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
‘Unmitigated disaster’: Residents, council slam plans for new suburb
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Scaled-back plans for a new suburb on the northern beaches have been labelled an “unmitigated disaster waiting to happen” by a local councillor, as residents raise concerns about the risk of bushfires in the area.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/unmitigated-disaster-residen…
# NSW, Planning and development, State Government.Lending restrictions could hit property investors
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Property investors are likely to find it harder to obtain the big mortgages often required to buy free-standing homes after regulators signalled they would likely act to tighten lending rules. ... “There has been a shift by investors from units to free-standing houses,” says Doron Peleg, founder of RiskWise Property Research. They are attracted to houses because of the potential for capital gains, he says. However, houses usually require larger mortgages than units and, if APRA does impose lending limits, investor buying activity would likely drop, Peleg says.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/lending-restrictions-coul…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Perth home values surge by more than 18 per cent in past year
Nicolas Perpitch and Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)Perth house prices have surged more than 18 per cent in the past year, and even more in regional WA, according to revised property data by CoreLogic.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-01/perth-home-values-surge-1…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Perth homes up 18.1 per cent in value, but growth is slowing
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)House prices in Perth have gone up by 18.1 per cent in the past year, but the growth has slowed down with only a minor increase in the past quarter.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-homes-up…
# Australia, Housing market.Rent and crisis: Old housing problems require a new state of exception in Australia
Sophia Maalsen, Dallas Rogers and Leo Patterson Ross (No paywall)Here's an article from last year that is well worth a read ... The coronavirus pandemic is opening up a space for housing advocates and scholars to push for reforms to the private rental sector. Yet, we argue the Australian government has shown little commitment to addressing long-term, structural housing issues. Temporary reform will not lead to a new or more socially just housing system in the long-term—a new housing normal—without a significant and nation-wide tenant campaign. Like others, we are working together on campaigns such as this, but we are conscious that the government is likely to revert back to their old housing habits. (Dialogues in Human Geography)
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Health, Housing market, State Government.Can an owners corporation legally mandate vaccination in a strata community?
Lehana De Silva and Justin Abi-Daher Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Recently, a residential complex in Sydney informed residents it would be requiring that all persons entering the building must be vaccinated, which raises the question can an owners corporation mandate vaccination for residents of an apartment building (owners and tenants)? In this blog Lehana De Silva, Tenants' Union of NSW, and Justin Abi Daher, Marrickville Legal Centre, look at the issue of vaccine mandating in strata communities from a legal perspective.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/can-owners-corporation-legally-m…
# NSW, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19.How lawyers could prevent America’s eviction crisis from getting a whole lot worse
Jennifer Prusak The Conversation (No paywall)From the United States ... Lawyers may be the only thing standing in the way of eviction for millions of renters. With the end of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium on Aug. 26, 2021, most landlords can now ask courts to evict tenants who haven’t been paying their rent. As a result, new eviction filings are already spiking across the country. Data shows that once an eviction court begins a case, it’s very likely the tenant will quickly be out on the street – unless they have legal representation.
https://theconversation.com/how-lawyers-could-prevent-americas-e…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Tribunal NCAT, Coronavirus COVID-19.Low availability of housing is driving wealth inequality across Australia, experts say
Bianca Healey (No paywall)Demand is outpacing supply for public housing across Australia, new figures show, as soaring property prices and a tightening rental market across regional Australia has led to what some experts are calling a “crisis.” ... Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) NSW cited internal modelling that showed NSW has a shortage of at least 70,000 social housing dwellings. ... Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive of the Tenant’s Union of NSW told Business Insider Australia it had witnessed skyrocketing rental stress since the start of the pandemic. The Tenant’s Union was increasingly hearing it was leading members to make difficult decisions in order to be able to stay in their property. ... Ross said one way to redress this imbalance was for the government to build a supply of affordable housing to create stable “availability and pricing” outside of the current market. “Because there’s no genuine competition for landlords, particularly [on] the low end of the private market, there’s very little competition that would change their behaviour and make them work to keep their tenants,” Ross said. “A big supply of genuinely affordable housing would provide that competition.”
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/housing-availability-public-h…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Families, Housing market.