessness by 2030.
https://7news.com.au/business/housing-market/homelessness-househ…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing market.The Sydney regions where you make a profit from property and the regions where you make a loss
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Almost all homes at the top end of town in Sydney recorded a profit this year, with many turning around up to a million dollars in the space of just 12 months, new figures reveal. ... CoreLogic counted more than 2000 profit-making sales across Sydney where properties were held for a year or less in the March 2021 quarter. About one in five of those were investor resales and the remaining majority were owner-occupiers benefiting from large capital growth in the past year, said Ms Owen.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-sydney-regions-where-you-make…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.NSW Peaks push for measures to support households struggling during current lockdown.
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The Tenants Union of NSW, with the NSW Council of Social Services (NCOSS) and Homelessness NSW, have written to Premier Berejiklian and Treasurer Perrottet, asking them to ensure measures are in place to support the most vulnerable during the current lockdown.
https://www.tenants.org.au/news/nsw-peaks-push-measures-support-…
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.