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 are the richest people in the world, says Credit Suisse
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Australia’s millionaires club is no longer the exclusive preserve of the mega rich and famous. A new report from Credit Suisse estimates as many as 1.8 million Australians are millionaires today based on net household wealth (defined as the value of financial and real assets minus debts). ... Australians derive most of their wealth from owning homes and company shares, the prices of which have soared during the pandemic as a result of record-low interest rates.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2021/06/24/austr…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership.Housing politics dominated by the interests of the already-housed
Jack Waterford Pearls and Irritations (No paywall)The housing market is not effectively closed to most young women and men by accident. House prices keep growing not so much by excess demand but because of the rewards we give investor buyers, the advantages in place for those already in the market and the tax and other advantages of owning a house, whether for one’s own family or as an investment. First home buyers will always be at the back of the queue while others have such advantages and they don’t.
https://johnmenadue.com/housing-politics-dominated-by-the-intere…
# Australia, Housing market, Planning and development, Tax.‘Creating massive uncertainty’: Government told to act on responsible lending laws
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The federal government’s planned repeal of responsible lending laws has come under attack from the Greens who are trying to force it to take the legislation to a vote this week. The government is looking to wind back some requirements on borrowers within the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. It is concerned that the requirements are too onerous and that facilitating more borrowing could help the economy’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. But Senator McKim said the laws were there to protect consumers from “greedy banks” and to prevent them from lending money to people who cannot afford it. He criticised the government for using the pandemic to wind back the rules.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/creating-massive-uncerta…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market.A new, rebalanced UK could be the happy legacy of a shift to working from home
Rowan Moore The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... As the government contemplates making it easier for workers to stay away from the office, could this revitalise poorer parts of the country?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/20/new-rebala…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.The House Of Horrors: DFA Daily 20th June 2021
Martin North (No paywall)In today’s post we pick apart the horrors of Australian housing, look at a horror story from US housing ... (Digital Finance Analytics)
https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/the-house-of-horrors-df…
# Audio Australia, Housing market, International.Accommodation supplement propping up rental market by $30m a week
Susan Edmunds (No paywall)From New Zealand ... The amount of money spent on accommodation supplements to help struggling tenants pay rent has doubled in recent years but there are warnings there is no easy way to redesign the system. Accommodation supplements are paid to people who need assistance with their housing costs, and are tied to incomes. In the March quarter of this year, there were 360,549 receiving the accommodation supplement, up 43,023 on the year before.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125195278/accommodation-supplem…
# International, Rent.The First Home Super Saver scheme can boost your deposit. Here's how to use it
Patrick Wright ABC (No paywall)Ana Kresina moved to Australia from Canada about seven years ago, and lately she's been thinking of buying a family home. To help her save a deposit, she's using the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) scheme, which helps eligible first-home buyers to save a house deposit through super. (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/how-the-first-home-super-saver-s…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership.Australia is seeing a housing boom, but builders are struggling to get the timber to make them
Richard Willingham ABC (No paywall)Andrew Clements wishes his truss business could pump out more trusses to keep up with Australia's insatiable appetite for building supplies, but he simply cannot get enough timber due to a "perfect storm" buffeting the construction industry.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-21/australia-victoria-housin…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.