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
Apartment tower given temporary reprieve after engineer’s warnings of collapse
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The state government has decided not to evacuate an apartment tower in Sydney’s south-west despite an engineer’s report warning that the building was at serious risk of collapse due to structural flaws. After emergency inspections on Wednesday, NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler said inspectors from Public Works Advisory had advised that there was “no immediate safety risk” to residents of the 10-storey tower in Canterbury. “They will now take the time necessary to review the materials gathered during the investigation,” he said. ... The inspection was sparked by a structural engineer hired by owners warning that the 10-storey tower was a “risk to occupants”, and a collapse would also lead to “catastrophic damage” to two other apartment buildings that make up the Vicinity complex. ... The complex on Charles Street has about 276 apartments, and was completed about six years ago by Toplace. ... The concerns about the Canterbury complex come just months after Toplace agreed to provide $11 million in security to fix any future defects in a Castle Hill apartment complex, as well as agreeing to guarantee its structural integrity for the next two decades.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/apartment-tower-under-threat…
# NSW, Strata, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.Water leaks, cracks and flawed fire safety systems: Sydney’s apartments are riddled with building defects
Laura Crommelin, Bill Randolph, Hazel Easthope and Martin Loosemore The Conversation (No paywall)Buying an apartment is the biggest financial commitment many of us will ever make. Unfortunately, our new research shows that defects in apartment buildings are commonplace: just over half of Sydney’s apartments had at least one type of defect, while more than one in four had at least three different defects. We also found it is virtually impossible for buyers to know whether the apartment they are buying is good quality.
https://theconversation.com/water-leaks-cracks-and-flawed-fire-s…
# Must read NSW, Strata, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.‘No trust’: Buyers of defective units in Parramatta vent their anger
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Buyers of apartments in two 22-storey Parramatta towers found to have serious defects say they are trapped in a nightmare, with some no longer able to get loans from banks to settle on their purchases. The plight of the buyers of apartments off the plan in the Imperial complex in Parramatta’s CBD was detailed during a NSW parliamentary inquiry on Monday into the regulation of building standards.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/no-trust-buyers-of-defective…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Considering buying property off the plan? Here are 6 crucial steps to protect yourself
Sacha Reid, Melissa Pocock, Savindi Caldera and Therese Wilson The Conversation (No paywall)Buying property is the largest personal investment decision most Australians will ever make. With pricing for standalone houses rising dramatically in many capital cities, more people are looking to buy apartments. Buying an off the plan apartment can be one way to enter the property market. Buying off the plan means consumers commit to buying a property, at today’s prices, before it’s built. Settlement happens once construction is finished. This approach comes with risks and challenges — but following six key steps can help consumers protect themselves.
https://theconversation.com/considering-buying-property-off-the-…
# Hot topic Australia, Strata, Home ownership, Housing market.The Real Estate Industry Is Successfully Lobbying Local Media to Ditch the Term “Landlord” for “Housing Provider”
Adam Johnson (No paywall)From the United States ... Increasingly, reporters, pundits, and editors are allowing landlords to rebrand themselves “housing providers” in a troublesome and cynical trend of faux identity politics. ... The label landlord—like “boss” or “prison guard” or “eviction court”—has earned its unseemly reputation because tens of millions of people have had bad interactions with their landlords. Landlords profit off what should be a basic human right ... (The Column)
https://thecolumn.substack.com/p/the-real-estate-industry-is-suc…
# International, Landlords and agents.As home prices soar beyond reach, we have a government inquiry almost designed not to tell us why
Peter Martin The Conversation (No paywall)Never has an inquiry into the skyrocketing price of homes been more urgent. Rarely has one been as insultingly ill-suited as the one under way right now. ... Instead, we have been given an inquiry into affordability in name only. Seriously. The parliamentary inquiry commissioned by the treasurer in July and chaired by backbencher Jason Falinski is called an inquiry into affordability and supply, but the word “affordability” appears in none of its three terms of reference.
https://theconversation.com/as-home-prices-soar-beyond-reach-we-…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.China’s housing market rattles buyers
The New York Times (No paywall)Evergrande Group’s financial troubles, and the government policies that helped push it to the brink of collapse, have threatened an important economic driver: home sales. For years, homes have been the main savings vehicle for Chinese families. Nearly three-quarters of household wealth in China is tied to property and real estate has grown to provide more than a quarter of the country’s economic growth by some estimates. (Morning Briefing)
https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?…
# International, Home ownership, Housing market.Councils urge joint approach to tackle housing crisis in regions
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Councils say a joint approach by all levels of government and more funding for social housing and infrastructure are needed to tackle a growing housing crisis in regional areas of NSW. The peak body for councils has highlighted a report by a state government taskforce into regional housing, arguing it shows the problem is much more complex and requires smart solutions and investment rather than blame games.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/councils-urge-joint-approach…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Housing market, Local Government, Regional NSW, State Government.