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
'Craziest idea I've heard': Malcolm Turnbull attacks using superannuation to buy property
Ben Butler The Guardian (No paywall)The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said allowing people to withdraw from their retirement savings to help buy a house is “the craziest idea I’ve heard” and lashed politicians for being patronising by denying ordinary Australians an increase in the superannuation rate. ... But Turnbull said Australia had a housing affordability problem and allowing money to flow out of super accounts and into the property market would make it worse. “Diverting even more savings into housing is simply just going to bid up the price of housing,” he said. “I mean, that is, honestly, that’s the worst possible argument.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/12/craziest-…
# Hot topic Australia, Home ownership.Dubbo Council orders Poplars Caravan Park to clean up
Ryan Young Daily Telegraph (Paywall)The owner of a Dubbo CBD caravan park says swift action has been taken after
complaints about the state of the business prompted the local council to issue a
rare clean up direction. ... [Council’s development and environment director] Stephen Wallace said: “Following inspections of the caravan park council staff noted a number of issues which posed a potential risk to public health, such as rubbish strewn throughout the site, a lack of sanitation, broken items in need of repair since the previous inspection, unsealed roads filling drains with sediment and inadequate record keeping.”
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=D…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Local Government.End of national rental scheme to compound Tasmania's housing crisis as unaffordability sweeps the state
Alexandra Humphries ABC (No paywall)Andrew Kemmell has spent the past few weeks packing his life into boxes. ... For almost two years Mr Kemmell has paid $263 a week in rent, with the rest subsidised through the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS). But the program is expiring, and his landlord wants to ensure they continue receiving market rent for the property. ... The end of NRAS means hundreds of Tasmanian tenants whose rents have been subsidised will no longer have access to cheaper rentals, further compounding the state's housing woes.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-14/three-years-on-from-housi…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Homelessness.High rent and unaffordable housing in Sydney
(Paywall)High rent and unaffordable housing is forcing essential workers out of Sydney. Developers are accused of taking advantage of a loophole in state government legislation which is supercharging the price of what should be affordable units. (7 News)
# Video NSW, Affordable housing, Planning and development.Calls for human right to shelter in Australia
Paul Sakkal The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Australian government should legislate a human right to housing so it takes responsibility for homelessness and provides enough social housing for the vulnerable, a new report and a leading academic say.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/calls-for-human-right-to-shelter…
# Australia, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Human rights, International, Tax.Tired of Greedy Landlords, Students Are Setting Up Housing Co-ops
Eloise Barry (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Students have long faced sky-high rents and poor-quality housing. Since the start of the pandemic many students’ problems have gotten even worse, with a record number of young people losing their jobs, thousands forced to isolate in substandard university halls, and almost £1bn spent on accommodation they haven’t even been able to access. Consequently, the past year has seen students nationwide coordinate the largest wave of rent strikes in recent history. But a growing number are now going one step further: breaking away from the private rented sector altogether and setting up their own housing co-operatives. (Novara Media)
https://novaramedia.com/2021/03/12/tired-of-greedy-landlords-stu…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents, Students.Developer of Sydney’s ‘worst’ tower ordered to fix faults
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The developer of a 16-storey apartment tower in western Sydney, which has been singled out by NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler as one of the worst he has inspected, has been handed orders forcing it to fix serious defects.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/developer-of-sydney-s-worst-…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Warnings over proposed overhaul of responsible mortgage lending
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Record high mortgage lending to owner-occupiers, surging property prices and lenders offering low deposit mortgages could make for a perfect storm if the government’s attempt to repeal responsible lending obligations is successful, critics warn. They say loosening responsible lending obligations would add fuel to the already hot property market and increase indebtedness, leaving home owners struggling to meet repayments if interest rates were to rise.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/warnings-over-proposed-ov…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership.