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
Thermal mix: a modest Canberra renovation holds and traps the sun
Lisa Green The Guardian (No paywall)Using 80% less energy than average, an unassuming suburban home is winning architecture prizes for its imaginative revamp ... “A good home can’t just be about energy efficiency. It has to feel and look like a joyful home,” insists Edwards. Her team’s process is holistic, beginning with a focus on passive solar features and draught-proofing, ditching gas for all-electric appliances, improving function and liveability by rearranging and improving the floor plan, then addressing water storage and landscaping.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/17/thermal-m…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet, Home, Housing market.The work from home revolution has helped trigger a migration to the regions. Now, locals say they have nowhere to live.
John Buckley (No paywall)Pandemic-induced uptake of hybrid and remote work has seen “knowledge workers” migrate to the regions in droves, pricing locals out of the market both as renters and buyers. Experts say it isn’t just the rate of homelessness that’s alarming, but that it has become more prevalent among middle income earners. (Business Insider Australia)
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/regional-migration-leaves-pus…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Regional NSW.Sydney couple in $500,000 battle over leaking Surry Hills penthouse
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)A Sydney couple battling constant destructive leaks in their apartment has spent more than $500,000 at a NSW government tribunal to force their building’s committee to fix the defects but, despite winning every case, they’re still living with the misery. And even though a NSW Fair Trading inspector drew up an extensive catalogue of the faults with their home that need to be repaired by the owners corporation, they’re being told their only option is to return yet again to the tribunal in the hope that it can enforce compliance with its orders.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sue-williams-strata-disaster-stor…
# NSW, Repairs, Strata, Tribunal NCAT.Algorithms at the auction: US startups use tech to shake up house buying
James Titcomb The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)For some American homeowners, one number is the most important indicator of wealth in their life: the Zestimate. An approximation of their house’s value from the property website Zillow, based on public records and a computer algorithm, it is a real-time assessment of people’s most valuable asset - and checked religiously by potential sellers.
https://amp.smh.com.au/business/companies/algorithms-at-the-auct…
# International, Housing market.The same places keep appearing in most-disadvantaged lists. COVID means it could be getting worse
Norman Hermant and Josie Taylor ABC (No paywall)[Community worker and local Foodbank, volunteer] Chandelle Wilson has spent her life in Western Sydney. She now lives in Blackett, an area that repeatedly ranks as one of the most disadvantaged in New South Wales. She believes many people in the community have struggled for so long they've given up long-term thinking. ""[They're] literally limping along in survival mode." ... [and] COVID has likely deepened inequality ...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-18/disadvantage-in-australia…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families.How to sell your strata on sustainability: ‘Think of all the things people might object to’
Sally Dillon The Guardian (No paywall)With the federal government dragging its feet on legislating to reduce carbon emissions, many Australians are decreasing their individual carbon footprints, changing their lifestyles and even their homes to become more sustainable. Installing solar panels, solar hot water systems and rain tanks is relatively straightforward on detached houses, but the increasing number of apartment dwellers is posing new challenges for sustainable living.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/18/how-to-se…
# Australia, Strata, Utilities water energy internet, Climate change, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Houses of tomorrow: A more hopeful vision of domesticity, or a dystopian nightmare?
Richard Godwin The Guardian (No paywall)In the future, will we find a better way to live, or will our homes be taken over by surveillance and despotic appliances? ... Are we inexorably sliding into a world of surveillance and atomisation, climate crisis and housing crisis, drowning alone as our meta headsets suck the very data from our souls? Maybe a bit of both ...
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/14/houses-of-t…
# International, Home.Housing is expensive now, imagine a market with more migrants. Economists see rent, house price lift in 2023
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)When Australia opens its borders to migrants, already skyrocketing house prices could rise further. While immigration is not the only factor influencing house prices, it adds to the already strong demand for housing. Economists say about one extra home is required for every three migrants.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-17/migration-house-prices-re…
# Australia, Housing market.