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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
COVID-19: Lockdown support for Victorian tenants
(No paywall)COVID-19 restrictions are in force once again for Victoria and are in place until 11:59 PM on 27 July. Here’s what you need to know about the hard lockdown and where to get tenancy support. (rent.com.au)
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.COVID-19: Lockdown support for South Australian tenants
(No paywall)COVID-19 restrictions are in force for South Australia from 6:00 PM on 20 July. Here’s what you need to know about the lockdown and where to get tenancy support. (rent.com.au)
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Stockland buys Halcyon for $620 million
Carolyn Cummins The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)At 12:49pm it reads: Stockland’s new chief executive Tarun Gupta has wasted little time in making his mark on the diversified business with a deal to buy the land lease operator Halcyon in a $620 million deal, as reported on 5 July. He flagged his interest in the burgeoning sector, also known as manufactured homes, when he joined in May, saying it will compliment Stockland’s profitable master-planned communities operations. ... The transaction includes the acquisition of 3,800 sites across 13 land lease communities, made up of six established land lease communities, four communities in development and three projects in planning. “This acquisition is in line with our stated strategy to grow our land lease communities and will increase the size of our portfolio to 7,800 sites,” he said. Land lease communities deliver attractive returns as the demand for high quality, affordable housing solutions grows. This demand is driven by Australia’s ageing population and baby boomers reaching retirement age.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/asx-set-to-slide-tesltra…
# Australia, Land lease communities, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Older people.Killer heatwave in the US is a dire warning for Australian housing
Tory Maguire The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Last week, Furnace Creek in the Mojave Desert in the US may have experienced the highest temperature ever recorded on earth: 54.4 degrees. North America’s recent heatwave has pushed the limits of its infrastructure and shelter in disturbing ways. It prompted climate and environment editor Nick O’Malley and environment reporter Miki Perkins to take a look at how Australia’s suburbs are likely to cope with increasing temperatures. (See Housing News Digest 19 July 2021) Nick joins Tory Maguire on this episode of Please Explain to discuss.
https://www.smh.com.au/please-explain/killer-heatwave-in-the-us-…
# Audio Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.NSW North Coast rent prices 'off the charts' as they surpass capital cities
Leah White ABC (No paywall)Rental prices on the Far North Coast of New South Wales have climbed almost 20 per cent in the past 12 months, surpassing those in all of Australia's capital cities. Figures from CoreLogic's latest quarterly review show the median rent for houses in the Richmond/Tweed region is now $699 per week. In comparison, Sydney houses are $646pw, and the national median for house rentals is just under $500pw. The head of Northern Rivers advocacy group Social Futures, Tony Davies, said skyrocketing rents were damaging the "social fabric" of the region by pricing out long-term locals and modestly-paid workers in industries like retail, hospitality, social services, and the creative arts.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-20/north-coast-rent-prices-o…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.Rents Are Out Of Reach For Most Americans Earning Minimum Wage, A Study Says
Vanessa Romo (No paywall)American renters are well aware of the dire housing market situation and a new report confirms that it's only likely to worsen unless hourly wages are drastically increased. From the United States ... Workers simply don't earn enough money to keep up with skyrocketing rental rates across the country, the National Low Income Housing Coalition found in its latest Out of Reach report. ... Meanwhile, affordable units are increasingly rare. An analysis shows that only in 218 of more than 3,000 counties nationwide can a full-time minimum wage worker afford a one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent without dipping into income that should be used for all other living expenses and savings. ... [The report] states affordable rents are most elusive for renters of color who are most likely to have low-wage earning jobs and are, therefore, at greater risk of eviction. (NPR)
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/14/1016230724/rents-are-out-of-reach…
# International, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, Housing market.Push the Optimism Forward: Destigmatizing Homelessness and What We Can Do About it
Ahmad Bonakdar and Stephen Gaetz (No paywall)From Canada, For too long, policymakers have not treated the issue of homelessness with enough weight. It is often pushed aside in favour of more pro-growth agendas. For the most part, what we see today as “modern” mass homelessness has come from the rise of neoliberal policies that have led to a social housing crisis. Historically, before the millennium, efforts to bring the public’s attention to the issue of homelessness have not been a priority. Also, policies in the 1990s were not prevention focused and therefore allowed homelessness to become a social issue. What made the problem worse was the myths spread through the media about what causes someone to become homelessness. (Homeless Hub)
https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/push-optimism-forward-destigmati…
# International, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Young people.Australian renters facing biggest rent hikes in 12 years, amid surging house prices
David Chau ABC (No paywall)Australian tenants are experiencing their biggest annual rent increases since January 2009, during the global financial crisis. he median rent of houses and units jumped to $476 per week in June, a 6.6 per cent increase compared to the same time last year, according to the latest CoreLogic data. Regional tenants were hit with their biggest yearly rent hike ever, with the median figure up 11.3 per cent to $441. It was driven largely by sea changers (or tree changers) wanting a better lifestyle and no longer needing to commute to the CBD every day as they did in pre-COVID times.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-19/rent-corelogic-property-h…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.