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
Jump in houses for sale that offer cut-price home energy bills
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)A rising number of homes listed for sale come with energy-efficient features such as solar panels and battery storage, new figures show. A bid to save money on energy bills has driven the uptake of rooftop solar in recent years, along with an increase in time spent at home. Home buyers looking for efficient options have more choice, with more than 101,000 properties with solar panels listed for sale in Australia in the 12 months to May, analysis by real estate agency Ray White shows.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/jump-in-houses-for-sale-tha…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet, Fixtures - lights, aircon etc, Housing market.Skinny homes for sale – in pictures
Anna White The Guardian (No paywall)From a converted coach house, narrower than a tube carriage, to a one-room-wide home in Edinburgh
https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2022/jul/08/skinny-hom…
# International, Housing market.Shanty towns and eviction riots: the radical history of Australia’s property market
Helen Dinmore The Conversation (No paywall)Skyrocketing property prices and an impossible rental market have seen growing numbers of Australians struggling to find a place to live. Recent images of families pitching tents or living out of cars evoke some of the more enduring scenes from the Great Depression. Australia was among the hardest hit countries when global wool and wheat prices plummeted in 1929. By 1931, many were feeling the effects of long-term unemployment, including widespread evictions from their homes. The evidence was soon seen and felt as shanty towns – known as dole camps – mushroomed in and around urban centres across the country. How we responded to that housing crisis, and how we talk about those events today, show how our attitudes about poverty, homelessness and welfare are entwined with questions of national identity.
https://theconversation.com/shanty-towns-and-eviction-riots-the-…
# History Australia, Eviction, Rent, Families, Homelessness, Housing market, Regional NSW.‘Worse than we thought’: Labor says urgent reform needed to fix aged care crisis
Sarah Martin The Guardian (No paywall)Aged care in Australia needs “urgent reform as quickly as possible” alongside an overhaul of the funding model to ensure the sector remains financially viable, the new minister for aged care, Anika Wells, says. Describing the current situation for the sector as a “crisis”, Wells said the federal government was already supporting a number of providers to remain open given the current pressures on the system, where the majority of providers are operating at a loss. “It is worse than we thought. Every rock I turn over, it is worse than we thought and I think that is the experience across the board,” Wells told Guardian Australia.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/07/worse-tha…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, Older people.What is the right level of social housing for Australia?
AHURI Brief AHURI (No paywall)In the 40 years between 1981 and 2021 the percentage of all Australian households living in social housing (i.e. state owned and managed public housing or community managed housing) has ranged from 4.9 per cent in 1981 to 3.8 per cent in 2021 (from 2021 ABS Census). Such a drop in the proportion of social housing raises the question of has Australia achieved the balance right, and also just what is the right level of social housing for Australia?
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/what-right-level-social-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Housing market..id insight | July 2022 edition
(No paywall)Read how 2021 Census data reveals the changing nature of Australia. Also, check out the webinar called 'Addressing the housing crisis at the local level. This covers the different issues that make up Australia's "housing crisis" and the need for local nuance in responses; the roles local government play in addressing these issues; and a demonstration of the housing monitor tool, housing.id. (.id informed decisions)
https://content.id.com.au/id-insight-%EF%B8%8Fjuly-2022?ecid=ACs…
# Australia, Families, Health, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, Race and ethnicity.We can’t buy back every home on a floodplain, but we can stop building for certain disaster
Chas Keys The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)What will it take for governments to take the sort of action that is needed to rein in the flood threat in NSW? With the dreadful flooding of Lismore and other parts of the Northern Rivers in February and March now followed by the third major flood on the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system within the past 16 months, the time has arrived for seriously rethinking how we deal with flooding. ... If we are serious, we will tackle the real problem with prolonged buy-backs and stronger development regulation.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/we-can-t-buy-back-every-home…
# NSW, Housing market, State Government.Governments spent $20.5b on first home buyer help that pushes up prices: report
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Australian governments spent more than $20.5 billion on first home buyer help in the past decade, which made housing affordability worse by driving up property prices and left existing homeowners richer, new research found. ... Senior Research Fellow in the City Futures Research Centre at the University of NSW and report author Dr Chris Martin said various governments in the decade to 2021 had very little to show for the billions spent. “That’s $20 billion of public monies spent into the housing system for no housing policy outcome,” Martin said. “There are lots of other ways you could spend $20 billion to get housing policy outcomes like whether it’s rent assistance, which doesn’t have the same housing cost inflationary effect, or even better spending on housing that’s going to be affordable rental for the long term,” Martin said. He said that money was wasted by making housing affordability worse, and it has benefitted existing homeowners instead. “It’s worse than a waste [of money]. It’s money that has gone into making a problem worse … and it ends up going into inflating home values,” Martin said. Also, read Gareth Hutchen's article entitled: 'Australian governments have spent $20b on assistance for first home buyers, but who has really benefited?' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-10/first-home-buyer-assistance-benefits-property-owners/101216684]
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/governments-spent-20-5b-on-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, State Government, Tax.