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
Developing a flood plain: how raising a dam wall could create a false sense of security in Sydney's west
Anne Davies The Guardian (No paywall)In 1867 the river at Windsor, north-west of Sydney, rose 19 metres, causing the biggest flood known to Europeans in Australia. ... Yet this is where the New South Wales government hopes to expand Sydney. Some housing developments have already been approved and are under way, despite some having flood risks of 1% – meaning they would flood in a one-in-100-year flood. Successive governments have agreed to open up flood-prone land in Sydney, amid pressure from landowners, developers and councils and the challenge of housing Sydney’s growing population.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/28/developin…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.New Zealand's housing market is even worse than Australia. But at least their government is taking action
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)The Ardern government is taking on speculators and investors. But there seems little chance of such changes here
https://www.theguardian.com/business/commentisfree/2021/mar/28/i…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, International, Landlords and agents, Tax.Loving the idea of tiny house living, even if you don’t live in one
Heather Shearer and Paul Burton The Conversation (No paywall)Despite early forecasts of a COVID-driven slump, house prices are now surging in many parts of Australia. This is further widening the gap between the housing “haves” and “have-nots”, and we are seeing related rises in housing stress, rental insecurity and homelessness. In Australia and elsewhere a movement has emerged that supports tiny house living as an important response to the housing affordability crisis. ... Yet, to date, research begun in 2014 shows no appreciable increase in Australia in the proportion of people actually living in tiny houses, including the archetypal tiny houses on wheels.
https://theconversation.com/loving-the-idea-of-tiny-house-living…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market.Poverty advocacy group disappointed after property investors joke about using 'rat poison' to evict squatters
Ireland Hendry-Tennent(No paywall)
From New Zealand ... A poverty advocacy group is disappointed after several landlords joked about poisoning squatters in a property investors Facebook group. A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, sent Newshub screenshots of the comments. She joined the group to get advice about buying her first home but said she was "appalled" by the attitudes towards renters. (Newshub)
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/03/poverty-advoc…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents, Squatting.Australia's household wealth surged by the end of 2020 — but property owners have taken the lion's share
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Despite the pain of the lockdowns, and nearly a million jobs disappearing, by the end of 2020 Australia's household wealth was surging. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), household wealth skyrocketed by $501 billion in the last three months of last year, which was the strongest quarterly growth since December 2009 ... How could that be? ... According to the ABS, the surge in wealth in the December quarter was driven by two main things: property price rises and growing superannuation savings.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-28/household-wealth-is-at-re…
# Australia, Housing market.Booming property prices push household wealth to record levels in Australia
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Booming property prices have pushed Australia's household wealth to record levels, despite hundreds of thousands of people remaining unemployed. The value of Australia's residential property jumped by roughly $250 billion in the last three months of last year. ... According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the combination of rising property prices and a recovery on stock markets saw total household wealth grow by $501 billion in the December quarter — the largest quarterly growth since December 2009.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-25/booming-property-prices-p…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Liberal MP Tim Wilson accused of ‘dishonest’ campaign to let first-home buyers tap their super
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Liberal MP Tim Wilson has been accused of putting his own interests above those of ordinary working Australians by campaigning to let first-home buyers use their superannuation to pay for deposits. And the federal member for Goldstein has also come under fire for using his position as chair of the House Economics Committee to pursue his own political objectives.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2021/03/25/tim-w…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership.Should we be building houses on floodplains?
ABC (No paywall)Over 18,000 people have been forced out of their homes as flood waters sweep through large parts of the east coast, from southern Queensland to northern Victoria. And even before the clean-up begins, questions are being asked about whether homes should be allowed to be built on floodplains. Tony Weber, water catchment modeller and independent consultant to local and state governments on water issues, says flooding is always going to occur, so there needs to be serious thought given to how floodplains are managed as the population grows. (RN Breakfast)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/should-w…
# Audio Australia, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development.