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
Modified apartment with bathroom in lounge room advertised for $400 a week as Adelaide's rental crisis deepens
Sara Tomevska ABC (No paywall)An "outstanding location" and "easy, low maintenance lifestyle" is what's promised to prospective renters at 4/201 O'Connell Street. ... "This spacious, fully-furnished upstairs studio offers the lifestyle that everyone deserves." What an agent may describe as a "great sized modern bathroom," a discerning renter may suggest is a "Perspex sh****g cube in the middle of your kitchen." Read the same story entitled:'Glass act: critics see right through Adelaide rental with bathroom ‘cube’ built next to kitchen' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/27/glass-act-critics-see-right-through-adelaide-rental-with-bathroom-cube-built-next-to-kitchen] And now check out Cait Kelly's article entitled: 'Melbourne ‘space shuttle’ pods containing a single bed for rent for up to $900 a month' in 'The Guardian' at: [ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/29/melbourne-space-shuttle-pods-containing-a-single-bed-for-rent-for-up-to-900-a-month].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-27/rental-crisis-sees-very-b…
# Australia, Rent, Share houses, Affordable housing, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards.Renting your home? These online tools could save you money
Tom Watson (No paywall)One in three Australian households rent the home they live in, but as any current or previous renter will appreciate, renting is not always the easiest experience. That's especially true right now. Rental vacancy rates in most capital cities and regional areas are at the lowest point they've been in years, meaning competition for rentals is particularly fierce. Rent prices are also on the rise, and they're predicted to keep on climbing as landlords pass on the costs associated with rising mortgage rates. Given that, if you are looking for a new rental at present, you'll want to take advantage of all the tools at your disposal to make life easier. (Money)
https://www.moneymag.com.au/rental-property-reviews-online-tools
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent.‘It’s looking really ugly over time’: Home buyers to pay price as rates rise to stem inflation
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Home buyers will be collateral damage as the Reserve Bank drives up interest rates to slow inflation and the federal government faces pressure to adopt long-term economic reforms to safeguard the budget and economy.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-looking-really-ugly…
# Australia, Families, Housing market.Ethno-racial minorities in Canada have less access to affordable housing than white people
Kate Choi and Sagi Ramaj The Conversation (No paywall)Canada is grappling with a housing affordability crisis. Housing prices and rent have increased dramatically over the past few years. ... Our new study on Canada’s affordability crisis ... used data from the 2016 Canadian Census to document ethno-racial variations in access to affordable housing. Once these patterns were established, we identified why certain ethno-racial groups have less access to affordable housing. We found that visible minorities have less access to affordable housing than white people in Canada. Unaffordable housing rates were especially high among Middle Easterns, North Africans, East Asians and South Asians.
https://theconversation.com/ethno-racial-minorities-in-canada-ha…
# International, Housing affordability, Housing market, Race and ethnicity.Far North Queensland has a housing crisis but the census found more than 11,000 empty homes
Christopher Testa ABC (No paywall)A shortage of housing in Far North Queensland is driving people into precarious accommodation and making it harder for employers to find staff. But on census night last year, more than 11,500 homes across the greater Cairns region were empty. That included the Douglas Shire, where the rate of empty homes was 18 per cent, almost double the statewide average.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-29/census-finds-11000-homes-…
# Australia, Housing market, Planning and development.Social housing stock barely changes as waiting lists blow out and rental stress doubles across Australia
Luke Henriques-Gomes The Guardian (No paywall)The number of social housing units in Australia rose by less than 1% last year and actually went backwards in some states, while waiting lists across the country blew out further and rental stress among jobseekers receiving rent assistance doubled. As the new Albanese government seeks to increase social housing stock nationally, a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Wednesday showed demand for housing support continues to outstrip supply.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/29/social-ho…
# Australia, Public and community housing.Accommodating adults with intellectual disabilities and high support needs in Individual Supported Living arrangements
Stian Thoresen, Patricia O’Brien, Mary-Ann O’Donovan, Brontë Walter, Arne Mueller, Greta Westermann, Erin Whittle and Angus Buchanan AHURI (No paywall)This research investigated Individual Supported Living (ISL) arrangements, which have been developed to provide appropriate and preferred homes for persons with intellectual disabilities and high support needs.
# Research alert Australia, Disability, Housing market.Everything to play for: whistleblower’s home on the line as Lendlease makes merry with tax code
Michael West (No paywall)When the top brass at Lendlease and their Big 4 tax avoidance advisers were plotting how to skin the Tax Office for $300m in a retirement village scam 10 years ago, they needed to get residents to switch from leases to loans. So they dangled $9000 payments in front of their elderly residents to entice them to swap contracts. (Michael West Media)
https://michaelwest.com.au/everything-to-play-for-whistleblowers…
# Australia, Housing market, Older people, Tax.