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
Fixed or variable? A look at how home loan rate options across Australia stack up
Peter Hannan The Guardian (No paywall)After crunching the numbers, it’s clear that mortgage holders shouldn’t just do nothing, says RateCity’s head of research.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/15/fixed-or-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Albany landslide to be surveyed as WA government 'leans in' to help affected properties
Olivia Di Iorio ABC (No paywall)A home owner in the path of a landslide on Western Australia's south coast hopes a geotechnical survey of the hillside will finally provide answers to what is causing the disaster.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-13/albany-landslide-geotechn…
# Australia, .‘Stuck with useless land’: Harry Triguboff fights council over Bondi synagogue
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A synagogue in Sydney’s eastern suburbs faces an uncertain future as Meriton founder Harry Triguboff battles a local council over permission to build flats on the site.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/stuck-with-useless-land-harr…
# NSW, Landlords and agents, Local Government, Planning and development.If the Tories U-turn on no-fault evictions, they’ll be guaranteeing misery for renters
Daniel Lavelle The Guardian (No paywall)The Tories have not exactly hidden their contempt for the British public over the past 12 years, but they’re not even trying to maintain the facade any more. In Liz Truss’s latest gambit to hand Keir Starmer the keys to Downing Street, the government may be about to break its promise of banning no-fault evictions. It risks creating a homelessness catastrophe this winter.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/11/tories-evi…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Homelessness, No-grounds evictions.Are there any short term fixes for the rental crisis?
Michele Weekes ABC (No paywall)The latest figures show residential rental vacancies at their lowest levels ever. Fixing the rental crisis means releasing more land, building more homes and other measures that are longer term solutions. So what can be done in the meantime? (ABC Radio National)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/are-th…
# Audio Australia, Rent, Housing market.No-fault eviction ban and affordable housing face chop under new reforms, say reports
Ella Jessel Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Ministers are drawing up plans to slash affordable-housing requirements and shelve a planned ban on no-fault evictions in a new set of reforms ... According to The Times, Simon Clarke, the housing secretary, has written to prime minister Liz Truss, putting forward a series of measures and policies to boost housebuilding and fuel economic growth. Under current planning rules, developers must include affordable housing in any scheme of more than 10 homes, but it is understood Mr Clarke now wants to hike this threshold up to 40 or even 50. ... Other policies that do not “boost growth” could be put on the back burner, The Times reports, including a proposed ban on controversial no-fault evictions. This was a promise made in the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto. The ban is not considered a “priority” now, according to the report, despite a surge in the number of renters being made homeless by landlords using Section 21 notices.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/no-fault-eviction-ban-…
# International, Eviction, Affordable housing, Housing market, No-grounds evictions, Planning and development.Sydney expected to overtake Canberra as most expensive Australian city for renters
The Guardian (No paywall)Sydney is tipped to replace Canberra as the most expensive capital city for renters as migration picks up in the harbourside city. Canberra was the only city to record a decline in rents in the three months to September, according to CoreLogic, with asking rents falling by 0.4%. CoreLogic’s Kaytlin Ezzy said the gap between the two most expensive rental markets was narrowing. “Given international migration is expected to continue to support rental demand across Sydney, while affordability is expected to hamper Canberra’s rental growth, it’s likely we’ll see Sydney overtake Canberra as Australia’s most expensive capital city rental market in the coming months,” Ezzy said. ... Low-income renters are about to be squeezed further as the national rental affordability scheme ends. .... Everybody’s Home spokesperson Kate Colvin said winding down the scheme would cancel out the 25,000 extra social-housing dwellings promised by the new government’s housing fund.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/10/sydney-ex…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Sydney.Perrottet proposes cap on annual land tax increases as part of stamp duty overhaul
Alexandra Smith and Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government is proposing a legislated cap on yearly increases to land tax to protect first homebuyers from bill spikes, as Premier Dominic Perrottet accuses Labor of a Mediscare-style campaign designed to sink his ambitious stamp duty reforms. As part of Perrottet’s landmark stamp duty reform legislation, to be introduced to NSW Parliament this week, annual land tax payments will not rise by more than 4 per cent if buyers opt to pay the yearly levy rather than upfront stamp duty. Read their further article entitled: 'Crossbench MPs back a short, sharp inquiry into Perrottet’s stamp duty reforms' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/crossbench-mps-back-a-short-sharp-inquiry-into-perrottet-s-stamp-duty-reforms-20221011-p5boyq.html]. Also, read Michael McGowan's article entitled: 'NSW stamp duty overhaul "vanilla" but could help first home buyers cut costs' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/11/nsw-stamp-duty-overhaul-vanilla-but-could-help-first-home-buyers-cut-costs]. Read Michael McGowan's further article entitled: 'Stamp duty vs land tax: how to save money on five NSW properties' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/12/the-nsw-stamp-duty-question-will-home-buyers-be-better-off-with-an-annual-tax]. Read Dominic Perrottet's opinion piece entitled: 'I want to change stamp duty for good' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/i-want-to-change-stamp-duty-for-good-20221010-p5bojz.html]. Read Daniel Mookhey's opinion piece in reply entitled: 'Why Perrottet’s land tax will leave home buyers out of pocket' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/why-perrottet-s-land-tax-will-leave-home-buyers-out-of-pocket-20221012-p5bp4q.html]. Read Alexandra Smith's opinion piece entitled: 'Premier’s stamp duty desperation a crossbencher’s dream' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/premier-s-stamp-duty-desperation-a-crossbencher-s-dream-20221012-p5bp2x.html].
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/perrottet-proposes-cap-on-an…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government, Tax.