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
Germany: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany’s top court
(No paywall)Germany’s constitutional court has decided that the Berlin rent cap violates Germany’s constitution. The cap is one of the most-debated laws in the country. Campaigners argued it was a vital way to preserve affordable housing in the German capital, where rents have been soaring for years. The German Property Foundation (ZIA) calculated last year that rents in new contracts in the city had risen 27% from 2013 to 2019 alone. (International Union of Tenants)
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/germany-berlin-rent-cap-overturne…
# Legal significance International, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Struggling renters told to leave Sunshine Coast due to housing crisis in 'heartbreaking' St Vinnies warning
Jacqui Street, Amy Sheehan, and Meg Bolton ABC (No paywall)Residents struggling to find permanent accommodation in popular Queensland regional areas are being told they may have to move hundreds of kilometres away to secure long-term housing. ... Mr Harrison has lived on the Sunshine Coast for two decades and has never seen a housing crisis as bad as the one gripping the region. "I know it's stressful for families, because they might have a network here, they may have children at school here," he said. "But you can't live in a car for the rest of your life and that's what they would have to do if they were trying to stay here."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-20/rental-crisis-homelessnes…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market.Unit prices fall in many city suburbs amid house-led real estate boom
David Chau ABC (No paywall)Despite house prices rising at their fastest pace in 32 years, apartments in Australia's most oversupplied cities aren't getting as much love from buyers. In some areas, unit prices have tumbled in the past year and still haven't recovered from their COVID-19 slump — with Sydney and Melbourne the worst hit capitals. Those cities, in particular, have relied heavily on international students and foreign workers being able to pass freely through Australia's borders, to rent out apartments that their investor landlords don't want to live in themselves.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-21/unloved-apartments-amid-r…
# Australia, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Landlords and agents.First home buyers tap the bank of mum and dad
John Collettt The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The portion of first home buyers receiving financial assistance from their parents has hit a record high, as soaring house prices push up the deposit needing to be saved beyond the reach of many young buyers. ... The average financial contribution of parents is just under $90,000 – about the same as in 2017. Martin North, founder of Digital Finance Analytics (DFA), estimates that just over 60 per cent of first home buyers are receiving financial assistance from their parents
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/first-home-buyers-tap-the…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Runaway land prices undermine housing utility
Karl Fitzgerald The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Australia’s runaway land prices are akin to a national emergency. An increase of $4 trillion in just the next five years is highly likely. While meeting the weekly housing payment is our most essential financial commitment, why isn’t housing affordability the most pressing policy issue?
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/runaway-land-pric…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Frustrated home buyers leave the market unable to make a winning bid
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Defeated house-hunters across the country are giving up on buying property as skyrocketing house prices and intense competition continually knock them out of the market.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/frustrated-home-buyers-leave-the-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Federal budget 2021: $18 billion is a step towards closing gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities
Kerry Blck The Conversation (No paywall)From Canada ... There is no denying that the landscape of our collective reality has shifted dramatically since the pandemic began. Budget 2021 reveals significant investments in COVID-19 relief efforts, job creation and building a resilient economy. But where does the 2021 budget stand on investments in Indigenous people and communities? ... Targeted investments in housing for First Nations living within their Nations are essential, and help to balance the housing needs on- and off-reserve. The 2016 Clatworthy report estimated capital investment needs of $20 billion. This value has only increased since then.
https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2021-18-billion-is-a-…
# International, Federal Government, Housing market, Planning and development, Race and ethnicity.Why regulators aren’t alarmed by the housing boom... yet
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s sometimes said credit is the oil that greases the wheels of commerce and economic activity. So, what do you do when you want to slow things down a bit? You throw some sand in the gears. Whether the red-hot housing market needs this treatment is an important question facing financial regulators, who are committed to keeping interest rates low for years, but also wary of allowing the property market to overheat.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/why-regulators-aren-t-ala…
# Australia, Housing market.