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
Big home insurance increases to put more pressure on households
Joel Gibson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When mortgage interest rates or energy bills go up, it’s front-page news. However, when insurance premiums rise, it’s often in the business section. Such was the case when Suncorp – one of the “big two” home insurance groups and owner of brands including AAMI, GIO, Apia and others – recently announced it was lifting premiums by an average15 per cent this year. That’s the biggest increase since the Queensland floods and cyclones nine years ago, and yet another bill set to rise by hundreds of dollars for millions of households.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/big-home-ins…
# Australia, Home ownership.The Guardian view on broken markets: time to take back control
Editorial The Guardian (No paywall)When a poll finds that almost half of Conservative voters favour taking the energy industry into public ownership, and a former adviser to Tory governments describes the privatisation model for energy and water as broken, it seems fair to surmise that a laissez-faire economic orthodoxy that has lasted more than 30 years is on the ropes.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/29/the-guardi…
# International, Utilities water energy internet.Living with your parents no longer means you're 'lazy' — you're being practical. But do you save money faster than those who move out young?
Angelica Silva ABC (No paywall)In some segments of Australian society, living with your parents is seen as not being able to make it in "the real world". Words to describe someone who either lives or moved back in with their parents used to be: lazy, disorganised and dependent. But as the pandemic persists and the nation's cost of living rises, those words have changed to include practical and cost-effective. Data from the 2021 Census released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed there were 456,543 people aged between 25 and 34 living with their parents. It is an increase of almost 17 per cent since the 2016 survey. ... [Also] The 2017 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey revealed the most common source of change in households was children leaving the parental home, and then returning after a period of time ... a group dubbed the "boomerang generation".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-30/young-australians-living-…
# Australia, Families, Housing market, Young people.The simple changes that could cut your home energy usage by 25 per cent
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)More homes are set to be built with better insulation, light-coloured roofs and double-glazed windows under new rules that require a seven-star rating for home energy efficiency. North-facing windows can also make a house more energy efficient by capturing winter sunshine, while west-facing windows are best kept to a minimum or at least shaded by awnings or trees on hot summer afternoons. Newly built homes will have a minimum seven-star energy rating under changes agreed last week to the National Construction Code that experts say will cut home energy bills. Also, read Fiona Gray's article entitled: 'The NCC mandating 7 Star homes will cut the cost of living – but there’s more to be done' on 'The Fifth Estate' at: [https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/the-ncc-mandating-7-star-homes-will-cut-the-cost-of-living-but-theres-more-to-be-done/] Read Andrew Sadauskas's article entitled: 'Big surprises in the new NSW sustainable buildings planning policy' on 'The Fifth Estate' at: [ https://thefifthestate.com.au/business/the-surprises-in-the-nsw-sustainable-buildings-planning-policy/]
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-simple-changes-that-cou…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet, Climate change, Housing market.Understanding how policy settings affect developer decisions
Steven Rowley, Chris Leishman, Oluwole Olatunji, Jian Zuo and Adam Crowe AHURI (No paywall)New AHURI research published today examines how policy settings and new construction technologies and processes affect developer decisions to provide private sector housing supply and might improve affordability. The research, undertaken by researchers from Curtin University, University of South Australia, University of Southern Queensland and University of Adelaide examines the complexity of the development process, the structure of development organisations, the variety of products delivered, and land ownership issues mean the development decision-making process varies by organisation and site by site.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#inbox/WhctKKXglJPKQTZsjp…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Planning and development.First home buyers snap up smaller blocks as high demand persists in property market
Owen Jacques and Jessica Lamb ABC (No paywall)The Australian dream of owning your own home has become a lot smaller in high-demand areas, with buyers snapping up tiny properties as they try to break into the housing market or downsize from something bigger.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-30/first-home-buyers-snap-up…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.American Real Estate Was a Money Launderer’s Dream. That’s Changing.
Farah Stockman The New York Times (Paywall)CLEVELAND — When a young man from Florida barely old enough to enter a bar began buying up office buildings in downtown Cleveland, many in the real estate industry here were eager to do business with him. Even though Chaim Schochet wasn’t forthcoming about who his financial backers were or the particulars of his employer, Optima, he had deep pockets, and his company apparently was able to pay in cash. ... But things that seem too good to be true often are. In 2019, a Ukrainian bank filed a lawsuit in Delaware alleging that Optima was a front for two Ukrainian oligarchs who used it to launder hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen money. The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Optima’s offices the following year. In 2021, the State Department issued sanctions against one of the oligarchs, Ihor Kolomoisky. Cleveland has now become a poster child for the need for more transparency in the U.S. real estate industry.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/28/opinion/ukraine-oligarch-clev…
# International, Landlords and agents.The rental crisis means Mia is stuck living with her ex
Kellie Scott ABC (No paywall)Mia broke up with her long-term boyfriend months ago but hasn't been able to move on. Not because she's still in love with him, but because they're still living together. Australia is in the grip of a rental crisis, with the national vacancy rate falling to its lowest level on record. In regional Queensland, where Mia is based, there is a critical shortage. Shelters are full and the average weekly rent has increased by more than 35 per cent in the past year. In many case across the state, vacancy rates are below 1 per cent. The young mum of three, who also works part-time, has been applying for homes since April. "They just consistently email me saying, 'your application didn't make it'," Mia says. "I think with so many people applying, they have the pick of whoever they want, and being a single mum with three kids, and a dog — it's hard."
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/rental-crisis-has-left-mia-livin…
# Australia, Homelessness, Housing market.