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
Affordable housing legislation to come before parliament in next few months: Collins
Rachel Chun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The first homes for essential workers and vulnerable Australians financed by Labor’s new housing fund will not have foundations dug and frames up until the end of next year. Housing and Homelessness Minister Julie Collins said legislation for the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund was nearly complete and would be brought before parliament in the next few months.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/affordable-housing-legis…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.Queensland housing minister urges compassion after ‘appalling’ call to raise rents by 20%
Eden Gillespie The Guardian (No paywall)Queensland’s housing minister says it’s “appalling” that landlords have been advised to raise rents amid a rental crisis after a Brisbane real estate agent encouraged increases of more than 20%. Leeanne Enoch’s comments come after Guardian Australia reported that Ray White West End had sent an email to landlords urging them to increase rents by more than double the inflation rate.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/queenslan…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government.House prices are falling and unlikely to rebound. Bring it on...
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)There’s an adage that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. When it comes to Australian home values, I would add “and able to pay”. And the importance of that addition is about to become abundantly clear to home owners as borrowing costs continue to climb. Not many have noticed it yet, but I suspect we’ve just passed an historic turning point in the prospects for property price growth, in which future gains will be much lower than in recent decades. I also happen to think that is a very good thing. ... Today, Australian housing debts sit at record highs compared with income. Why? Because every time the central bank made it cheaper to borrow, we went out and leveraged to the max to feed our property desires. And literally no policymaker saw fit to stop us. As a result, the Baby Boomer cohort now finds itself sitting on large gold mines, which their kids will inherit. But not all kids will be so lucky. And it’s likely to be a very different story for future generations.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/house-prices-are-fal…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Tax, Young people.Charity calls for government funding as NSW South Coast homeless shelter shuts its doors
Jessica Clifford and Nick McLaren ABC (No paywall)Last night, 12 homeless people in Nowra on the NSW South Coast had a warm bed and a meal at Safe Shelter Shoalhaven, but tonight they will be on the streets, with the shelter to close immediately. Peter Dover, the chief executive of Salt Care, a local church-led charity that has run the shelter for the past five years, said funding for the service had run dry.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-17/shoalhaven-homeless-shelt…
# NSW, Homelessness, Regional NSW.JobSeeker has kept recipients below the poverty line for years, but advocates say they've never been worse off
Evan Young and Norman Hermant ABC (No paywall)Some experts argue the cost-of-living crisis and inflation is actually hitting those on low incomes harder than those on higher incomes. CPI tracks increases in a basket of goods and weighs them all equally. But it doesn't account for the fact that low-income households spend a greater percentage of income on essentials such as food and housing — expenses that are now rising the fastest. ... The Henderson poverty line, one of the most commonly used metrics, had the poverty line, as of June 2022, for a single adult at $616 per week. The base JobSeeker rate for a single adult with no children is currently $334 per week. Also, read James Bryan-Hancock's article entitled: 'Welfare saved my life. If payments are raised to the poverty line more Australians will survive' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/17/welfare-saved-my-life-if-payments-are-raised-to-the-poverty-line-more-australians-will-survive] Read two articles by Luke Henriques-Gomes in 'The Guardian'. His first article is entitled: 'Inflation and inadequate welfare fuelling Australia’s food insecurity crisis, Foodbank finds' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/inflation-and-inadequate-welfare-fuelling-australias-food-insecurity-crisis-foodbank-finds]. His second article is entitled: 'A third of single mothers in financial hardship due to welfare policies, analysis finds' at: [ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/18/a-third-of-single-mothers-in-financial-hardship-due-to-welfare-policies-analysis-finds] Read Jewel Topsfield's article entitled: 'Report shows 540,000 Victorian households went hungry in the last year' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/report-shows-540-000-victorian-households-went-hungry-in-the-last-year-20221016-p5bq32.html].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-18/jobseeker-centrelink-belo…
# Australia, Families, Federal Government, Welfare, Women, Work, employment.Yorkshire Housing secures £77m deal with NatWest to help fund 8,000 affordable homes
Justine Bourne (No paywall)Yorkshire Housing own and manage 20,000 affordable and social rent homes across 20 local authorities with plans to increase their portfolio by around 20% over the next eight years through providing more energy efficient homes. The new £77million funding package from NatWest will enable Yorkshire Housing to ramp up their efforts to decarbonise existing homes ahead of government targets through their retrofit scheme, which sees existing homes fitted out with sustainable technologies such as heat pumps and solar panels. (unlocknetzero)
https://www.unlocknetzero.co.uk/news/yorkshire-housing-secures-7…
# International, Public and community housing, Utilities water energy internet, Affordable housing, Climate change.Margaret River Rotary Club frustrated by 'red tape' in tiny houses plan for the homeless
Georgia Loney ABC (No paywall)Red tape is hindering plans by Margaret River locals to build tiny houses for the homeless, the local rotary club says. It comes as housing shortages in the region leaves local workers competing with tourists for tent sites at caravan parks. The Margaret River Rotary Club (MRRC) is leading a proposal for the construction of 10 small houses, each with about 45 square metres of living space, at the historical Railway Barracks site. The club, with the backing of housing advocacy groups, wants to secure the lease of the land from the state government.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-15/margaret-river-rotary-clu…
# Australia, Homelessness, Planning and development.Potty prices: Sydney studio apartment with toilet in kitchen on market for $520 a week
Mostafa Rachwani The Guardian (No paywall)If you ever needed proof Sydney’s rental market is completely insane, here it is. This tiny apartment – previously dubbed a “room with a poo” – is currently listed for $520 a week. The studio, in the inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, redefines open plan living with its bright red tiling in the kitchen, a polkadot couch, and a toilet – all in the same space.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/15/potty-pri…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market, Sydney.