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
More than 100 MPs earn a ‘significant’ income from renting out properties, research finds
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... At least 17% of MPs own properties that generate a “significant” rental income, new research from an anti-corruption organisation has found. It comes as MPs prepare to scrutinise the Renters’ Reform Bill, the aim of which is to improve the rights of private tenants. ... An analysis of parliamentarians’ parliamentary interests, published today by Transparency International UK, has identified 113 (17%) MPs holding 261 properties between them which generate a significant income, defined by parliamentary rules as £10,000 or more annually. Using “conservative estimates”, researchers calculated that these MPs received a collective rental income of £2.6m per year, although they said this number could be much higher. Meanwhile, almost 40% of parliamentarians (212 MPs and 321 Lords) were found to have a registered interest in property, registering 1,325 property interests in the UK, including at least 820 physical residential and commercial assets. Transparency International UK defines property interest as a direct or indirect interest in property, which could include owning land assets, or working for or owning a property-related company. You may read the report entitled 'Parliamentary Estates' by Transparency International UK at: [https://www.transparency.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/Parliamentary%20Estates%20-%20Transparency%20International%20UK.pdf]
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/more-than-100-mps-earn…
# International, Federal Government, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government.Australia is woefully unprepared for this climate reality of consecutive disasters
Greg Mullins The Guardian (No paywall)We lost a critical decade of preparation under the Coalition. As floods hit NSW again, we cannot afford to lose a minute more. Almost unbelievably, communities in New South Wales are once again having to flee the fourth major flooding event in the state in just 18 months. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but there’s no avoiding it: this is our new climate reality of consecutive, compounding disasters. ... With a new government at the helm, there is hope. Even before the furniture was moved into his new ministerial office, Chris Bowen’s first meeting as federal climate change minister was with myself, two other members of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action, along with the new emergency management minister, Murray Watt. We presented our six-point plan to help prepare for disasters in Australia.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/05/australia-…
# Australia, Climate change, Federal Government, Housing market, Planning and development.‘Very much a landlords’ market’: Renters face tough conditions with vacancy rate at record low
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Renters face tough conditions as they have fewer homes to choose from at the same time rents hit record highs. ... Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said the vacancy rate would need to increase substantially to provide any choice and stable rents for tenants. “Rents are still rising very quickly and that’s not surprising because the vacancy rate staying around 1.5 per cent really doesn’t change a lot, or how easy it is to find a rental ... We know we get to a tenants’ market when they have a lot of choice and the properties are well maintained, and they ask you about your intentions, offering long-term leases. That seems a long way away.” Also, read Khaled Al Khawaldeh's article entitled: 'Rents rise at fastest rate in 14 years across Australia' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/06/rents-rise-at-fastest-rate-in-14-years-across-australia] Read Sezen Bakan's article entitled: 'Shrinking households help drive up national rents at record pace' in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/07/06/rents-market-record-high/]
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/very-much-a-landlords-marke…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Families, Housing market.Housing is the 'missing piece' in flood recovery, as thousands continue living in tents and mouldy homes
Ella Archibald-Binge ABC (No paywall)On a chilly winter's morning in northern New South Wales, Terri Leahy is helping her eight-year-old son Maxx get ready for school. ... Four months after floodwaters destroyed their rental home in Coraki, 30 minutes south of Lismore, they are living in a tent in their backyard. Maxx sits inches from a small portable heater, warming his bare hands and feet, while Terri grabs milk for his cereal from a caravan fridge she found on the side of the road. "It's hard not to cry… because it's not ideal," Ms Leahy says. ... In the absence of stable housing, displaced residents are couch surfing and living in tents or cars, while some have returned to uninhabitable, mould-infested homes, lining their stripped-out walls with discarded election corflutes in a bid to keep warm. (ABC 7.30)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/flood-victims-living-in-t…
# NSW, Rent, Homelessness, Mould, Regional NSW.Australia spent $20bn on first-home buyer support over a decade – and pushed up prices, report says
Peter Hannan The Guardian (No paywall)Australian governments have poured more than $20bn into supporting first-home buyers in the past decade, the cornerstone of “one-sided” housing policies that set the country apart from more balanced policies abroad, a new study has found. The paper, published on Thursday by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, compared Australia’s policies with those in six European nations and Singapore. The researchers found local schemes have failed to arrest a slide in overall home ownership and benefitted those already in the market, worsening social equity. “We’re now in the situation where there really is quite a gap,” Chris Martin, a senior research fellow in UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre, and one of the report’s authors. “Home ownership has become this widening wedge of inequality.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/07/australia…
# Research alert Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, International, State Government.Sydney’s census lesson: Bold action needed to tackle housing affordability
Editorial The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The 2021 census, released last week, showed a prosperous, growing Sydney. The city’s median family income reached $123,450 a year, about $20,000 more than when the last census was taken in 2016. New arrivals from across the world helped lift Sydney’s population by 400,000 since the last headcount. Our city’s diverse, expanding population is a major economic asset. But the census also drew attention to some worrying trends stemming from the high cost of housing. Despite favourable conditions for borrowers recently, and generous programs to support first-time buyers, the rate of home ownership in Sydney continued to decline. ... The census revealed another more immediate housing-related challenge – a surprisingly high proportion of Sydney households experiencing mortgage and rental stress. ... Both major parties, at the state and federal levels, acknowledge housing affordability is a major problem. But this must now result in bold policies that deliver tangible improvements. Recent proposals to make housing more affordable have been far too timid.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/sydney-s-census-less…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Families, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.Rents are on the rise. What are your rights if your landlord wants to increase yours?
Biwa Kwan and David Aidone SBS (No paywall)For mother-of-two Amanda Elsner, the issue of stable housing for her family is something that keeps her awake at night. In five months, her rental agreement is due to be renewed and the prospect of a steep price rise is something that worries her. "We are a low-income household. With the rising cost of living, there is very little extra funds to spare," she told SBS News from Port Adelaide. ... The Tenants' Union of NSW has fielded double the number of inquiries, from an average of 3 per cent of its caseload in late 2020-early 2021 to 6 per cent in three months to March this year. CEO Leo Patterson Ross said that number continues to grow, driven mostly by tenants in regional parts of NSW. "People are really facing a lot of increases, and that might be during their tenancies, or it might be because they've been evicted or forced to move, and they are now trying to find a new home and they're all much more expensive than their previous homes," Mr Ross said.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/rents-are-on-the-rise-what-a…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Families, Housing affordability, Housing market.Enough lies from the real estate lobby
Better Renting (No paywall)It seems like every time anyone proposes doing anything to make things the slightest bit for renters, the real estate lobby comes out opposing the proposal — not because it would reduce landlord profits, no, but because it would lead to higher rents. [Read on]
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.