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
‘People are desperate’: Regional renters forced to apply for homes sight unseen
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Real estate agents in regional areas with housing shortages are asking prospective tenants to complete a rental application before letting them attend a property inspection. Leo Patterson Ross, the chief executive of the Tenants Union, said this practice used to be rare but it had taken off in the past six months across regional NSW, including the Central Coast, Illawarra, Hunter Valley, New England and Riverina.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/people-are-desperate-regiona…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.... a rugby lunch to honour Wallaby great David Campese
Peter FitzSimons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Line of the day however, went to Vince Sorrenti: “And in club rugby,” he said, “we are looking forward to the big local derby, Eastern Suburbs v Randwick or, as we call it, ‘the Landlords v Tenants match’.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/more-australians-are-becoming-le…
# NSW, Sydney.Disabled car parks 'discriminatory to able-bodied people', man in wheelchair told
Sophie Volker, Rebecca Levingston and Edwina Seselja ABC (No paywall)All four disabled car parks in a community housing complex in Brisbane have been water blasted and the wheelchair symbol removed after the housing department acted on a complaint that argued the accessible spots discriminated against able-bodied people.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-29/disabled-car-parks-discri…
# Australia, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Disability.Rosie and Ernie have struggled to find a home
Frank Film (No paywall)From New Zealand .... What can a seven-year-old boy teach a Christchurch MP about community housing? Frank Film investigates.
https://www.facebook.com/frankfilmnz/videos/220152713246940/
# Video International, Public and community housing.Tasmania, Hobart house prices soar to unaffordable levels, reaching ‘crisis point’
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)House prices in Tasmania’s Hobart rose an extraordinary 15.9 per cent last year – the second sharpest increase of all the nation’s capital cities – to reach a record median of $601,567, now topping that of Perth, Adelaide and Darwin. Outside the capital, there’s been an even more massive surge in prices in some areas, with one suburb north-east of Hobart recording an incredible 26.8 per cent rise, Launceston seeing a 23 per cent jump and the Derwent Valley, 22.8 per cent.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/tasmania-hobart-house-prices-soar…
# Australia, Housing market.Melbourne’s median house price to hit $1m by June, prices rise by 4.8 per cent in three months
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Melbourne’s median house price is expected to hit $1 million by June, with new data revealing house and unit prices have skyrocketed to record highs.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/melbournes-median-house-price-to-…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing market.Byron, Kiama crack $1m median house prices, NSW regional house prices keep rising
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)When Sarah and Stuart Cooke made their dream sea change pre-COVID-19, their rent on a three-bedroom unit in Sydney was almost the same as their mortgage repayments on a four-bedroom free-standing house in Byron Bay. Today, with the news that the median house price in Byron rose by an incredible 31.2 per cent over the past year, to a million-dollar figure only a shade behind the record Sydney median house price, they’re thanking their lucky stars they made their move when they did. There’s no way they could afford it now.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/byron-kiama-crack-1m-median-house…
# NSW, Housing market, Regional NSW.Treeless pain leaves city’s western suburbs hot, dry and dusty
Rachel Eddie The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Melbourne’s far-from-leafy western suburbs do not have enough trees to support intense development, and residents, councillors and planners say something needs to be done.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/treeless-pain-leaves-ci…
# Australia, Planning and development.