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
French authorities destroy shanty town on Indian Ocean island of Mayotte
Mark Armstrong Euro News (No paywall)France deploys hundreds of police officers to oversee the destruction of a slum on the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean in an operation authorities say is aimed at curbing sub-standard housing and illegal migration.
Operation Wuambushu started in the early hours of Monday morning when diggers moved in to start knocking down sheet metal homes in the Talus 2 slum on Mayotte.
Gendarmes wielding crowbars entered the homes to check no one was inside before the destruction began, AFP journalists reported, while the electricity and water supply was cut.
https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/22/french-authorities-destroy-s…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, International, Planning and development.Sydney needs to reach for the sky to fix housing shortage, says Minns
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW Premier Chris Minns has warned that urban sprawl will stop Sydney from being a leading global city and insists that building up – not out – will be key to creating a vibrant, young metropolis.
“We have to go up,” Minns said. “Sydney can’t grow by adding another street to the western fringe of Sydney every other week … [because] you have to stretch social infrastructure over a bigger and bigger plane.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/sydney-needs-to-reach-for-th…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.The Great Australian Dream is now being able to afford the rent
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)For too long, the measure of success in Australia was owning a house with a backyard and a Hills Hoist. The quarter-acre block, with space so plentiful beyond the three or four bedrooms that there was ample room for a barbecue, a makeshift cricket pitch and perhaps even a pool. But the Great Australian Dream is no longer about owning a house, it’s being able to afford the rent.
The first Resolve Political Monitor survey for the Herald since the March election leaves little doubt about that. A growing number of NSW voters are anxious about skyrocketing rents. Unsurprisingly, almost two-thirds of voters list rising grocery prices and energy bills as the biggest squeeze on their household budget.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-great-australian-dream-i…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.NSW Housing Minister looking for ways to unlock land
Gillian Bennett ABC (No paywall)In the next five years it's estimated there will be a shortfall of more than 100,000 homes across the country.
To help ease the crisis, the New South Wales government wants state government agencies to hand over any land they're not using.
Guest: Rose Jackson, NSW Housing Minister
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/nsw-hous…
# Hot topic, Audio NSW, Housing affordability, Planning and development, State Government.Which suburbs could renters afford on increased welfare payments?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Low-income households could not afford to rent the typical unit in any suburb of any major city despite increases in welfare payments and rent assistance.
The federal government announced a $40 fortnightly increase to income support payments, such as JobSeeker and Youth Allowance, in Tuesday’s budget, as well as a 15 per cent increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance – the first real rise in more than three decades.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/which-suburbs-could-renters…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, State Government, Welfare.Revealed: Sydney suburbs where billions of dollars worth of public housing stock was sold
Michael McGowan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A massive dossier of property sales has revealed almost $3.6 billion in public housing stock and land was disposed of by the previous NSW government during its 12 years in government.
Housing Minister Rose Jackson has ordered a pause on further sales as the new government combs through a trove of documents showing the Coalition offloaded 7628 properties across the state between 2011 and 2023.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/revealed-sydney-suburbs-wher…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Planning and development, State Government.When Noeleen Smith retired eight years ago she was looking forward to settling down and finding an affordable place to live outside Sydney.
Keira Proust ABC (No paywall)When Noeleen Smith retired eight years ago she was looking forward to settling down and finding an affordable place to live outside Sydney.
When Noeleen Smith retired eight years ago she was looking forward to settling down and finding an affordable place to live outside Sydney.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-13/residential-land-lease-co…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Land lease communities, Older people, Personal stories.One in 10 homes in Sydney’s inner west is empty. The council wants them taxed
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Sydney council has proposed a tax on empty homes to address the housing affordability crisis and increase the number of rental properties.
Inner West Council has also suggested banning no-fault evictions, lengthening tenancy periods to up to 10 years and charging higher rates to retail landlords who keep shopfronts empty.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/one-in-10-homes-in-sydney-s-…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, Sydney.