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
Single mortgage rate rise would put one in 20 home owners into financial hardship, survey shows
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)A single mortgage rate rise would be enough to push one in 20 home owners into financial hardship, a new survey [by Finder] shows, as ongoing lockdowns hit the savings buffers of those who have lost work during the pandemic. ... [Ms Julia Davis of the Financial Rights Legal Centre] said 'So far, foreclosures have not been an issue' but she felt a rate rise would push more than 5 per cent of borrowers into hardship, given the levels of existing financial stress. She noted that about 40 per cent of NSW households were in mortgage stress last month ... 'It’s pretty tragic, plenty of people who have called us were finally back on their feet in early 2021, and back to regular payments … now they’re back to having no income and can’t afford anything, and the banks are sending them to us.'
https://www.domain.com.au/news/single-mortgage-rate-rise-would-p…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership.Neighbours have right to retrieve lost balls, cats under new Belgian law
James Crisp The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A new property law comes into force [in Belgian] on September 1 that will allow people to retrieve a ball or wandering pet from a neighbour’s garden without asking for permission. Under current rules, the neighbour can refuse access.
https://amp.smh.com.au/world/europe/neighbours-have-right-to-ret…
# International, Privacy and access.Why lockdowns aren’t suppressing house prices
Clancy Yeats The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)So, why is the market behaving so differently this time around? And if the economy is taking a hit from the lockdowns, why isn’t the housing market? Property watchers say prices are still rising because demand for homes remains surprisingly strong and the supply of properties for sale is falling.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/why-lockdowns-aren-t-supp…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.England: Planning system perpetuates racism
(No paywall)New research ... has found that the planning process in England is reinforcing racial inequality, despite having clear potential to support the needs of ethnic minority residents. ... The team found that planners and housing professionals lack the confidence, skills and resources required to actively address racial inequality in housing, perpetuating socially conservative outcomes and limiting opportunities for achieving racial equality. The findings also revealed a view within the planning profession that formal equality of treatment is sufficient in the pursuit of social justice, but it is not translating into equality of outcome for multiple groups. ... Public consultation opportunities were found to reinforce existing unequal power relationships by favouring those with the time, knowledge, and confidence to participate. The evidence showed that not enough is being done to engage residents from ethnic minority, low-income and other less frequently heard groups. (Scottish Housing News)
https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/article/england-planning-sys…
# International, Planning and development, Race and ethnicity.Government launches £4m Community Housing Fund
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United KIngdom ... A £4m grant programme has been launched by the government to fund community-led schemes for affordable housing. The money is intended to help meet costs associated with pre-development such as legal advice, design work and planning applications. Ministers have not said how many new homes they hope to be supported through the fund. The government previously ran a £163m Community Housing Fund, but it closed at the end of 2019 with only a fraction allocated following long delays in opening the bidding.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/government-launches-4m…
# International, Affordable housing, Housing market.Australian housing market entering ‘tricky territory’ as affordability starts to bite
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Australia’s housing market is heading into “tricky territory” as coronavirus-related lockdowns intersect with the issue of soaring house prices and affordability, a new report reveals. ... Westpac’s Quarterly Housing Pulse showed the “time to buy a dwelling index” was at its second-lowest point since 2010. ... Affordability has become a major concern in Melbourne and Sydney. Both cities are in lockdown but have also had house prices soar to record levels over the past 12 months.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-housing-market-enterin…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing market.Stressed parents fear kids will never afford a home of their own
Nina Hendy The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Parents are losing hope that their children will ever be able to afford the great Australian dream of home ownership. The property market is moving further out of reach with every passing month, rising by about $1200 a day in the second quarter and $445 a day in Melbourne in the three months ended in June.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/saving/stressed-parents-fear-kids-w…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Home ownership, Housing market.Australia’s preliminary clearance rates drops to lowest level since July 2020: CoreLogic
Tawar Razaghi The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australia’s preliminary auction clearance rate has dropped to its lowest level since late July 2020, with Melbourne’s ban on inspections weighing down auction results, CoreLogic figures reveal. ... The investor market was likely to have been harder hit in Sydney, Mr McGlynn said, as investment properties were more likely to be tenanted, making it difficult to access even for one-on-one inspections.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australias-preliminary-clearance-…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Landlords and agents.