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
Australia's housing crisis has become a fierce political battle that could have major implications for the next federal election
Patricia Karvelas ABC (No paywall)A fierce battle over housing is set to intensify and define the next federal election as Labor, the Coalition and the Greens target a growing cohort of voters who believe they've been locked out of home ownership for life. The great Australian dream of owning your own home has been fading for a long time — there's nothing new about this. But the crisis is now baked in — and it has arguably become the big generational disrupter, changing votes and threatening to hurt the government at the next poll. The Greens have successfully put housing on the mainstream political radar. Now the Liberal Party — who are strategising about how they can become relevant and attractive to the younger voters they've been losing in swathes — are joining the debate after privately acknowledging they've been missing in action on this pivotal issue.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-25/australia-housing-crisis-…
# Must read, Legal significance Australia, Rent.What do land tax, Monopoly, and Australia have in common?
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)What do land tax, Monopoly, and Australia have in common? Last week I wrote a piece about land tax and some economists who say we should tax land more so we can cut taxes on business and labour income. Today, let's read a bit more about Henry George (1839-1897), the once-famous American who made similar arguments more than 100 years ago, and who has inspired those economists. It's a fascinating story with Australian links, and ties to a famous boardgame.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-31/land-tax-monopoly-austral…
# Hot topic Australia, .Cameron Murray’s ‘terrifically unfair’ answer to our housing woes resembles a lottery, not the serious reform we need
Elizabeth Baldwin & Brendan Coates The Conversation (No paywall)With 120,000 people homeless each night and one in five low-income private renters spending more than half their income on rent, it is clear Australia urgently needs a housing policy change. A new book by economist Cameron Murray, The Great Housing Hijack, claims to provide a guide for just that. Murray is spot on about one thing: the housing policy debate has been hijacked. As he notes, the breathless reporting of every fluctuation in the market is unenlightening. People with a stake in property markets flood the debate with spurious claims. Unfortunately, Murray’s book only adds to the cacophony. His analysis is inconsistent with the evidence, and his proposed solution yet another distraction.
https://theconversation.com/cameron-murrays-terrifically-unfair-…
# Hot topic Australia, .Who screwed millennials out of affordable housing? Part 2 – Full Story podcast
Full Story The Guardian (No paywall)How did the government set fire to the Australian housing market? Jane Lee and Matilda Boseley look at how the threat of a communist uprising, a benign sounding tax review and one prime minister’s admiration for two world leaders changed the lives of young Australians
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2024/mar/25/who…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, .The benefits and challenges of co-operative housing
ABC RN ABC (No paywall)Many Australians continue to face intense stress over housing, with affordable rentals non-existent in many cities and regional areas. Some researchers argue that we need to look to other solutions and one model used more frequently overseas is co-operative housing. Some 22 percent of housing in Sweden follows this model, but, in Australia, it constitutes less than one percent of housing. This form of social housing enables tenants to enjoy long-term housing at affordable rents. However, tenants must agree to be involved in the running and upkeep of the property, which can be a source of tension when not everyone pulls their weight.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/the-benefits-…
# Audio Australia, Public and community housing.Transport, housing and cost of living: how has Labor fared in its first year in power in NSW?
Catie McLeod, Tamsin Rose & Elias Visontay The Guardian (No paywall)It’s been a year since New South Wales voters kicked out the Coalition – backing Labor for the first time in a decade. The new premier, Chris Minns, promised to scrap the public sector wages cap, end privatisation, reform renting and get more homes built. But how has Labor fared in its first 12 months in office? Labor came to power talking tough on housing, with a warning to anti-development nimbys to “get out of the way”. But the first budget left housing advocates cold, with just $300m pledged for reinvestment in the state-owned property development organisation Landcom to fund almost 5,000 homes over 15 years.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/25/nsw-labor…
# Hot topic, Legal significance NSW, .‘I don’t have words’: How Bella won Sydney’s housing lottery
Julie Power The Sydney Morning Herald (Soft Paywall)You could say health worker Bella Refai has won the best lottery in Sydney. The 22-year-old nurse says “it is even better” than hitting the jackpot. Last week Refai won a ticket out of the Sydney housing crisis when her name was drawn out of hat. She was one of 54 successful applicants to secure a small home (ranging from 22 square metres to 35 square metres) at 20 per cent below-market rent in the new Nightingale Marrickville mid-rise affordable housing development.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-don-t-have-words-how-bella…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Tenants say they are being booted out for requesting repairs
Taylor Troth realestate.com.au (No paywall)Frustrated renters say they’re being booted from their homes simply for requesting repairs. And they claim the ongoing rental crisis means landlords can kick them out knowing they will easily tenant their properties with one of the many eager renters desperate to find a home. Many of the landlords terminating tenants’ leases have capitalised on a loophole that allows them to circumvent many regulations by categorising the evictions under “no grounds”. Tenants Union of NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross said his community legal centre was getting more calls this year from disgruntled tenants who were asked to leave shortly after requesting repairs.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/tenants-say-they-are-being-bo…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Repairs.