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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
Victoria plans for international students' return with special quarantine housing
Naaman Zhou The Guardian (No paywall)The Victorian state government is hoping to bring international students back into the state in 2021, as student advocates say they are happy to pay for quarantine and accommodation in a similar set-up to the 1,200 people allowed in for the Australian Open.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/15/victoria-…
# Australia, Students.Home owners reveal pros and cons of renting out a room on Airbnb
Melissa Jenkins The New Daily (No paywall)He had two buckets of mussels and some mud crabs and I was just like, this is going to stink the house out. Read on ...
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/01/15/renting-r…
# Australia, Short-term holiday letting.Apartment prices are falling. Here’s how to ensure you don’t buy a dud
Matt Johnson The New Daily (No paywall)Apartment prices in Australia’s three largest capital cities either stagnated or declined through the pandemic year. But in dreaded news for apartment owners, there’s more pain on the horizon. High-rise CBD apartments – reeling from low migration, oversupply and bad publicity following Sydney’s Opal Tower saga – will continue to lose value until a vaccine is rolled out, SQM Research founder Louis Christopher said.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/01/15/apartment…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Value of new home loans hits record high for second month in a row
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Lenders approved a record value of new home loans in November as first-home buyers took advantage of falling interest rates and government incentives.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/01/15/home-loan…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Sunshine Coast woman charged with fraud after allegedly luring desperate renters to pay for a fake rental home
Tass Cassidy ABC (No paywall)A woman on Queensland's Sunshine Coast has been charged with fraud and forgery after she allegedly preyed on vulnerable people desperate to secure a rental property. It is alleged Patricia Anne McIntyre, 50, convinced people to pay thousands of dollars in advance to secure a lease for a faked rental.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-15/qld-sunshine-coast-woman-…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.‘We did it all’: The father-daughter duo who built a tiny house from scratch
Brigid Blackney Domain (Paywall)Tiffany Falzon had been a Sydneysider for almost a decade when she had an idea that sparked a move back to her small South Australian hometown. She decided it was time to enlist her dad’s help to build a coastal tiny house that could accommodate guests in Marion Bay (around three hours’ drive from Adelaide) where she grew up. Read more ...
https://www.domain.com.au/living/we-did-it-all-the-father-daught…
# Australia, Granny flats, studios, Short-term holiday letting.Papua New Guinea town of outcasts gearing up for David and Goliath battle to save community of Bushwara
Natalie Whiting ABC (No paywall)Lily Simon can still vividly recall when she was forced to sleep in a tent after being evicted from her home in Port Moresby almost 20 years ago. ... But Ms Simon wanted to find something better and eventually moved to the outskirts of Port Moresby. It was a largely empty, bushy area when she started to build a home and a life there, but in the years that followed more people arrived. It has since become known as Bushwara. ... But two decades after they first arrived, Ms Simon and other residents are again facing the threat of eviction.
Large swathes of Bushwara land belong to PNG superannuation company Nambawan Super. ... Last month, the National Court ruled in Nambawan Super's favour, ordering the settlers to leave in 120 days. The community is planning another legal challenge.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-11/png-people-of-bushwara-fa…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Homelessness, Squatting.Renters' Guide to COVID-19
Tenants Union of NSW Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Check out the latest information in the new and improved Renters' Guide to COVID-19. Regularly updated.
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.