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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
National vacancy rates plummet, residents return to Melbourne and Sydney CBDs
Rachel Wells Domain (No paywall)he total number of rental properties sitting empty across Australia has plunged to just 1.8 per cent in May, a level not seen since October 2012, new research reveals. ... The May figures also reveal that vacancy rates in the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs, which soared last year during COVID-related lockdowns, have also fallen substantially.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/national-vacancy-rates-plummet-re…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.COVID-19 vaccines are low in areas where eviction rates are high, report finds
Ayelet Sheffey (No paywall)The eviction moratorium from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to expire at the end of June, but courts have begun overruling the ban, putting tenants at risk of eviction. New data suggests that lifting the moratorium will not only increase evictions, but also increase the spread of COVID-19. (Business Insider Australia)
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/eviction-rates-high-in-low-co…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Heritage-listed homeless shelter gets $12m facelift, bigger rooms, private bathrooms
Anna Patty The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The $12 million refurbishment of Wesley Mission’s 174-year-old heritage-listed Wesley crisis accommodation centre has doubled the size of rooms which now come with an ensuite and personal storage to provide a more private retreat. ... Wesley Mission chief executive officer and superintendent Reverend Stu Cameron said the facelift had been designed by architects Scott Carverto to inspire hope and dignity in residents who seek refuge in emergency accommodation.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/heritage-listed-homeless-she…
# NSW, Homelessness.Poorer households in UK should get free heat pumps, say experts
Fiona Harvey The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Households on low incomes should be supplied with free heat pumps in order to kickstart the market for low-carbon heating equipment and meet the UK’s climate targets, experts have told the government.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/16/poorer-house…
# International, Utilities water energy internet.House of cards: Australia’s main response to the Covid recession was to keep home prices booming
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)Ever since the Reserve Bank began its run of cutting rates at the end of 2011, the boom in prices has been about houses, not apartments ... And thus the government policies that keep adding to demand for housing, whether it be buying established homes or building new ones, seem set to do what they are always intended to do – keep house prices growing.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/jun/17/hou…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Return of property investors raises questions for regulators
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It is becoming clearer that the window for large numbers of first home-buyers to scramble into the property market is fast closing, with investors and speculators chasing big capital gains returning.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/return-of-property-invest…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Homeowners on alert as fixed-rate mortgages rise
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Lenders are increasing their interest rates on 4 and 5-year fixed-rate mortgages as they prepare for the end of central-bank sponsored cheap funding designed to lubricate the economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/homeowners-on-alert-as-fi…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Stamp duty v land tax: the pros and cons explained
Noel Whittaker The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Housing affordability continues to be a hot topic and the often-raised suggestion of replacing stamp duty on the sale of a property with a universal land tax is back on the table again. The idea has been around for more than a decade after former Treasury secretary Ken Henry claimed that stamp duty not only is a disincentive for people to move, but also gives state governments erratic income ... [Read on]
https://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/stamp-duty-v-land-tax-the-pros-…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Tax.