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
Housing pt 1 - care ethics
Kathy Mee and Emma Power ABC (No paywall)These days we're increasingly led to think of a house as a commodity, an investment to be turned into profit. But what does it mean to think of a house as a site of care, rather than an asset in a system of market exchange? This week we're re-centring people in the housing value debate. (ABC Radio National)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/h…
# Audio NSW, Home, Housing market.Banks’ home loan battle heats up as refinancing booms
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)As banks fight tooth and nail for home loan growth, the Commonwealth Bank recently made a subtle change to its process for mortgage customers who are dumping the lending giant for a rival. If a CBA customer wants to refinance to another lender, they or their mortgage broker must now call CBA and speak to a staff member to discharge the loan, rather than being able to download the relevant form, as they previously could. The process change means the bank’s staff are getting involved earlier in talking to customers who are planning to leave, potentially giving CBA a better chance of retaining customers by offering lower interest rates. In the scheme of things, it is not exactly a huge shift. Smaller lenders, including Macquarie Bank, Suncorp and others, do the same thing and require one last phone call or discussion for a customer to discharge their loan.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/banks-home-l…
# Australia, Housing market.Complaints prompt Queensland bid to re-educate real estate agents
Sean Parnell The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A rising number of complaints about real estate agents has prompted the Palaszczuk government to propose compulsory annual training sessions to ensure consumers are not being misled. The government wants thousands of agents to be required to undertake two continuing professional development sessions every year. In a discussion paper, the government nominates re-education as the preferred option for regulatory reform. The move comes as the Office of Fair Trading continues to receive complaints about misinformation and miscommunication between agents and consumers in a volatile property market.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/complaints-prompt-que…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Housing activists launch campaign calling for Airbnb regulation
Alex King (No paywall)Housing action groups have launched a new campaign calling for Airbnb regulation in England. Action on Short Term Lets, coordinated by Action on Empty Homes and Greater Manchester Tenants Union, will campaign for councils in England to be given power to block homes being converted into short-term rentals, most commonly as Airbnb lets. There’s currently no way for councils in England to regulate Airbnbs because short-term rental properties are in the same planning class as ordinary homes. This means councils cannot distinguish between a home and an Airbnb listing, preventing them from introducing measures that would stop homeowners listing their homes on Airbnb. The campaign will push to get English councils powers to limit the number of new Airbnb listings. It wants to see planning reforms, a licensing system and a ‘right to refuse’ new listings. (The Big Issue)
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/housing-activists-launch-c…
# International, Campaigns and law reform, Local Government, Short-term holiday letting.Holiday hotspots beg short-stay landlords to rent to locals as housing supply plummets
Alanna Tomazin (No paywall)Popular tourist spots are calling on people with holiday lets and Airbnbs to rent them to locals as the housing crisis deepens. (Bega District News)
https://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/7886276/rent-your-holi…
# NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Social housing rent arrears hit record levels in Scotland
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)The number of social tenants in rent arrears in Scotland is at its highest ever level, according to the Scottish Housing Regulator.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/social-housing-rent-ar…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent.‘We don’t want it wrecked’: The fight to save a slice of Sydney suburbia
Billie Eder The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Residents in the southern Sydney suburb of Mortdale want the Georges River Council to release any updated drafts of the suburb’s master plan, which they say could turn the area into a high-rise jungle like neighbouring Hurstville.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/we-don-t-want-it-wrecked-the…
# NSW, Campaigns and law reform, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development.Property developer will raze thousands of trees despite local distress
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Thousands of trees will be bulldozed as part of a residential development in northern Sydney despite opposition from residents and a local council. Property developer Mirvac has lodged plans to build 418 apartments and houses on the old IBM site at West Pennant Hills, 20 kilometres northwest of the Sydney CBD and next to the Cumberland State Forest.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/property-developer-will-raze…
# NSW, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Local Government, Planning and development.