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
Video tech signing of legal forms here to stay
(No paywall)The remote witnessing of important legal documents such as wills, statutory declarations and affidavits over video will become a permanent feature of the NSW legal landscape. Attorney General Mark Speakman said legislation to cement temporary measures into law has passed both Houses of NSW Parliament.
https://www.dcj.nsw.gov.au/news-and-media/media-releases/2021/vi…
# Legal significance NSW, State Government.Shepparton school fears social housing development could endanger vulnerable students
Charmayne Allison ABC (No paywall)A Shepparton school for vulnerable children is concerned a proposed neighbouring social housing development could endanger students. Greater Shepparton City Council recently provided in-principle support for social housing to be built on the airspace above the Maude/Nixon Street and Edward Street car park. This comes after it was approached by homelessness services BeyondHousing and Wintringham to sell airspace above the council-owned site so it could be transformed into a four-storey affordable housing complex. The plans include the original public car park at ground level, a residents' car park on the first floor, and an estimated 30 dwellings on the second and third floors. But Shepparton ACE Secondary College has says the development could pose a safety risk for students.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-31/fears-social-housing-coul…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Local Government.A body corporate has been slammed for cutting a tenants power as punishment for breaking bylaws
Darren Cartwright (No paywall)A body corporate has been slammed for cutting a tenant’s electricity supply and demanding a $3000 bond because their “sons” drove inappropriately on common property. Experts have labelled the body corporate’s actions “absurd” and a Body Corporate and Community Management (BCCM) adjudicator says there is “no legal basis” for the decision, cutting off electricity supply is “reprehensible” and has ordered the power be restored. The dispute reached the BCCM after the body corporate for Pinnacle village at Battle Creek, Mt Garnett, in north Queensland, cut the electricity supply of a longstanding tenant.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/a-body-corporate-has-been-sla…
# Australia, Strata, Utilities water energy internet.Melbourne’s hot January nights smash record
Cassandra Morgan The Age (Paywall)If you thought this past January was hotter than previous years, the statistics prove you right, with the month smashing decades-old weather records. ... “As the climate continues to warm, we’re going to see more heat records, we will see more days over 35 [degrees] and more days over 40 as well – that will happen – and also the possibility of days over 45 or even 50 in Melbourne.”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/city-sweltered-in-ja…
# Australia, Climate change.Interest rates are tipped to rise later this year. So, is it time to fix your home loan?
Emily Stewart ABC (No paywall)It's fair to say money has been cheap in recent years, with home owners having access to the lowest fixed rates on record. And while the Reserve Bank may have kept the official cash rate on hold this week, economists are predicting rates to rise before the end of the year. So, is it time I fixed my home loan rate? It depends.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-02/is-it-time-i-fixed-my-hom…
# Australia, Home ownership.Australia’s median house price is above $1 million. Here’s what that buys in different cities
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Home hunters are forking out more than $1 million for the median Australian house, hundreds of thousands of dollars more than a year ago, but what they can buy varies widely. The national median house price, for the capital cities combined, hit a record high of $1,066,133 last quarter, Domain figures show, after lifting almost $215,000 over the year.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/australia-s-median-house-pr…
# Australia, Housing market.‘Helps take pressure off’: Why house prices could slow down
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Property prices across Australia could face downward pressure later this year if earlier than expected rate hikes reduce home buyers’ borrowing capacity.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/helps-take-pressure-off-why…
# Australia, Housing market.I live with 28 other men — and my wife. The power of connection changed everything for me
Jayden Battey ABC (No paywall)Living through six Melbourne lockdowns alongside 28 people at risk of homelessness has taught my wife Mikyla and I a thing or two about what true community looks like ... t was June 2020 when Mikyla and I moved in to manage a property with Servants Community Housing. It's a community rooming house in Melbourne – a form of communal accommodation with private rooms and shared facilities. Housing like this exists all across Australia, supporting thousands of people on low incomes and those at risk of homelessness.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-30/5050-project-the-power-of…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Families, Homelessness, Personal stories.