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
‘Minimal help, maximum hype’: Single parents housing package criticised for helping only a ‘handful’
James Massola The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australian Council of Social Services chief executive Cassandra Goldie said the policy would “help a handful of single parents on modest middle incomes to get their foot in the door of an expensive housing market”. But she said the announcement should be seen in the context of “what the government has done already to hit the economic security of single parents, mostly women, particularly those on low incomes”. “One in three single parents live below the poverty line now and as a result of cuts to social security we now have about 40 per cent of single parents and their children below the poverty [line],” Dr Goldie said. “We are one of the richest countries in the world by median income; we can afford for every single parent and child to have enough to eat and to have a house to live in.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/minimal-help-maximum-hyp…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, Welfare, Women.Federal Budget 2021: First-home owner measures met with mixed reactions as experts urge more supply
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)The Morrison government’s budget measures to help Australians into home ownership have been met with mixed reactions ... Announcing such schemes was easier than phasing out favourable tax concessions such as negative gearing arrangements and capital gains tax discounts, said Brendan Coates, director for household finances at the Grattan Institute. “This is another example of the government taking the easy way out,” Mr Coates said. “These policies sound good. At the margin, they will help some people. [Read more ...]
https://www.domain.com.au/news/federal-budget-2021-first-home-ow…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, Tax.Is buying a home in Australia only for the wealthy?
Martin Farrer The Guardian (No paywall)Across the country house prices are soaring, breaking records and leaving many first home buyers completely exasperated. With prices set to rise even further, there’s concern that large sections of the population may be priced out of home ownership. Martin Farrer explains what is driving the housing boom, and what it could mean for home ownership in Australia. (Podcast)
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2021/may/06/is-…
# Video Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.The 2021 federal budget is expected to transform Australia's aged care sector. Here's why
ABC (No paywall)The recent aged care royal commission estimated that one in three people living in aged care in Australia experience neglect, physical or emotional abuse. ... With the first federal budget since the royal commission set to be handed down on Tuesday, here's a look at the state of Australia's aged care system.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-08/federal-budget-2021-aged-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, Older people.Mushroom crop grows out of Hobart rental carpet; tenants move out after complaining for months
Katri Uibu and Lucy MacDonald ABC (No paywall)When Victoria Saville and Lizzie Hosken moved into their first-ever rental property, the young women noticed a "brown patch" on the carpet. Weeks later, white and yellow mushrooms began sprouting from a stained area outside their bathroom. For about four months, the girls were picking off the mushrooms growing between the bathroom and the hallway of their $475-a-week rental in the Hobart suburb of Dynnyrne. ... The women said the mushroom growth appeared to be brought about by a water leak in the bathroom — an issue they had repeatedly raised with their real estate agent. [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-07/mushroom-crop-grows-in-ho…
# Australia, Rent, Repairs, Health, Mould.On the never ending saga of affordable housing
The Fifth Estate (No paywall)The NSW government has taken aim at housing affordability in a new 20-year strategy, pinning its hopes to the private sector while social housing takes a back seat ... this week the NSW government released its Housing Strategy 2041, hoping to map a path away from the state’s housing woes with a broadly encompassing 20-year plan. [But, ... read on]
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/news-from-the-front-desk/o…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Disability, Estate renewal, Housing affordability, Housing market, Older people, State Government.Time to get your strata housing in order Victoria
Poppy Johnston The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Why is it so hard to get some help for better sustainability in apartments? Here are some of the hurdles from a Victorian point of view and why it’s time for change.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/time-to-g…
# Australia, Strata, Utilities water energy internet, Housing market.Interest rates not the right 'tool' to address runaway house prices, Reserve Bank says
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)The Reserve Bank has said property price rises can exacerbate inequality, and it is "certainly an issue" that needs to be considered at the moment. But monetary policy is not the appropriate tool to address the problem, because it is designed to encourage employment and inflation, it said. It means the RBA will not be tempted to lift interest rates to try to cool Australia's runaway property prices, regardless of community concerns about unaffordable housing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-06/guy-debelle-rba-monetary-…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Human rights.