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
King Charles allowed to vet proposed Scottish rent freeze law
Severin Carrell, Rob Evans and David Pegg The Guardian (No paywall)King Charles has been allowed to vet and potentially lobby for changes to emergency legislation to freeze rents in Scotland because the measures could affect tenants on his private Highland estate at Balmoral. A bill to stop landlords unjustifiably raising rents for the next six months because of the cost of living crisis is being rushed through the Scottish parliament this week.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/04/king-charles-all…
# International, Rent.Improving housing affordability on the cards for Sydney’s new Deputy Lord Mayor
Sharlotte Thou City Hub (No paywall)Sylvie Ellsmore, the City of Sydney’s newly elected Deputy Lord Mayor, says that the City of Sydney “needs to do much more” to improve housing affordability. The City’s affordable and social housing targets state that by 2030, 7.5% of all housing will be affordable rental housing, and 7.5% of all housing will be social housing. Cr Ellsmore believes the City of Sydney is “currently not on track” to meet its housing affordability targets, which she describes as “relatively modest”. “We’re losing the public housing we have; we’re losing the affordable housing we have, and we’re not building enough of it as the city grows”, she told City Hub.
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2022/10/improving-housing-affordabi…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Local Government.Housing and homelessness agreement savaged in Productivity Commission report
Danielle Kutchel Pro bono Australia (No paywall)A Productivity Commission report into Australia’s housing crisis has denounced the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (NHHA), calling it “ineffective”. In a scathing review, the report found that the NHHA is “a funding contract, not a blueprint for reform” and “does not foster collaboration between governments or hold governments to account”. The comments led the 'In need of repair: The National Housing and Homelessness Agreement study report', which reaffirmed that Australia is in the grips of a housing crisis. You may view the report at:[https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/housing-homelessness/report]
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2022/10/housing-and-homeles…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.Palaszczuk met other state leaders to ‘get to the bottom’ of land tax concerns
Matt Dennien The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she met with interstate counterparts to “get to the bottom” of concerns about her government’s now-mothballed land tax change aimed at cross-border property investors. Palaszczuk also hosed down questions of any dysfunction in her cabinet after Treasurer Cameron Dick said despite his strenuous backing of the legislated change, he only learnt of the premier’s U-turn in support for it when the public did.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/palaszczuk-met-other-…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government, Tax.Stop development on flood plains before raising dam wall
Editorial The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)As Sydney is again drenched by enough rain to tip the city over into its wettest year in history, the danger posed to low-lying regions by flooding is only too obvious. Yet there remain some serious questions about the state government’s plan to protect 134,000 residents of the Hawkesbury-Nepean flood plain from the risk of inundation. Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday announced he would push ahead with a $1.7 billion project to raise the wall of Warragamba Dam by up to 14 metres. He declared the project to be of “critical state significance”, which means it will be exempt from normal planning controls. This reversed a decision by outgoing planning minister Rob Stokes a year ago who wanted to assess closely the potential damage that a higher water level might cause to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed areas and Indigenous cultural sites of the Blue Mountains. Perrottet has now brushed this caution aside and said he wanted to “put people before plants”. ... Yet the government’s justification for raising the dam wall seems to contradict a key recommendation of the report in June by former police commissioner Mick Fuller and former chief scientist Mary O’Kane on this year’s devastating floods. The report found that “one of most effective long-term flood risk mitigation mechanisms is stronger planning controls on current and future development”. Also, read the article entitled 'Warragamba Dam: what’s driving the NSW government’s bid to raise the wall?' by Lisa Cox and Tamsin Rose in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/06/warragamba-dam-whats-driving-the-nsw-governments-bid-to-raise-the-wall]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/stop-development-on-flood-pl…
# NSW, Planning and development, State Government.Yes, the heat is coming off the housing market. But it wasn’t just on fire last year - it was burning uncontrolled
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)Tuesday’s rise this week does appear to be the beginning of the end of rate rises. But while house prices are falling from their peaks, the long-term problem of housing affordability remains as we continue to have an economy where house prices have risen faster than wages for so long that even a slight fall in prices will do little to repair the damage of the past two years.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2022/oct/06/yes…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Long-term renters evicted during housing boom face homelessness
Edith Wilson The Conversation (No paywall)From Canada ... Andy would rather remain as anonymous as possible because, “it’s kind of embarrassing people knowing how little you have.” He has been living in his home for 21 years. It is a postwar house in the Greater Hamilton, Ont. area with a covered front porch, postage stamp lawn and plaster that has begun to crack. His cat, who “isn’t as friendly as she looks,” likes to sleep in his TV chair in the front room. Andy is single and on a fixed income. And his landlord is selling the house.
https://theconversation.com/long-term-renters-evicted-during-hou…
# International, Rent, Homelessness, Older people.Welsh government ramps up second home crackdown with new planning laws
Ella Jessel Inside Housing (Paywall)The Welsh government has confirmed councils will have new planning powers to curb second homes. It is the latest measure in its “radical” crackdown on holiday lets. The new legislation is set to come into force at the end of the month and will give local authorities across Wales the option to classify homes as primary residences, second homes, or holiday lets. The changes mean an owner would need to get planning permission to change a property from a primary residence to a second home. This would allow councils to control the number of second homes in an area. The new planning rules are part a wider package of measures being brought in by the Welsh government – as set out in its co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru – to tackle second homes and unaffordable housing.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/welsh-government-ramps-up-s…
# International, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, Short-term holiday letting.