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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Sydney house values climb $850 a day amid fears of living standard hit
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The average new mortgage to buy an established house in NSW has soared by more than $200,000 in two years amid a nationwide glut of home lending, raising fears our obsession with pumping money into real estate may hurt Australia’s long-term living standards. You will find a similar story for Melbourne at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/melbourne-houses-climb-457-a-day-amid-fears-of-living-standard-hit-20210909-p58q6f.html]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sydney-house-values-clim…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.More financial support on offer for struggling tenants, landlords
Kayla Osbourne (No paywall)Tenants and landlords affected by ongoing stay-at-home orders will now have access to additional financial support. The NSW Government's Residential Tenancy Support Package has been increased to up to $4500 per tenancy, with the eviction moratorium also extended until November 11, 2021. ... Tenants' Union's policy and advocacy coordinator Jemima Mowbray told the Leader that many renters were experiencing high levels of stress as COVID restrictions continued. "We know that renters are more likely to have precarious or casual jobs and it has now been four or five weeks without a solid stream of income," she said. "What we have seen though is a lot of people have increased their debt as they dug into savings during the lockdown last year. "They may have paid rent but built up credit card debt or bill debt just to make it through last year so they don't have those same resources to draw on this time." (St George & Sutherland Shire Leader)
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/7420071/more-financial-suppor…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, State Government.Council compensates homeless man for housing delay
BBC (No paywall)A watchdog ordered a council to pay a homeless man compensation for taking too long to find him emergency accommodation. An investigation found Bristol City Council knew he was at risk of self harm yet took five weeks to find him a place. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report said the delay was "excessive". The council has apologised and paid the man £250 for the distress he suffered.
# International, Homelessness, Local Government.Pay down the mortgage faster or invest? Here’s my strategy…
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)I’m often asked why I choose to only make the minimum repayments on my mortgage. It’s an excellent question, so let me explain my thinking.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/pay-down-the-mortgage-fas…
# Australia, Home ownership.Home loan crackdown should be a question of when, not if
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Amid all the grim economic news, there is one part of the economy that has seemed almost bulletproof: housing. It may be good news for homeowners that Sydney house prices are up a massive 20.9 per cent in the last year, while Melbourne prices are up 13.1 per cent, even if monthly growth is slowing. But for the economy it’s not so simple. ... Figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) show that in the last few quarters, new lending to highly-indebted borrowers has been on the rise. APRA said the share of new loans where the customer was borrowing more than six times their income jumped from 19.1 per cent to 21.9 per cent in the June quarter, the highest level since it started collecting this data in 2019. A year ago, the share of new lending in this category was only 16 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/home-loan-cu…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.‘Pretty stretched’: Westpac boss says housing affordability is getting worse
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Westpac chief executive Peter King has underlined a deterioration in housing affordability, saying regulators should wait for lockdowns to end before assessing whether there was a need for lending curbs to be introduced.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/pretty-stret…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Tax on landlords could help pay for social care, says Keir Starmer
BBC (No paywall)Money to pay for social care could have been raised through taxing landlords, Sir Keir Starmer was expected to tell a conference. It comes after Boris Johnson announced plans to raise National Insurance tax on workers and employers in order to pay for the NHS backlog and social care. Sir Keir was to describe the rise as "unfair" and "poorly thought through". But the Labour leader has come under pressure in recent days to detail his own plan to fund social care.
# International, Landlords and agents, Welfare.Buying a home can feel impossible. Here are alternative ways to get into the housing market
Rhiana Whitson ABC (No paywall)Nic Holas and his partner Chris Cheers are moving into a "rent-with-the-option-to-buy" housing development, by Assemble Communities, in Melbourne's inner-city suburbs. ... Under this particular model, residents agree to pay rent over a five-year period at a set market rate and lock in a purchase price before the development is built. After seven years (a two-year build, plus five years renting) they can buy the apartment at the agreed price or end the contract and move out. However, the money they've paid in rent does not go towards the purchase price. [Read about other options ...]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-12/housing-market-property-b…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.