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
House prices rise at fastest pace since 2003
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Property values rose at the fastest pace in 17 years in February. Data released by CoreLogic on Monday shows home values soared 2.1 per cent over the month as buyers rushed to take advantage of government incentives and record low mortgage rates.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/03/01/house-pri…
# Australia, Housing market.No end in sight for Australia’s ‘broad-based’ housing boom
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Australia’s housing boom has no end in sight as record-low rates and improved economic conditions entice buyers back into the market.
Less than 12 months after the federal government put the national economy into temporary lockdown, property prices across the country are soaring as supply fails to meet demand.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/03/01/housing-b…
# Australia, Housing market.Australia's aged care system needs massive investment, damning royal commission report finds
Elias Visontay and Paul Karp The Guardian (No paywall)Elderly Australians have suffered declining quality of aged care due to decreasing funding levels as successive governments provided the struggling sector the “bare minimum”, the aged care royal commission has found. On Monday the final report of the royal commission was released, signalling that a massive investment will be required to improve care after two decades of efficiency dividends cut more than $9.8bn from the annual aged care budget.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/01/australia…
# Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Older people.Perth hoteliers at centre of homeless housing scandal arrested, one charged
Mia Egerton-Warburton The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Police have launched raids on two convicted fraudsters at the centre of a homeless housing bill dispute.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-hotelier…
# Australia, Homelessness.Women turn to this Sydney home when they're at rock bottom — but there's no space left
Paige Cockburn ABC (No paywall)There's a terrace house nestled on a leafy Sydney street where the doorbell constantly rings. Its appearance is unremarkable, and people walking by it in Kings Cross wouldn't know a sanctuary lies behind the front door. Welcome to Lou's Place — the only daytime refuge for women in Sydney. Those who drop by aren't exaggerating when they say this place has kept them alive. Women who are homeless, escaping violence or dealing with serious trauma come from all parts of Sydney tap into what Lou's is providing — dignity and a way forward. But the cramped house is bursting at the seams and women have to be turned away every day.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-26/sydneys-lous-place-turnin…
# NSW, Homelessness, Personal stories, Women.Guilt by Associations
Suz Muna (No paywall)From United Kingdom ... [Housing] associations are increasingly indistinguishable from private developers and landlords, and their activities are increasingly focussed on market-level rents and sales. The result is that the interests of tenants and leaseholders trail in the wake of the board’s need to generate large surpluses and satisfy their lenders. (Red Brick)
# Must read International, Public and community housing, Housing market.Experts say this is what Australia needs to do to solve the housing crisis
Carol Raabus ABC (No paywall)What can we do with Australia's property market, with soaring prices and rental shortages in many regional areas of Australia, from WA's Pilbara to Hobart in Tasmania? ... Here are three policy areas they suggest Australia needs to address if we want to solve the housing crisis.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-27/policy-ideas-to-solve-nat…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Home ownership, Homelessness.The Victims of the Eviction Moratorium
(No paywall)From the United States ... A coalition of Chinese immigrant landlords in New York say they're on the verge of losing everything because of tenants who have stopped paying rent.
# Hot topic, Video International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents.