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
Build-to-rent surge will change apartment living for Australians, but for better or worse?
Megan Nethercote The Conversation (No paywall)Australia’s emerging build-to-rent sector is growing — “booming” by some accounts with a 70% jump in value in the past year. Under this model, institutional investors develop purpose-built rental apartments to retain and operate under single ownership. In Australia, it will change how apartments are designed and developed, how we are housed and how our tenancies are managed.
https://theconversation.com/build-to-rent-surge-will-change-apar…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing market, Tax.Rising house prices putting at risk the economic stability of the nation
By Hal Pawson and Bill Randolph Pearls and Irritations (No paywall)Housing unaffordability is causing serious economic damage that governments must treat more seriously. Put simply, rising mortgage debt poses risks for national economic stability, while current housing policies contribute to stagnating economic productivity and growth. Furthermore, when lower income workers have access to affordable housing near innovation hot spots and growth industries, the economy benefits.
https://johnmenadue.com/rising-house-prices-putting-at-risk-the-…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.'Extremely dangerous': how much of the heat can western Sydney bear?
Mostafa Rachwani The Guardian (No paywall)Anyone who’s lived in western Sydney in summer will tell you the days of searing heat and burning bitumen feel very different from the rest of the city.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/08/extremely…
# Hot topic NSW, Utilities water energy internet, Health, Local Government, Planning and development.COVID-19 measures reduced rough sleeping but will the change be permanent?
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Fewer people are sleeping rough in NSW than this time last year but the number has crept up since the height of the COVID pandemic when the state government was paying to house rough sleepers.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/covid-measures-reduce-rough-…
# Hot topic NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.Beware the lion that roars: a bite still awaits
Hal Pawson Pearls and Irritations (No paywall)There’s always strings attached and the housing market is no different. A perfect storm is building, thanks to cheap money and housing grants that have turbo-charged the market. At the start of the pandemic, there was alarm about the possible housing system damage that could result. One of our largest banks projected a possible 32% hit to house prices. Most other forecasts similarly anticipated a major downturn in property prices and construction. (Similar article by same author posted on 8 March 2021)
https://johnmenadue.com/beware-the-lion-that-roars-a-bite-still-…
# Must read Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.Sidoti and Sydney developer referred to ICAC over land dealings
Adele Ferguson and Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Former NSW government minister John Sidoti and a large Sydney developer were referred to the anti-corruption watchdog amid allegations development plans for the city’s inner west were altered to benefit the builder of waterfront apartments.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sidoti-and-sydney-developer-…
# NSW, Planning and development, State Government.Why are developments still going up in western Sydney – and at what cost?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (Paywall)Driving over Granville’s railway bridge in peak hour traffic can take up to 20 mins for Tony Eltakchi. The stretch of road is less than 200 metres but the disproportionate scale of congestion, he says, comes from the nearby high-rise residential towers, all built in recent years.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/why-ugly-developments-are-still-b…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development.Brogden says long-term friendship with developer was a ‘manageable conflict’
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Landcom boss John Brogden has revealed he has had a long-term friendship with the chief executive of a developer from which his agency bought a large parcel of land for $258 million. But the former NSW Liberal Party leader told a budget estimates hearing on Tuesday that he believed the potential conflict of interest from his friendship with Bradcorp boss Peter Brennan was manageable because he was not the decision maker in the purchase.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/brogden-says-long-term-frien…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.