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
'Hopes up, hearts broken': Tasmanian property market pushing home buyers to take risks without legal safety net
Laura Beavis ABC (No paywall)For Tasmanians trying to buy a home in 2021, hope can be a dangerous emotion. Georgia Heiniger and her partner have been trying to secure their first home in Launceston for five months, making five unsuccessful offers so far. ... Ms Heiniger and her partner have felt pressure to take risks to make their offers more competitive, by foregoing building inspections, or making cash offers, even though they need to borrow money.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-16/tas--housing-market/13249…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.House prices up 3.6% in past year
Lucy Battersby The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)House prices increased 3 per cent in the December quarter and are up 3.6 per cent year on year despite Australia’s economy falling into recession in 2020, according to figures just released by the Australia Bureau of Statistics. (Check posting at 12.09pm)
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/asx-to-climb-as-dow-s-an…
# Australia, Housing market.Australian house prices set to jump further before any curbs on lending by APRA
Elizabeth Redman Domain (Paywall)Housing prices appear set to rise before the bank regulator takes any action to slow the market, with the latest official figures showing little deterioration in lending standards late last year. Soaring property prices have caught the attention of the nation’s regulators, but they have emphasised they do not yet see any worrying rise in risky loans.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-house-prices-set-to-ju…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.City slickers encouraged to go regional in new campaign, despite housing affordability concerns
Kate Burke Domain (Paywall)Finding an affordable home has become tough in parts of regional Australia and could become tougher still, with a new campaign launched to encourage city slickers to move to the regions.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/cityslickers-encouraged-to-go-reg…
# Hot topic Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market, Regional NSW.NSW government sells inner-Sydney social housing terrace for $2 million
Sarah McPhee The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government has been criticised for offloading a publicly owned Glebe terrace for more than $2 million and cashing in on the booming Sydney property market rather than keeping it for social housing, which has a waiting list of more than 50,000 people.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-government-sells-inner-s…
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Housing market.Hunter rental market 'crazy' in 2020, 'worse now', says Castle Property partner Adriano Rossi
Sage Swinton (Paywall)Mum-of-three Emily Perkins has had no luck so far from more than 100 rental properties she's applied for.
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/7163593/hunter-rental-m…
# NSW, Rent, Homelessness, No-grounds evictions, Regional NSW.Residential park homeowners fighting rising site fees call for fairer laws
Sofie Wainwright ABC (No paywall)People who have bought homes in residential parks are warning that unjust site fees and unscrupulous operators are threatening their quality of life. More than 35,000 people live in NSW residential communities where people own a house but lease the land from the operator. ... The Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act is up for review. While the Act does not regulate the price of site fees, homeowners and their advocates argue that amendments would strengthen their protections and indirectly improve housing affordability.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-14/residential-land-lease-la…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Affordable housing.Bailiff eviction ban extended to May
Dominic Brady Inside Housing (Paywall)The ban on bailiff-led evictions in England has been extended by a further two months to 31 May, the government has announced. The requirement for landlords to provide six-month notice periods to evict tenants has also been extended to “at least” the same date. It comes after the government announced another extension to the ban in February, which was due to last until 31 March 2021. The move means renters have had some form of protection from eviction for more than a year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the eviction ban that ran between March and September 2020, under the current ban eviction court hearings and orders can still take place but landlords will be required to give six-months’ notice and courts will prioritise the most egregious cases, including domestic abuse and fraud.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/bailiff-eviction-ban-extend…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.