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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
Scrap Stamp Duty and implement annual property tax - call
Graham Norwood (No paywall)A think tank wants the government to scrap stamp duty and replace it with an annual property tax based on capital value. (EstateAgentToday)
https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2021/5/tax-dema…
# International, Housing market, Tax.A just recovery for renters
(No paywall)From Scotland ... Renters are at increased risk of losing their homes as a result of COVID-related rent arrears and debt, unless they are thrown a lifeline with further targeted support. (Joseph Rowntree Foundation)
https://housingnet.co.uk/pdf/a_just_recovery_for_renters.pdf
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Surge in insurance premiums to push up reno costs for apartment owners
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Owners of apartments, terraces and townhouses in NSW will be hit with thousands of dollars in extra costs for repairs and renovations when insurance premiums surge by up to 50 per cent from late July.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/surge-in-insurance-premiums-…
# NSW, Strata, Housing market.Renting in Australia as house prices go through the roof is to keep one eye on the door
Celina Ribeiro The Guardian (No paywall)We had a leak a little while ago. Above our kitchen after heavy rains a ceiling stain turned into a drip and we called the landlord. He was good about it. He started sending over tradespeople, and came to inspect the damage. And then he started measuring our backyard. A granny flat or subdivision might boost his investment. That’s when we started saving cardboard boxes. We are not getting evicted. But we know we could.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/21/renting-in…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.Taxes waived on some city apartments to get buyers back to CBD
Clay Lucas The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)In a bid to keep apartment sales and construction going in central Melbourne, the Andrews government will waive stamp duty on new apartments that have languished on the market for more than a year.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/taxes-waived-on-some-ci…
# Australia, Strata, Housing market, Tax.Perth homelessness up almost 60 per cent in six months
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The number of people experiencing homelessness in Perth has increased by 58 per cent over the past six months as vulnerable West Australians struggle to find accommodation in the tightest rental market in 40 years.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-homeless…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness.Sydney office worker Professor Peter Phibbs commutes from Hobart – and says it’s quicker
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)The pandemic has pushed many people into working from home, but urban planner Professor Peter Phibbs has gone one step further – he now commutes to his Sydney office from his new home in … Hobart.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-office-worker-professor-pe…
# NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Personal stories.Landlord who crammed 8 tenants into a 6-bed home fined £18,500
Rafi Mauro-Benady (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... A rogue landlord has been fined almost £20,000 after a tribunal found he had been renting out an unsafe home with 6 bedrooms to 8 tenants,running an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO), following a Lambeth Council investigation. (MyLondon)
https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/landlord-who-cr…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards.