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
Don’t get over-exuberant: RBA issues warning on property prices
Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The nationwide surge in house prices and expectations of even higher prices could lead to “over-exuberance” in the property market, the Reserve Bank has warned while signalling more restrictions on lending are on the way. ... The RBA report suggests there are other options for APRA to take, including restrictions on debt-servicing costs relative to a household’s income, loan-to-income restrictions and tougher loan-to-valuation standards.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/don-t-get-over-exuberant…
# Australia, Housing market.Elon Musk announces Tesla headquaters move from California to Texas
ABC (No paywall)Tesla chief executive Elon Musk says he is moving his company headquarters from California to Texas, citing housing prices as a major issue for his employees. ... Musk said the cost of housing in the San Francisco Bay Area made it tough for many people to become homeowners, translating into long commutes.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-08/elon-musk-moves-tesla-hea…
# International, Housing affordability, Housing market.London council to allow homeowners to return to regenerated estates as shared owners
Nathaniel Barker The Guardian (Paywall)A London council has approved a policy to allow homeowners to return to regenerated estates as shared owners.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/london-council-to-allo…
# International, Public and community housing, Estate renewal, Home ownership.Shade: bringing planners and health professionals together to provide critical infrastructure
Susan Thompson, Liz King, Jan Fallding and Nicola Groskops. City Futures (No paywall)Increasingly communities are rightly demanding a built environment that makes it easy for everyone to be healthy and well as they go about their daily activities. This is related to growing understandings about the critical health supportive role of the places where we live, work, play, and how we travel from one to the other. COVID-19 has sharpened our collective focus on this issue, particularly the importance of local neighbourhood public spaces, walking paths, cycleways and green parkland for good health and wellbeing.
https://blogs.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/blog/2021/10/shade-bringin…
# NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Housing market, Planning and development.House prices in popular school catchments in NSW regional towns explode by up to $367,000 in 12 months
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Parents in regional NSW, particularly the tree-change and sea-change newcomers, have been so keen to send their kids to good schools, they’re paying $367,500 more than a year ago to snare homes in some catchment areas.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/house-prices-in-popular-school-ca…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market, Regional NSW.Top 10 areas in Australia to avoid buying an apartment revealed
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)The top 10 areas to avoid buying an apartment in Australia have been revealed, with inner-city suburbs taking out the top spots. ... BuyersBuyers CEO Doron Peleg said investing in city apartments has long been a “substantial risk”, particularly when buying off the plan. The pandemic has only heightened the risks, as closed international borders and an exodus of people moving to regional areas has eroded demand for inner-city pads.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2021/10/07/buying-apartment-a…
# Australia, Strata, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Coming Home
(No paywall)Coming Home traces the lives of three women from childhood to adulthood through their experiences of homelessness, to eventually finding safety and a place to call home. Hosted by Kate Lawrence, this podcast looks deeply at how women's homelessness is fundamentally different to men's and the systemic drivers that lead to women becoming homeless: gender inequality, economic disadvantage, family violence, and the unaffordable housing market in Australia. (Spreaker)
# Video Australia, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Personal stories, Women.Call to use vacant student accommodation as social housing
Angus Thompson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Vacant student accommodation and hotels should be made available for temporary social housing solutions as housing affordability worsens throughout the state, councils say. Canterbury-Bankstown Council, which has the most social housing in the Sydney region, said various accommodation types, including hotels, motels, boarding houses and secondary residences, could be co-ordinated as vacant options for financially vulnerable people or essential workers. The nearby Inner West Council agreed ... that the significant reduction in international students created an opportunity, singling out new-generation boarding houses, also called co-living spaces, as suitable for social housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/call-to-use-vacant-student-a…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Local Government, Students.