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
Why are young Australians locked out of home ownership? The answer is politics
Intifar Chowdhury The Guardian (No paywall)Home ownership is a much-revered Australian milestone, a marker of adulthood independence and a key to economic security. However, today, the big Australian dream of owning a house in your 20s is not for all. ... Home ownership rates have been plummeting since the 1980s in a nation that used to boast of being an egalitarian society. With the intergenerational shrinkage of stable income and a spike in debt-to-income ratio, young people and those with a modest income have been gradually locked out of the real estate market. ... The reality is that those with power and money impact the market more than those without.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/16/why-are-yo…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Tax, Young people.‘Not really that great’: The ripple effect of booming rents in Byron Bay
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Rents in northern NSW have jumped over the past year, buoyed by a spillover effect from coastal hotspot Byron Bay and the shift to remote work. It now costs $850 a week to rent the median house in the greater Byron shire, Domain figures show, a 13.3 per cent rise in 12 months and $250 a week more than in greater Sydney.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/not-really-that-great-the-r…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.The city where house rents are growing fastest in Australia
Sarah Webb Domain (No paywall)Rental prices for Brisbane houses have again skyrocketed to record heights, with new data revealing the Queensland hot spot outpaced every other capital in the country for annual growth last year, with experts warning there’s more to come.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-city-where-house-rents-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.No landlord: Mobile home community finds stability in self-government
Sarah Matusek (No paywall)From the United States ... For some mobile home park residents, a stable home comes with self-government. In one case in Colorado, it brought a stronger sense of community too. (The Christian Science Monitor)
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2022/0110/No-landlord-Mobi…
# International, Land lease communities, Affordable housing, Landlords and agents.If your Queensland rental is being sold, do the new owners have to honour your lease?
Antonia O'Flaherty ABC (No paywall)It's the thing most renters dread — the property owners have decided to sell. How many open homes will you have to clean and leave the house for? Will the new owner honour your lease or will you have to move out? ... In October 2021, rental reforms were passed by the Queensland parliament, with some of the new laws coming into effect last year — such as protections for renters who are experiencing domestic family violence, so they can end a lease with seven days notice. There are other changes which have been announced, but the date when they come into effect has not been confirmed. While landlords will no longer be able to end a lease "without grounds" under the new laws, they will have a raft of new options available for ending a lease, providing they give adequate notice.
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/if-your-rental-home-is-being-sol…
# Australia, Rent, No-grounds evictions.Esperance Aged Care Facility worker shortage leaves residents with few options
Emily JB Smith ABC (No paywall)Norman Clark has been living at the Esperance Hospital for five months because the town's only aged care facility is too short staffed to take him. The 95-year-old moved to the town on WA's south coast with his wife Gladys five years ago to be closer to his daughter Elaine Siemer, with the expectation they would move into the Esperance Aged Care Facility if necessary. But despite a new, $7 million wing opening at the aged care facility in 2019 and a growing waitlist, 20 of the facility's 94 beds remain empty due to worker shortages.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-14/esperance-hospital-aged-c…
# Australia, Housing market, Older people, Work, employment.Loved ones of aged care residents are calling for a greater balance between managing COVID-19 risks and mental health
Ellen Coulter and Laura Francis ABC (No paywall)Lisa Caponio is happy with the care her mum receives at Princeton View Aged Care but is worried about ongoing lockdowns now that Omicron is sweeping the country.
"Mum's been triple vaccinated; the home that she's in has done an amazing job to keep them safe," she said. "But going forward, this is just not sustainable, because these outbreaks are going to continue to happen." ... The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recommended pay rises for aged care staff to ensure high quality care and to attract more workers, but the government has left the matter to the Fair Work Commission for a decision.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-14/aged-care-residents-omicr…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Health, Housing market, Older people.Sleep bus will be sanctuary for Sunshine Coast homeless in housing crisis
Jacqui Street ABC (No paywall)Queensland's first sleep bus has arrived to offer emergency beds to homeless people on the Sunshine Coast, as support agencies struggle to help an avalanche of people caught in the housing crisis. The $100,000 bus has been financed from community donations through a campaign that began when homeless man David Collin was killed in his sleeping bag at Maroochydore in 2019. ... Mr McNeill said he had been homeless for nearly five years after quitting his Bunnings job due to ill health. ... Mr McNeill was on the public housing wait list and had been offered rental assistance, but he was unable to find an affordable rental in the current market. He described the bus as "absolutely brilliant" and "a blessing from God".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-14/sleep-bus-for-homeless-on…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness.