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
St. Paul, Minneapolis poised to enact first rent control policies in Midwest
Max Nesterak (No paywall)From the United States ... St. Paul will be the first city in the Midwest to enact rent control after voters easily passed one of the most stringent policies in the country on Tuesday. Across the river, voters cleared the way for Minneapolis to follow suit by approving a ballot measure that authorizes the City Council to draft a rent control ordinance. ... The ordinance in St. Paul caps annual rent increases at 3% per year and is unique in applying to all rental properties across the city, regardless of size or age of the building.
https://minnesotareformer.com/2021/11/02/st-paul-minneapolis-poi…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing market.Jenny Leong: “Being forced to live in poverty is hugely isolating”
Zoe Victoria SBS (No paywall)Single mother, Simone, is talking to NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong about what it’s like to live in social housing. “I shouldn’t have been looking at a wheelchair for at least another 10 years,” she says. But Simone, who lives with a degenerative disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth, has noticed a rapid deterioration of her condition. “Within moving in here, it was two years before I got my first wheelchair.” Simone believes that the more time she and her young son spend in their home, the sicker they get. Because of the cockroaches and rodents in their home she explains, “I can’t even prep food on [sic] the house anymore. I can’t even go and make a sandwich without something trying to run onto your plate.” Simone’s experience is just one featured in the new SBS documentary series Could You Survive on the Breadline?
https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2021/10/28/…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Repairs, Personal stories.Housing affordability – is it really just about economics and supply?
Sienna Crabbmor (No paywall)Rarely do governments look at housing through a health lens, even though it is an important social determinant of health. All we tend to hear is about hot property markets pricing out young people from home ownership – instead of the social and health benefits of adequate and affordable housing. In the analysis below Sienna Crabbmor, a final year public health student at Monash University, looks at the Federal Government’s inquiry into housing affordability and argues for a new evaluation that takes into account the health and social impacts. (Croakey Health Media)
https://www.croakey.org/housing-affordability-is-it-really-just-…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Health.NSW Treasurer Matt Kean backs down from stamp duty overhaul
ABC (No paywall)The new Treasurer Matt Kean has backed away from the government's plan to replace stamp duty with land tax. Dominic Perrottet pushed for the reform when he was treasurer and since becoming Premier had indicated he remains committed to the proposal. But when questioned in budget estimates yesterday on whether the government "would be proceeding" with the plan, Mr Kean said "there are other ways to improve housing affordability".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-04/sydney-news-nsw-treasurer…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Tax.Eight million Australian homes aren't energy efficient. This sharehouse is just one battling to change their property
Emilia Terzon ABC (No paywall)Marley White is a big fan of environmental hacks on a budget. Along with his four flatmates, Marley has installed shade cloths, replaced 32 lightbulbs, and even salvaged bubble wrap to put up on windows. It's all part of their mission to reduce carbon emissions and power bills. "It saves me a lot of money to think about these things in the long run. It saves the environment," Marley says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-04/energy-efficiency-carbon-…
# Australia, Rent, Share houses, Utilities water energy internet.Some households will need $22,458 extra a year to avoid mortgage stress if rates rise by 1 percentage point
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Households with a $1 million home loan would need an extra $22,458 in income a year to avoid mortgage stress if interest rates rose 1 percentage point, new data reveals. Despite the Reserve Bank deciding to hold its cash rate at a record low of 0.1 per cent after its November board meeting on Tuesday, there are growing expectations that will not remain the case next year. Experts believe the inevitable rate rise will push many households into mortgage stress and signal the “beginning of the end” of the great COVID-19 house price boom.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/households-will-need-22458-extra-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.How to make your home more resilient to natural disasters
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)Millions of Australians aren’t considering how extreme weather could put their lives and property at risk when house hunting, a new report shows. As climate change wreaks havoc on Australian weather patterns, data published by Suncorp Insurance shows 46 per cent of Australians aren’t thinking about natural disasters when buying a new home or renovating.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/11/02/home-prop…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Council housing remains the missing solution to the housing crisis. It is time for government to step up
Steve Hilditch Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Councils are ready to readopt their historic role as major providers of new homes at social rents, and could solve many of our housing market issues if they did. But they need a better partner in central government, writes Steve Hilditch.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/council-housing-…
# International, Public and community housing, Housing market.