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
The story behind Far North Queensland's unfinished, derelict buildings
Phil Brandel ABC (No paywall)Far North Queensland can be a tough place to live with cyclones, scorching heat, and rain that is measured in metres. It can be a place of dreams and sometimes nightmares. There are plenty of half-built remains beside highways and main roads across the region to remind people what happens when dreams don't come true. One of those properties is an unfinished castle west of the small Atherton Tableland town of Millaa Millaa.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-04/unfinished-derelict-board…
# Australia, Housing market.The surprise suburbs where house prices jumped fastest in 2021
Elizabeth Redman The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)House prices have soared by more than 50 per cent in a handful of standout suburbs this year, new research shows, an extraordinary pace of growth that is unlikely to be repeated. ... A push into suburbia also gathered pace, as workers traded proximity to the CBD for larger houses with home offices further afield. Such a trend saw second and third spots secured by Kurnell near Cronulla in Sydney’s south, and South Turramurra on the upper north shore, up 54.5 per cent and 52.5 per cent respectively. ... House prices jumped in the Illawarra region, with the town of Gerringong up 56.4 per cent to a median value of $1,681,227 in one year.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-surprise-suburbs-where-…
# Australia, Housing market.Property ‘FOMO’ pushes Australians into riskier home loans
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)Australians are turning to increasingly risky and expensive mortgages as rising property prices outstrip wages growth, recent data shows.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2021/12/14/mortgage-insurance…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.With auction clearance rates falling, will prices do the same?
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)The once white-hot auction market is cooling, but potential homebuyers hoping for bargains may be disappointed to find there’s still competition for the most desirable homes.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/with-auction-clearance-rate…
# Australia, Housing market.Netflix series sheds light on major hurdle facing women fleeing violence
Emily Hutchinson (No paywall)A popular Netflix series is shining a light on a stark reality facing many women fleeing dangerous or violent relationships. In Maid, single mother Alex, played by Margaret Qualley, faces difficulty navigating the private rental market after leaving a domestic violence shelter, placing her into a new precarious situation. Far from being merely a dramatised scenario, experts say this kind of additional trauma is endured by a number of survivors. Safe Steps is Victoria’s 24-hour family violence crisis service and helps many women, their children and pets relocate to safer accommodation. Rita Butera is the CEO of the resource centre and said it has always been difficult for women leaving the shelter to enter the private rental market as affordable housing is increasingly scarce. (realestate.com.au)
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/netflix-series-sheds-light-on…
# Hot topic Australia, Domestic violence, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Women.Tenant News
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Wishing you all the best for the holidays! After a tough year for many renters and community supporters, we hope you're all able to enjoy some well-earned good times at home, or away, over the holiday period. We at the Tenants' Union wish you and your loved ones all the best for the end of the year, and a better and brighter 2022! Thank you for your ongoing support and interest in renting issues.
https://mailchi.mp/tenants.org.au/ending-the-year-with-joy-and-g…
# Must read NSW, Campaigns and law reform.December 2021 News
Shelter NSW (No paywall)Check out the latest housing news from Shelter NSW ...
NSW being left behind in social housing expansion
Housing SEPP is finalised
New report: Scaling Youth Foyers for NSW
Rental Affordability Index (RAI) – beware of averages
Local Organising with Sydney Alliance
Newcastle looks to Finland for Housing First inspiration
Shelter NSW AGM wrap up
Tweed Regional City Action Plan
Shelter NSW on Coffs Harbour radio to talk about the housing crisis
Student Research Paper - Ensuring safe, secure housing options for people leaving prison
Aboriginal Land Planning Framework
Parramatta Road Factsheet
Bays West Place Strategy
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/shelter-nsw-december-2021-ebulleti…
# NSW, Campaigns and law reform.Squalid privately rented homes cost NHS £340m a year, regulator finds
Robert Booth The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Checks on the private rented sector are in “chaos”, the chair of the Commons public accounts committee has said, after the government’s spending watchdog found squalid homes are costing the NHS £340m a year. Nearly 600,000 private rented homes in England, about 13%, have been classed as a serious threat to health and safety, according to the National Audit Office (NAO), while nearly a quarter are “non-decent”. The watchdog said the findings were “concerning” and added that Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities did “not yet have a detailed plan to address the problems that renters face” and lacked understanding on problems plaguing some private tenants, such as harassment and eviction. Evictions are returning to close to pre-pandemic levels ...
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/10/squalid-privatel…
# International, Discrimination, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, Health, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Mould, Short-term holiday letting.