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
Questions to ask yourself before house-sitting
Meg Watson ABC (No paywall)Have you ever done the maths on how much money you pay in rent? ... But this itinerant life isn't for everyone. Here are a few important questions you should ask yourself before you tear up your lease. [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/questions-to-ask-yourself-before…
# Australia, Rent, Share houses.First-home buyers face stiff competition as investors return to the property market
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)First-home buyers are beginning to be squeezed out of the housing market by investors who are driving stiff competition at auctions, agents report. The change is trickling through on auction floors with more investors registering to bid on properties, sending prices higher. Some are determined to buy bricks and mortar rather than leaving money in the bank, where it largely collects dust due to the low-interest rate environment.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/first-home-buyers-face-stiff-comp…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Public Interest Debate on Housing Affordability
(No paywall)Recently there was a Public Interest Debate on Housing Affordability in the Legislative Assembly of the NSW Parliament. You may read here what some of our MPs said in the Hansard record.
http://www.gregpiper1.com/index.cfm?module=news&pagemode=indiv&p…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.Home ownership a fading dream for many Sydneysiders
Matt Wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A falling rate of home ownership threatens to trigger a surge in demand for social housing and drag on the state’s finances in coming decades, the NSW government has warned. The NSW intergenerational report, which forecasts how the state will change over the next 40 years, says the home ownership rate in NSW has now declined for each generation since the Baby Boomers. ... Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, who released the intergenerational report on Monday, said housing affordability was becoming a more important challenge for state governments.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/home-ownership-a-fading-drea…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability.Pemulwuy – ‘Col would be truly proud’
Amanda Fleming (No paywall)At the end of May, in the lead up to Reconciliation Week, Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) CEO Michael Mundine and General Manager Lani Tuitavake took Karine Shellshear on a tour of the student housing, named in honour of her late husband, which has underwritten the financing of the Pemulwuy Project.
https://southsydneyherald.com.au/pemulwuy-col-would-be-truly-pro…
# NSW, Housing market, Students.LANDMARK PROJECT TO ALLEVIATE HOUSING STRESS
(No paywall)The first of more than 400 people have received the keys to their new home in Redfern following the completion of one of the state’s largest social and affordable housing projects. Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Alister Henskens said the 162-unit development will alleviate housing stress and provide critical support for those who need it most. ... The project was supported with finance from the National Housing and Finance Investment Corporation and land from the City of Sydney, and has an 8.3-star rating under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme. ... [St George Community Housing CEO. Scott Langford, said] "Given the location in Redfern, we have committed a target of 25 per cent of allocations to Aboriginal household'.
https://www.dcj.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/812232/la…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Local Government, State Government.Property boom tipped to continue into 2022
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Property prices are likely to keep roaring higher into further record territory next year, as the Australian economy’s stronger-than-expected recovery continues. And there is a good chance that they could continue to climb after that, market experts say, albeit prices could start to moderate and even return to their long-term percentage annual growth rates of low, single digits. ... Figures from SQM Research show that although inner-city apartment rental vacancy rates have dipped from their record highs of last year, they remain elevated by historic levels.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/property-boom-tipped-to-c…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.House prices have skyrocketed in Queanbeyan, pricing many locals out of the market
Isaac Nowroozi ABC (No paywall)Many Canberrans who find themselves priced out of the housing market have long looked across the border into New South Wales to get ahead, but as the COVID-19 property boom continues around Australia, the surrounding region is not offering much relief. ... [And] with vacancy rates in the Queanbeyan region hovering at less than one per cent for more than a year, real estate agents and property managers say there is nothing they can do for a lot of people.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-10/queanbeyan-house-prices-s…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.