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
Pandemic savings put brakes on household debt risk: economists
Rachel Wells Domain (Paywall)The war chest of savings Australians have built during the pandemic, coupled with less than breakneck annual growth in housing prices, is reducing the risks of our high household debt load, economists say.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/pandemic-savings-put-brakes-on-ho…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market.You may never get a better deal on fixed-rate mortgages
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)2020 was the year that hordes of borrowers started fixing their mortgage interest rates, as extraordinary central bank stimulus policies caused the cost of these loans to all but collapse. It is early still days but 2021 looks more like a year of economic recovery, albeit without a return to “normal” any time soon. Some economists believe that may mean ultra-low fixed mortgage rates may have already hit their bottom.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/you-may-never-get-a-bette…
# Australia, Housing market.Scammers seek thousands of pounds from individuals for fake L&Q bond
Dominic Brady Inside Housing (Paywall)Scammers parading as a UK housing association have asked for investment worth tens of thousands of pounds in a fraudulent bond transaction. Read more.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/scammers-seeking-thousands-…
# International, Public and community housing.President Biden Extended the Eviction Ban Through March 2021. Here’s How You Can Get Protection
Taylor Moore (No paywall)From the United States ... To mitigate the harm of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden signed 17 executive orders hours after being inaugurated — one of which is intended to protect renters. President Biden directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to extend the nationwide ban on evictions through March 2021. The executive order also extends the foreclosure moratorium on government-backed mortgages, including those backed by the USDA, VA, and HUD. It also allows homeowners to apply for mortgage forbearance if they need it. (NextAdvisor)
You will find a similar article by Dale Smith and Clifford Colby entitled 'Biden extends eviction moratorium until March 31: What renters should know' at [https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/biden-eviction-moratorium-what-renters-should-know-if-ban-extends-to-sept-30/] (c|net)
https://time.com/nextadvisor/in-the-news/biden-eviction-moratori…
# Must read International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Biden extends the national ban on evictions through March 2021
Annie Nove and Carmen Reinicke (No paywall)From the United States ... President Joe Biden on Wednesday extended the federal ban on evictions through March 2021 with an executive action in one of his first official acts following inauguration. The ban on evictions has helped millions of Americans struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic. The moratorium on evictions was set to expire at the end of the month. ... In addition, there are growing calls for the ban to be matched with adequate rental assistance so that an eviction crisis is prevented rather than merely delayed. So far, Congress has allocated $25 billion in rental assistance but, after months of record job losses, rental arrears may be closer to $100 billion. (CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/biden-to-extend-the-national-ban…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Shelter NSW January 2021 eBulletin
(No paywall)Check out this month's edition: (i) Putting Communities Plus under the spotlight – Franklyn Street Glebe; (ii) Waterloo Over Station Development – Shelter NSW submission in the spotlight; (iii) NSW Government Homelessness Strategy Audit Office Review - Shelter NSW submission underway; (iv) Shelter NSW Student Placement Program
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/shelter-nsw-january-2021-ebulletin…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, Campaigns and law reform, Homelessness.Heatwaves may mean Sydney is too hot for people to live in 'within decades'
James Purtill ABC (No paywall)Parts of Victoria and NSW are sweating through an extreme heatwave that started sweeping across Australia's southeast yesterday. This may seem like just a good excuse to go to the beach, but as the planet warms and summers become longer and less bearable, heatwaves are coming to represent an existential threat to Australian suburbs. Already, heat kills more people in Australia than any other natural disaster, including floods, cyclones and bushfires. Now, faced with the prospect of 50-degree-plus summers, experts say highly urbanised parts of Australia may become unliveable within decades. The race is on to re-imagine, redesign and rebuild the Australian suburb.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-01-24/heatwaves-sydney-…
# Must read Australia, Planning and development.European Parliament vote on affordable housing wins the day! Promoting security of tenure, affordability and enforceable right to adequate housing
(No paywall)The European Parliament promotes security of tenure, affordability and enforceable right to adequate housing – IUT President Marie Linder: This is a game-changer in times of liberalization of national housing markets: affordability and protection of vulnerable groups is the key! Read on ... International Union of Tenants)
https://www.iut.nu/eu/ep-vote-on-affordable-housing-wins-the-day/
# Must read International, Rent, Human rights.