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
Johnson’s Tories are reaping the rewards of an economy built on rising house prices
William Davies The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... For a decade, wages stagnated while governments have propped up the housing market – with dire consequences for our society. ... Most economic commentators agree that this boom is unlikely to end well, whenever the end arrives. But very little attention has been paid to the political and social harm already done to British society by this new model of capitalism over the past decade. A closer study of the consequences of an artificially engineered housing boom might cast light on the particular deformities of our politics, and help explain a number of seemingly unrelated afflictions – from the Brexit vote to the enduring power of “culture war” provocations by Downing Street and its court press.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/26/boris-john…
# International, Housing market.Moving into a share house? Here's how you can split the rent
Sally Coleman ABC (No paywall)One of the major, persistent dilemmas: "How much rent should each person pay?"
You can find tools online that help you calculate room price per square metre, or suggest fixed costs for things like ensuites and balconies. But it's often not that simple. Jemima Mowbray from Tenants Union NSW says it's "tricky to have a hard and fast formula".
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/how-to-split-the-rent-fairly-whe…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Share houses.Renters are under pressure and it could be about to get much worse
Poppy Johnston The Fifth Estate (No paywall)The cost of housing is top of mind due to Australia’s skyrocketing house prices but for pockets of the country, the regions in particular, the private rental market is where the housing affordability crisis is coming to a head. Parts of Australia face a spike in rental stress and homelessness as the last of government Covid protections taper off, rental markets tighten and landlords look to recoup deferred rent debts.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/renters-a…
# Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.A simple new tool that gives you information about rents in your local area
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Do you know about Rent Tracker? This tool brings together multiple sources of information to give tenants, journalists and others a clear and easy way to understand rent movements in NSW. You can use it to check median rents by area, bedroom number and dwelling type. How does your rent compare?
https://www.tenants.org.au/resource/rent-tracker-postcode-tool
# NSW, Rent, Housing market.New homes in poorer areas of England and Wales face undue flood risk
Rhi Storer The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... A disproportionate number of homes built in disadvantaged neighbourhoods over the past decade will end up in high flood-risk areas as a result of climate breakdown, a study has revealed.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/27/new-homes-in…
# Research alert International, Housing market.Fears Australia's housing crisis will worsen as affordable rental scheme winds down
Emma Pollard ABC (No paywall)Thousands of low-income renters across the country are facing eviction or higher rents as government subsidies come to an end. The federally funded National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) gives incentives to housing providers, which then rent properties out for at least 20 per cent below market rates. ... The program started in 2008 with the goal of boosting the number of affordable rental properties in Australia but was axed by the Abbott government in 2014. According to the latest figures, 2,184 homes will leave the NRAS this year, meaning many renters will either be slugged with higher rents, or have to compete to find a new home in a tight market. ... The executive officer of advocacy group National Shelter, Adrian Pisarski, said housing affordability is the "worst that I've experienced in the 40 years that I've been looking at it".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/homeless-rise-nras-afford…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing market.The Sydney postcodes with the shortest and longest tenancies
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)NSW tenants are packing their bags after less than 18 months in a rental property, new data shows, with only a minority of renters able to find suitable long-term homes. Tenancy duration has been slowly rising across the state as more people face a lifetime of renting, hitting a median of 17 months over the year to March – an increase of a little over a month since 2016. Finding a long-term home is a challenge, though, with more than 30 per cent of tenants vacating a property within 12 months, rental bond refund data for the past year shows. Fewer than one in 10 tenants, both statewide and within Greater Sydney, spent more than five years in a property, with a handful of bonds returned after more than 40 years. ... Suburbs popular with students and young expats were more likely to see shorter tenancies, said Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross. This could also extend to affluent areas, where visiting international executives may rent for a year or two before returning home or choosing to buy.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-sydney-postcodes-with-the-sho…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Bond, Rent, Housing market.Queensland's housing 'crisis' requires $4.1b, social services tell state government
Emilie Gramenz ABC (No paywall)Housing and support organisations have jointly launched a pre-budget campaign urging the Queensland government to commit $4.1 billion to urgently build more social housing. ... Anglicare Central Queensland's CEO Carol Godwin said housing pressure had been increasing across her region in recent years, with an incredibly tight private rental market and the wind down of the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS). "There are limited to nil housing options for the people who are coming to us for support, and there are no major increases in social housing projects across Central Queensland," she said. "We are at a point where we're preparing for that cliff face."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-29/qld-social-housing-shortf…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness.