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
Will Albanese deliver relief in public housing?
Rachel Mealey ABC (No paywall)Anthony Albanese often speaks about his origins in public housing in Sydney's inner-west. He's taking the reins of government at a time when other Australian families are in the midst of a housing crisis, with few options in public or private housing. Will Mr Albanese's response to the crisis bring relief for those struggling now. (PM)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/will-albanese-deliver-r…
# Audio NSW, Public and community housing, Federal Government.Reserve Bank says property market buoyed as households downsized
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A sharp fall in the size of households, as people moved out of share houses or their parent’s homes, helped offset the effect of the collapse of immigration on the Australian housing market, the Reserve Bank believes. In a speech on the property market this morning, the bank’s assistant governor Luci Ellis also noted government programs – including the federal Coalition’s HomeBuilder subsidy – helped to push up prices while she also warned rents in Sydney and Melbourne may rise quicker than expected.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/reserve-bank-says-proper…
# Australia, Rent, Share houses, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Home ownership.Renters slugged with $150 extra in home energy bill costs per year
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Tenants spend more on energy bills than homeowners because rental properties are less efficient to heat and cool, a new study has found. And experts say the government should set minimum standards for rental properties and encourage landlords to invest in making their properties more energy efficient. Report author and head of the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University professor Paul Burke, said renters spent about 8 per cent more on electricity than similar households that were owner occupied. The research was published in the journal Energy Policy. ... Joel Dignam, executive director of tenancy group Better Renting, said the current rental crisis prevented tenants from demanding more and allowed landlords to provide the bare minimum. “Governments need to draw a line and make mandatory minimum requirements so people can pass winter in a rental home without their health being at risk,” he said.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/renters-slugged-with-150-ex…
# Australia, Rent, Health, Minimum habitability standards.Buy now, pay later schemes for Australian renters ‘prey on vulnerable’, financial counsellors warn
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)New buy now, pay later-style schemes targeting renters are “preying on the vulnerable”, say consumer advocates who have renewed calls for the federal government to overhaul credit laws to better regulate the sector. A recent entrant into the market, Tenanting, follows the model of buy now, pay later (BNPL) products such as Afterpay, which offer microloans for retail purchases that users can then pay back in four instalments. Tenanting advertises that it will pay rent on an individual’s behalf “instantly” with the user repaying it over four instalments with the addition of a 5% fee. Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) has taken aim at the company, calling it “yet another alarming example of a fintech company taking advantage of loopholes in the credit laws”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/04/buy-now-p…
# Australia, Rent.More than two million badly insulated homes in deprived areas ‘financially unviable’ to retrofit
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)The Building Back Britain Commission (BBBC), which is behind the research, said the 2.3 million homes are in areas identified as ‘levelling-up priority areas’ – largely as a result of lower property values. It has called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to commit £2.3bn every year for 10 years to raise energy-efficiency standards for poorer households.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/more-than-two-million-badly…
# International, Utilities water energy internet, Housing market.There’s a new government, so what’s next for Australia’s house prices?
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Australia’s downward house price trend will not change despite a new federal Labor government being elected on the weekend, experts say. Economists are predicting the property market will continue to soften despite new policies aimed at helping first home buyers, single parents and low-income earners get into the market sooner and a promise of 30,000 extra social and affordable homes.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/there-s-a-new-government-so…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Property ownership is not the Australian dream for many lifelong renters
Lachlan Bennett ABC (No paywall)Home ownership is not on 34-year-old town planner Eric Smith's to-do list as soaring property prices push the prospect of buying a house out of many young Australians' reach. "Instead of chasing that dream and tying myself to saving $80,000 over the next 10 years so I could put a deposit on a house, I thought I would just commit to renting forever," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-24/home-ownership-not-the-au…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.‘Sleepless nights’: The Metricon customers whose dream homes became nightmares
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Metricon customers are fearful of losing their money and claim they’ve been left in the dark about the future of their homes amid construction delays and price hikes. As speculation mounts around the financial stability of the building behemoth, which employs about 2500 people and has 4000 houses under construction, some customers say they’ve received little to no communication on the progress of their build.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sleepless-nights-the-metric…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.