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
NSW is heading towards timber ‘crisis’ for new homes, committee told
Jack Gramenz The New Daily (No paywall)Just as higher interest rates begin to make a dent in property prices, there is a new headache for people trying to break into the property market. A looming timber “crisis” threatens to delay the supply of new homes. Builders have been crying out about supply shortages for more than a year and now a New South Wales parliamentary committee has spelled it out in black and white.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/09/15/nsw-timbe…
# NSW, Housing market.Lowe calls for higher taxes, predicts house price falls and rising unemployment
Rachel Clun and Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Higher taxes and cuts in spending are vital if the government wants to fund quality services and repair the budget, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has told politicians while warning home prices are likely to fall 10 per cent as interest rates rise.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/soft-landing-not-certain…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.One group of buyers is missing out in the property downturn
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)First home buyers have dropped out of the property market more sharply than upgraders and downsizers, new figures show, as rising interest rates reduce the amount of money they can borrow.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/one-group-of-buyers-is-miss…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Less properties available for rent as investors ‘sell up’
Sky News (No paywall)Vacancy rates plunge, rents soar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juejkCwM-eI&ab_channel=SkyNewsAu…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market.Be brave and commit: how to tap into your tenant base to find board members
Anne-Marie Bancroft and Jaimi Shanahan Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Anne-Marie Bancroft and Jaimi Shanahan share tips on how to refine your board recruitment process, to tap into the pool of talent among your tenants and customer base.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/be-brave-and-com…
# International, Public and community housing, Landlords and agents.Redland Mayor and state government at odds over housing plan
Kate McKenna and Rachel Riga ABC (No paywall)Queensland's Deputy Premier has taken the extraordinary step of taking charge of a south-east Queensland council's housing strategy after it failed to update its plan, which is more than 10 years old
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-15/redlands-housing-strategy…
# Australia, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.‘Excessive’ apartment plans rejected, as one of the city’s worst eyesores lives on
Tom Clowie The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)One of Melbourne’s worst eyesores will continue to blight the city streetscape after a planning application was rejected for apartments on the site of the former Cancer Council offices. The dilapidated building, at the corner of Rathdowne and Victoria Streets in Carlton, has fallen into a worsening state of disrepair since it was sold to developers by the charity almost 10 years ago.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/excessive-apartment-pla…
# Australia, Local Government, Planning and development.Why house prices fell so fast, and when the falls could stop
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)The power of rising interest rates to push down house prices has been laid bare in a new graph that shows property values fell within weeks of the first hike to hit Australia in a decade. Property values were still rising across the combined capital cities in the first months of this year, CoreLogic’s daily home value index showed, albeit at a modest pace as the pandemic property boom petered out.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/why-house-prices-fell-so-fa…
# Australia, Housing market.