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
Liberalise planning rules to fix a housing crisis – sounds logical, but it won’t work
Anna Minton The Guardian (No paywall)Restrictions are not the main barrier to housebuilding in Britain – so why is the government so set on loosening them? ... The government response to soaring inflation is to promise to build more homes at speed by loosening the planning system. ... [But] Cities around the world, from Auckland to Vancouver, are facing an affordability crisis, with huge price rises and extreme gentrification in cities linked to global capital flows and foreign investment rather than local circumstances. ... If there is widespread recognition that the planning system is not the main barrier, why are the government’s reforms so focused on loosening restrictions? This is partly because it’s a voter friendly idea outside of the Tory shires and popular with free-market Conservatives, while the interventionist policies required to genuinely affect house price inflation are seen as ideologically unpalatable.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/06/government…
# International, Housing market, Planning and development.Airbnb listings tumble as pandemic hits tourism
ABC (No paywall)With tourism taking a big hit in this pandemic, demand in short-term rentals has also plummeted. New figures reveal that tens of thousands of properties have been removed from Airbnb's platform, with Sydney and Melbourne taking the brunt of the fall. You can also check this story at: [https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/airbnb-listings-tumble-as-pandemic-hits-tourism/13433206] (ABC RN Breakfast)
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/rn-breakfast-separate-stor…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Short-term holiday letting.NSW property tax proposal: your questions answered
Domain (No paywall)The NSW government has proposed reforming the property tax system to gradually replace stamp duty with a smaller annual property tax. The proposed change would allow home buyers to choose between paying stamp duty upfront, as is currently required, or a much smaller ongoing property tax each year.
https://www.domain.com.au/advice/guide-to-nsw-property-tax-10620…
# NSW, Housing market, Tax.Renters looking for a bargain out of luck as prices surge again in most capitals
Adrian Lowe Domain (No paywall)Rental prices in many capital cities have surged over the past year, with some of the biggest increases in almost 15 years leaving many Australian renters out of luck.
The median weekly asking price for house rents is at a record high in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra, new data reveals, at its highest in six years in Perth and Darwin and $10 off its record in Melbourne. And apartment prices are little better: in Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra, they are at a record high while Perth’s are at their highest since 2015, and the highest since 2016 in Darwin.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/renters-looking-for-a-bargain-out…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.Where investors are making the most money on property in Australia
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Investors are reaping huge returns on many homes around the country, with the yield on one type of property – apartments in Darwin – smashing all records since they began.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/where-investors-are-making-the-mo…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Miami condo collapse death toll hits 64 as rescue efforts end
Lauren Aratani The Guardian (No paywall)Rescue efforts at the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Florida, officially ended late on Wednesday night as officials have said there is no chance of life in the rubble. More victims were recovered on Thursday, bringing the death toll by the early evening to 64 and the number of those still unaccounted for down to 76. ... The Florida state attorney’s office announced on Wednesday that a grand jury in Miami-Dade had agreed to investigate building safety policies afrer a request from the state attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, according to the Miami Herald. The grand jury will explore “recommendations to prevent such a disaster from occurring again, not just in Surfside”, Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. The grand jury will also investigate the cause of the collapse. A former Florida state representative told NBC News that condos were once required by law to plan for repairs, but the law was repealed in 2010 after pushback from real estate lawyers and property managers. Recent reports have revealed infighting between condo residents at Champlain Towers South over the cost and scope of necessary repairs halted work that needed to be done on the building.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/08/miami-condo-coll…
# International, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.‘Computer says no’: NSW Planning Minister says rules are stifling good design
Angus Thompson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes says urban development is suffering from a “computer says no” approach partly owing to a history of corruption, in responding to wide-ranging criticism over the flexibility of his city building overhaul. ... n a rare convergence, the NSW government is facing criticism from the development and environmental lobbies, among a list of other entities, for the lack of prescriptiveness in its watershed Design and Place state planning policy, that promotes principles rather than box-ticking when it comes to creating neighbourhoods.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/computer-says-no-nsw-plannin…
# NSW, Planning and development, State Government.Developer forced to stop work on Bellevue Hill apartments due to defects
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The developer of an apartment building in one of Sydney’s wealthiest suburbs has been ordered to immediately stop work on the complex due to serious defects, further delaying buyers of its multimillion-dollar units from moving in for at least another six months.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/developer-forced-to-stop-wor…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.