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
How to reduce the effects of natural disasters rather than just clean up after them
Sue Williams Domain (Paywall)Natural disasters are not new in this sunburnt country, our land of drought and flooding rains. The difference between now and 1906 when Dorothea Mackellar wrote My Country is that these days the disasters are more regular, have more ferocity and, with climate change, the outlook is even more dire. ... We’ve become extraordinarily good at mopping up after floods, bushfires, cyclones, storm surges and being smashed by hailstones. But, the bad news is that we’ve paid little attention to mitigating devastation.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/how-can-we-precent-rather-than-ju…
# Australia, Housing market.COVID-19 Research Hub
AHURI (No paywall)AHURI's COVID-19 Research Hub is the home for the latest research, policy analysis and news on housing, homelessness and urban responses to COVID-19. Check it out.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/covid-19?utm_source=website&ut…
# Research alert Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Homelessness, Planning and development.Commercial tenants and landlords at a ‘stalemate’ after rent relief measures end
Allison Worrall (Paywall)There is an air of uncertainty as commercial landlords and tenants enter into lease agreements and negotiations as stimulus measures and rental relief efforts introduced last year are wound up across the country. ... Rental relief agreements between landlords and tenants have now ended in all states except Queensland, where the relief period was extended to April 30. The changes coincide with the end of the federal government’s JobKeeper payments to COVID-affected businesses, raising concerns it could spell a wave of distressed selling.
https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/commercial-tenants-…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Fresh calls for HomeBuilder extension as industry reports record growth
EUan Black The New Daily (No paywall)The Morrison government is under pressure from Labor to extend the final HomeBuilder deadline after new data showed the construction industry is growing at its fastest pace since before the global financial crisis.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/04/07/homebuild…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.Trade and product shortages amid homebuilder grant-induced building boom 'a perfect storm', industry experts say
Rachel McGhee ABC (No paywall)Australia's building sector is bearing the brunt of a "perfect storm" of events, with near-record new home approvals putting intense pressure on supply chains and sparking construction delays.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-07/qld-tradie-shortage-amid-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.What tenancy protections are available for renters after the moratorium ends?
(No paywall)As Australia transitions out of the COVID-19 emergency period and moratoriums come to an end, several measures remain to support tenants and landlords. We’ve rounded up the key changes and financial support measures for each state and territory to help you navigate this period. (rent.com.au)
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Tenants in flood-affected areas face rent hikes amid shortage
Nila Sweeney (Paywall)The floods of last month across NSW may have receded in the affected areas, but the pain is just starting for a lot of renters. An analysis conducted by Suburbstrend.com found the NSW rental markets that were most impacted were already tightening dramatically before the flooding, as strong demand from tenants moving away from the CBD outpaced available rentals. ... “Many renters in these regions have already been under immense pressure before the floods as a result of the great city exodus,” said Kent Lardner, director of Suburbtrends.com. “So even a small number of people displaced by floods will now be actively looking for rental homes, which will tip many of these markets into a crisis point, especially for low income families.” ... Among the areas that were hardest hit include Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, Maitland, Taree and Lake Macquarie, where vacancies have fallen to about 0.2 per cent. The current shortage of available rentals in the region has prompted landlords and property managers to become more picky when choosing their tenants ... (Australian Financial Review)
https://www.afr.com/property/residential/tenants-in-flood-affect…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.How do we fix the UK housing crisis?
Hilary Osborne, Pamela Duncan and Lydia McMullan The Guardian (No paywall)Lindsay Judge, research director at the Resolution Foundation thinktank, ... describes the private rental sector as the “‘wild west’ of Britain’s housing stock” and the Resolution Foundation says it should be professionalised. The thinktank suggests policy should be “moving to indefinite tenancies, and creating a tenants’ loans system to tackle the mounting arrears crisis without causing mass evictions”. ... “The economic fallout from the pandemic has left millions of families worried about paying rent,” says Darren Baxter, housing policy and partnerships manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation thinktank. “The government should immediately introduce a targeted package of grants to support renters in arrears, ensuring that they can stay in their homes.” [Read the full article]
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/01/how-do-we-fix-t…
# International, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Home ownership, Housing market, Tax.