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
In pictures: Homeless families march on Downing Street to demand council homes
Liam Geraghty (No paywall)Hundreds of families living in temporary accommodation and overcrowded housing marched on Downing Street calling for ministers to deliver more affordable homes. As Rishi Sunak tackled his first Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons, parents and children from London campaign groups Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL), Haringey Housing Action Group, Focus E15, and English for Action marched from Parliament Square to Number 10. (Big Issue)
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/in-pictures-homeless-famil…
# International, Affordable housing, Campaigns and law reform, Homelessness.First home owners would save money for 60 years with property tax, says NSW government
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A first home buyer who opts to pay property tax rather than stamp duty could be ahead financially for 60 years, according to NSW Treasury analysis released before the government’s final push to implement the Premier’s pet policy before the election. NSW Treasury modelling shows if a first home buyer opted for an annual property fee on a $1.5 million apartment, it would take 63 years before you reach the value of stamp duty that would have been paid in today’s dollars using the upfront fee. For a unit purchased for $1.25 million, it would take 52 years.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/first-home-owners-would-save…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market, State Government, Tax.WA aged care provider's workers' housing plans in danger as federal budget axes funding scheme
Georgia Loney ABC (No paywall)A WA aged care provider's plans to build a permanent workers' village to address the housing shortage could be jeopardised after the federal government scrapped a major regional development fund. Workers' villages are usually associated with north-west mining towns, but Bethanie Housing is planning to build the village on the site of its new aged care home in Bunbury, 200 kilometres south of Perth. It's been hailed as a potential solution to the housing shortage in regional WA, which is so bad that many workers further south are sleeping in tents. ... The housing project was approved by the WA government's Joint Development Assessment Panel this week. However, Bethanie had sought $8 million through the Building Betters Regions Fund for the project from the previous government. The money, which is awaiting approval, is now in doubt after Labor federal government cut the funding stream as part of Tuesday night's budget.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-27/wa-bethanie-aged-care-wor…
# Australia, Housing market, Work, employment.Most Australian homes won’t stand the test of time
ASh Cant The New Daily (No paywall)As states mop up from another devastating flood, it is time to consider planning for the disasters ahead – starting at home. Floods and bushfires have left thousands of people without a place to live over the past few years. The reality is many of those houses – and those still standing or under construction – are not fit for the current climate, let alone a future that is driven by climate change. Not only should we be considering where our homes are built, but also how they are constructed, senior lecturer at RMIT’s School of Property, Construction and Project Management, Dr Trivess Moore said. We need to consider whether the design will enable the structure to withstand extreme weather, Dr Moore said.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/10/28/australia…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.What makes a great footpath? The answer is key to our happiness and wellbeing as we age
Fatemeh Aminpour The Conversation (No paywall)As people age, they often become less confident about walking. Fear of falling can limit the activity of older people, leading them to become isolated. So what, exactly, makes for a great footpath to walk on? My colleagues and I explored this question in a recent paper. We used an evidence-based tool to measure the walkability of urban roads – assessing not just the footpath itself, but the features around it. The results can help urban designers make our cities more walkable, especially for older people.
https://theconversation.com/what-makes-a-great-footpath-the-answ…
# Australia, Health, Older people, Planning and development.How rural landsharing and co-housing are helping Australians enter the property market and find community
Liana Walker ABC (No paywall)When Lexie Gonzalez was growing up in public housing, she believed that she would never own a home. "It wasn't a value instilled in me that I could own my own house," she says. Her partner Mark Doonan feels the same: "All I've ever done is rent," he says. ... But then Doonan and Gonzalez discovered Goolawah Cooperative, a neighbourhood-to-be that would become their home. The Goolawah Cooperative is an example of a Rural Landsharing Community (RLC), an alternative and typically more affordable form of home ownership. An RLC is similar to Multiple Occupancy (MO) in which a company or a cooperative owns a block of land. Instead of residents then purchasing a divided lot, they purchase a share within the company or cooperative and then build a home on the land.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-31/rural-landsharing-and-coh…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Share houses, Home ownership, Regional NSW.NSW regional property prices fall for first time since early 2020
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)House prices in regional NSW have started to decline, new figures show, as rising interest rates and a drop in sea- and tree-changer activity reduces buyer demand. The median house price for regional NSW overall dropped 2 per cent over the September quarter, Domain figures show, falling more than $14,700 to about $715,300. Unit values dropped 3.5 per cent, or $20,000, to $555,000.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/nsw-regional-property-price…
# NSW, Housing market, Regional NSW.First home buyers’ dilemma – buy now, or wait for later?
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The question facing many of those looking to get a foot on the property ladder is whether to dive in now in the belief house prices will not fall much more, or wait in the hope prices will fall further in the months to come.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/first-home-b…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.