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
In Darwin's booming property market, rents are rising while vacancy rates tumble
Jesse Thompson ABC (No paywall)Talitha Porter wasn't looking for anything special: a pet-friendly, two or three-bedroom house near the Palmerston suburb of Moulden where she'd been a tenant for three years. But when she set out in the Top End rental market to find a new home before her lease ends — and the home-owner can sell — on March 11, the 23-year-old soon began to question her chances. Dozens of people were crowding into inspections for ordinary homes. Asking prices exceeded her upper budget of $400 per week, in some cases by as much as one third.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-15/darwin-rental-market-covi…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market.Sydney exodus drives regional property prices up and locals out of the market
Joanne Woodburn and others ABC (No paywall)An influx of former Sydney residents combined with a lack of housing stock is propelling regional New South Wales property prices to record highs, while pushing locals out of the market.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-15/sydney-exodus-creates-hou…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Regional NSW, Short-term holiday letting.‘On the cusp of a boom’: Double-digit house price rise tipped as banks continue rate cuts
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Economists for the nation’s biggest mortgage lender believe a new housing boom will push home prices in Sydney and Melbourne up by at least 12 per cent over the next two years as banks drive lending rates below 2 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/on-the-cusp-of-a-boom-do…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.The Australian property market is booming but the gains are based on 'massive' debts
Royce Kurmelovs The Guardian (No paywall)The Australian housing market is going gangbusters and all the signs are the boom is here to stay. ... Prof Hal Pawson from the University of New South Wales said ... “cheap money” has been a big driver in the recent price spike – and one that may prove disadvantageous to renters and those living in regional areas. ... “It’s the ability to take out $150,000 more on a mortgage than you could have had a year ago on the same salary. The concern about this is that, for lower income earners in regional locations, they’re going to be put under pressure as the result of these changes and it doesn’t flow through [to renters] immediately.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/the-austr…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Will Restrictions Be Enough to Cool NZ Housing Market?
Dinah Lewis Boucher (No paywall)New Zealand’s central bank will reinstate mortgage lending restrictions next month, with further restrictions to come for property investors, in a bid to curb the nation's surging house prices. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will tighten loan-to-value restrictions on mortgage lending, with the tightest restrictions to be imposed on property investors, who won't be able to borrow more than 60 per cent of a property's value as of 1 May. (The Urban Developer)
https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/lending-restrictions-nz-h…
# International, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Ban on bailiff-enforced evictions in England extended to end of March
PA Media The Guardian (No paywall)The ban on bailiff-enforced evictions in England is to be extended until the end of March, the government has announced. The housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, said the ban – introduced at the start of the pandemic last March to protect private renters – will remain in place for all but the most serious cases for another six weeks. The latest extension came after ministers announced last month that it would continue until 22 February, having been due to expire on 11 January.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/14/ban-on-bailiff-enf…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Renters: Eviction ban in England extended until March
BBC (No paywall)Ian Forest has been living in his home for six years, but is now facing eviction because he couldn't find work during the pandemic. He hopes he will be able to repay his arrears before the eviction ban comes to an end in the hope that he can keep a roof over his head. Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said extending the ban would ensure renters remained protected "during this difficult time".
# Video International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Bailiff eviction ban extended to end of March
Dominic Brady Inside Housing (Paywall)Renters have been given a further six weeks of protection from bailiff-enforced evictions in England, the government has announced.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/bailiff-eviction-ban-e…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.