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
Have rents in Wellington stagnated, or simply 'gone as high' as they can?
Ethan Te Ora (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Wellington’s rentals are famously mouldy, rundown and expensive. And for the first time in an age the price to live in them isn’t increasing, defying predictions landlords would react to rental investment changes with large rent increases. Is that a cause for celebration? Not really, say a rental advocate, a property investor and a top economist. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/1…
# International, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Collingwood and South Yarra new sites in Victorian government's $5.3 billion social housing project
ABC (No paywall)Collingwood and South Yarra will have new public housing as part of the Victorian government's $5.3 billion commitment to build more than 12,000 social and affordable homes. Acting Premier James Merlino said the "Big Housing Build" was the single biggest investment in social and affordable housing in Victoria's history. "Just these two projects will create around 2,000 jobs and deliver 480 new homes," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-27/public-housing-announcmen…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Housing market, State Government.New Queensland town to spring up as thousands stream over the border
Felicity Caldwell The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A new bayside precinct, just a stone’s throw from an award-winning winery, is set to be created as south-east Queensland prepares for an influx of tens of thousands of new residents. The site in Southern Redland Bay has been chosen as a “priority growth area” by the Queensland government and will unlock more than 5000 lots, aimed at improving land supply and housing affordability.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/new-queensland-town-t…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development.Coronavirus escapees from big cities are driving a regional property property boom. Can it last?
Ian Verrender ABC (No paywall)Like many quiet corners of the country, real estate prices have gone mad. The frenzy, driven mainly by escapees from the Big Smoke, shows little sign of slowing. And while the official figures point to a rise of around 10 per cent across regional NSW in the past year, the situation on the ground suggests otherwise. Anything with water views, or proximity to a beach, has seen meteoric price rises. From just three years ago, prices have doubled and, in some cases, trebled leaving rusted=on locals flushed at the prospect of newfound wealth but fearful for the future of their families. Can it continue? Or is this just a bubble within a much bigger bubble?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-28/can-regional-property-boo…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Regional NSW.The Sirius Penthouse Has Sold For $35 Million, Just Three Years After Residents Were Kicked Out
Claire Keenan (No paywall)Sydney’s iconic Sirius Building’s penthouse has sold for $35 million dollars — just three years after the last housing commission residents were forcibly removed from the building. (Junkee)
# NSW, Public and community housing, Housing market, State Government.NSW Budget – horses or houses? Where’s the priority?
Shelter NSW (No paywall)Shelter NSW is encouraged to see NSW’s recovery underway with unemployment falling. We remained concerned however, that the state’s improving fortunes are not being shared – with crippling housing unaffordability leaving many behind and driving inequity especially for younger generations. “With a windfall of over $1 billion in additional stamp duty”, said John Engeler, CEO Shelter NSW, “it was disappointing to see so little directed back to support people unable to compete in the private housing market.” Read more in our media release at the link provided.
https://shelternsw.org.au/news_items/nsw-budget-horses-or-houses…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Housing affordability.California has a $5.2bn plan to pay off unpaid rent accrued during the pandemic
Sam Levin The Guardian (No paywall)California is pursuing an ambitious plan to pay off the entirety of unpaid rent from low-income tenants who fell behind during the pandemic, in what could constitute the largest ever rent relief program in the US. The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, is negotiating with legislators and said the $5.2bn plan would pay landlords all of what they were owed while giving renters a clean slate. If successful, the rent forgiveness plan would amount to an extraordinary form of aid in the largest state in the US, which has suffered from a major housing crisis and severe economic inequality since long before Covid-19. You can read the same story, this time entitled 'California Has a Plan to Pay the Back Rent for Low-Income Tenants. All of It.' (The New York Times) at: [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/21/us/california-rent-forgiveness.html?referringSource=articleShare] Again, you can read the same story, this time entitled: 'California to Pay off all Past Due Rent Accrued During COVID, Giving Renters Clean Slate' (Newsweek) at: [https://www.newsweek.com/california-pay-off-all-past-due-rent-accrued-during-covid-giving-renters-clean-slate-1602556]
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/22/california-rent-…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Aboriginal housing policies must be based on community needs — not what non-Indigenous people think they need
Martin Loosemore, Campbell Drake, John Evans and Sara Wilkinson The Conversation (No paywall)The recently announced $250 million NSW budget boost for Aboriginal housing is much welcomed and long overdue. In implementing this important new initiative, it is critical to consult Aboriginal communities about what culturally appropriate housing looks like. In the past, public housing policies have often been imposed on Aboriginal communities based on non-Aboriginal ideals of good housing. Research findings show the social values of Aboriginal people differ significantly from non-Aboriginal values. Unfortunately, well-intentioned government policies too often ignore these crucial differences.
https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-housing-policies-must-be-…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Home ownership, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, Planning and development.