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
On the never ending saga of affordable housing
The Fifth Estate (No paywall)The NSW government has taken aim at housing affordability in a new 20-year strategy, pinning its hopes to the private sector while social housing takes a back seat ... this week the NSW government released its Housing Strategy 2041, hoping to map a path away from the state’s housing woes with a broadly encompassing 20-year plan. [But, ... read on]
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/news-from-the-front-desk/o…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Disability, Estate renewal, Housing affordability, Housing market, Older people, State Government.Time to get your strata housing in order Victoria
Poppy Johnston The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Why is it so hard to get some help for better sustainability in apartments? Here are some of the hurdles from a Victorian point of view and why it’s time for change.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/time-to-g…
# Australia, Strata, Utilities water energy internet, Housing market.Interest rates not the right 'tool' to address runaway house prices, Reserve Bank says
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)The Reserve Bank has said property price rises can exacerbate inequality, and it is "certainly an issue" that needs to be considered at the moment. But monetary policy is not the appropriate tool to address the problem, because it is designed to encourage employment and inflation, it said. It means the RBA will not be tempted to lift interest rates to try to cool Australia's runaway property prices, regardless of community concerns about unaffordable housing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-06/guy-debelle-rba-monetary-…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Human rights.Houses have never been more affordable
Paul Johnson ABC (No paywall)Towards end of item about Q+A ... Alan Kohler says 'due to interest rates Australian housing has "never been more affordable"' ... and this drew a surprised response. ... [but] those who are renting are the ones in trouble. ... "One of the problems with being a tenant is the laws in Australia favour landlords, and they're only just starting to change," he said. "In Europe it's OK to be a tenant and people are tenants all their lives, because you get protected. In America there's rent control, we have none of that in Australia ... Tenants are really screwed here."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-07/q-a-india-travel-ban-coer…
# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Public housing shortage a 'much bigger problem than people imagine' but Brisbane Housing Company has big plans
Emilie Gramenz ABC (No paywall)Frankie Mitchell and her husband Tony found themselves with few options when the property they had lived in for five years was sold. ... The couple are among the new tenants at a recently constructed affordable housing complex at Woolloongabba in Brisbane. There are 32 new units allocated for people on low incomes, workers in essential industries, and five young people supported through the Brisbane Youth Service. The project was jointly funded by the Queensland government and community housing provider, Brisbane Housing Company (BHC).
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-07/qld-public-housing-brisba…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, State Government.Aged care before tax cuts: Experts say budget needs revenue, not tax relief
Jennifer Duke and Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Two of the nation’s top policy experts, Bernie Fraser and Andrew Podger, have urged Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to dump at least part of his stage three personal income tax cuts and use the money to increase spending on aged care and other critical services.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/aged-care-before-tax-cut…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing market, Older people.Chip off the old blocks: would Australia’s empty office towers be better off as housing?
Lisa Green The Guardian (No paywall)"It’s crazy to leave existing infrastructure empty when we have people sleeping in the streets,” says Robert Pradolin, founder and executive director of Housing All Australians. As office blocks stand half empty in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, at the same time as a severe shortage in affordable housing makes headlines, it is tempting to think the former issue might be a solution to the latter. ... However, leading design industry practitioners say the only Australian office buildings viable for conversion to residential flats were built before the 1980s.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/07/chip-off-th…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.'Affordable decent housing’ – the 2nd most important liveability attribute
Dan Evans (No paywall)Affordable decent housing’ is the 2nd most important attribute that Australians believe contributes to making somewhere a good place to live, with 51% nominating among their top five liveability attributes – behind ‘feeling safe’ (72%) and ahead of ‘high quality health services’ (48%). ‘Access to the natural environment’ (47%) and ‘a diverse range of shopping, leisure and dining experiences’ (33%) were the 4th and 5th most important. (.id blog)
https://blog.id.com.au/2021/community-views/affordable-decent-ho…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market.