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
Deposit-free loans to help ease 'utterly crippling' housing issues in remote Queensland
Zara Margolis and Larissa Waterson ABC (No paywall)In Queensland's gulf region, it has been virtually impossible for locals to buy their own home. Burketown's housing crisis has lasted more than a decade, but finally local leaders have come up with a plan to fix it. And for First Nations sisters Maddy and Jordan Marshall, it's a dream come true. ... An agreement between the Burke Shire Council, Westpac, and social services organisation Headstart Homes is finally opening doors. The deal will see nine council-owned properties sold to council staff, deposit-free, without the need for mortgage insurance and at a 40 per cent discount. Of the 200 people who live in Burketown, 48 are council staff who are deemed low-risk buyers in the agreement. The profits made by the council will then be invested into building more houses.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-01/deposit-free-loans-in-rem…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.‘They don’t treat you like a problem child’: Foyers a fix for youth homelessness
Jewel Topsfield The Age (Paywall)At the end of 2019, Sam Jelley was couch-surfing, moving between friends’ homes. He had a lot going on in his life. He was 19, medically transitioning to a trans man, his relationship with his parents was strained and he was trying to study for a psychology degree at Deakin University. The following year, Mr Jelley moved into the Holmesglen TAFE Education First Youth Foyer, one of three foyers operating at TAFE campuses in Glen Waverley, Broadmeadows and Shepparton.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/they-don-t-treat-you…
# Australia, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Homelessness, LGBTIQ+, Personal stories, Young people.Do house prices really double every 10 years?
Elizabth Redman Domain (No paywall)Property prices double every 10 years, the old saying goes, but new research shows the cities where prices have risen even higher – and where they’ve fallen far short.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/do-house-prices-really-doub…
# Australia, Housing market.The most popular suburbs for home buyers in 2021
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)A string of Sydney suburbs have dominated a list of the most in-demand areas for Australian home buyers in 2021, but it was a Melbourne suburb that took out the top spot.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-most-popular-suburbs-fo…
# Australia, Housing market.Private landlords urged to lease homes to councils as part of Welsh government’s homelessness action plan
James Wilmor Inside Housing (Paywall)From Wales ... Under the ‘private rented sector (PRS) leasing scheme’, first announced in March as a pilot, Welsh local authorities offer private landlords a rent guarantee and funding to improve the condition of their properties. Councils then use the homes to accommodate people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, with landlords receiving guaranteed rent. The move by the Welsh government is part of an Ending Homelessness Action Plan announced today, which will include a new £30m funding pot over five years for local authorities.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/private-landlords-urge…
# International, Homelessness, Landlords and agents.Hungry home hunters push prices up in capital cities
Sarah Webb Domain (No paywall)A pre-Christmas shopping spree on Saturday led to many millions of property dollars being clocked across the country, including a Sydney land parcel that fetched almost $1.5 million over reserve, a $9 million Brisbane Queenslander and a charming Melbourne cottage that sparked a bidding war.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/hungry-home-hunters-push-pr…
# Australia, Housing market.Sydney, Melbourne house prices in surprise fall at auction
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Home buyers are showing signs of fatigue in the face of sky-high property prices, with the median auction price for houses falling slightly last month in Sydney and Melbourne, figures show.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sydney-melbourne-house-pric…
# Australia, Housing market.‘Woefully inadequate’: calls for NSW government to help growing number of homeless older women
Michael McGowan The Guardian (No paywall)... the advocacy group Housing for the Aged [has] released a new report looking at the state of homelessness for older women. It cites the New South Wales government’s own 2018 NSW Homelessness Strategy to show that the state saw an 88% growth in the number of women over the age of 55 accessing homelessness services between 2013 and 2017. In 2021, there were still almost 5,000 women over the age of 55 on the waiting list for social housing in the state. The Housing for the Aged report calls for changes to social housing policy to make it easier for women like Day to access social housing. ... Along with expanding the age for priority access, the report joins a growing chorus of advocacy groups in calling for the state government to massively increase the number of social houses built each year, including those specifically for older people. ... NSW Labor’s shadow minister for housing, Rose Jackson, said it was “appalling” that so many older women in the state were at risk of homelessness. She said the government should invest in a specialist homelessness service for older people, and consider changes to the way access to priority housing was decided. You will find a link to the report at: [https://www.oldertenants.org.au/news/new-report-calls-for-early-intervention-and-preventative-approach-to-end-homelessness-for-older].
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/03/woefully-…
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Homelessness, Older people, Women.