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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Turning a rental backyard into an edible garden
Gardening Australia ABC (No paywall)For many gardeners, living in a rental home can really put a dampener on garden dreams, but for horticulturist Brooklyn Mabbott her lack of home ownership hasn’t stopped her from creating a productive edible back garden her household can pretty much live off. The 29-year-old lives in Bowden, ten minutes away from the busy city streets of Adelaide. (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/how-to-turn-your-backyard-into-a…
# Australia, Rent, Home.Vladimir Putin's military draft sent thousands of men fleeing to Kazakhstan, driving up rents in its biggest cities
Lucia Stein ABC (No paywall)Though thousands of kilometres away from the front-line in Ukraine, the consequences of Vladimir Putin's deadly war are being sharply felt in Kazakhstan. ... After Putin declared a "partial mobilisation" in an attempt to get his disastrous war back on track, more than 200,000 Russians packed up their bags and descended on Kazakhstan. The sudden influx caught many small communities by surprise. Hotels, hostels and Airbnb apartments quickly sold out within days, sending prices for remaining accommodation skyrocketing and forcing new arrivals to find emergency lodging in schools, cinemas and gyms. ... The arrival of thousands of Russians in such a short period of time has also strained housing markets in some cities, prompting landlords to raise rents against a backdrop of rampant inflation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-29/vladimir-putin-faces-more…
# International, Rent, Homelessness.Queensland heads off crisis talks with doubling of social housing spend
Matt Dennien (Paywall)An extra 5600 social and affordable homes will be built by the Queensland government over the next five years in a previously floated move made to preempt crisis talks. But the number is still short of what the sector says it needs. The state government will pour an additional $1 billion into its housing fund, doubling its size and the number of homes built from its investment returns by 2027.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/queensland-heads-off-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Housing market.First home buyers’ dilemma – buy now, or wait for later?
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The question facing many of those looking to get a foot on the property ladder is whether to dive in now in the belief house prices will not fall much more, or wait in the hope prices will fall further in the months to come.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/first-home-b…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.NSW regional property prices fall for first time since early 2020
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)House prices in regional NSW have started to decline, new figures show, as rising interest rates and a drop in sea- and tree-changer activity reduces buyer demand. The median house price for regional NSW overall dropped 2 per cent over the September quarter, Domain figures show, falling more than $14,700 to about $715,300. Unit values dropped 3.5 per cent, or $20,000, to $555,000.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/nsw-regional-property-price…
# NSW, Housing market, Regional NSW.What property slump? Developers get ready for next apartment boom
Simon Johanson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Developers are gearing up for a flood of new migrants they think will underpin another apartment boom as rental vacancies dry up and inner-city rents surge. Reserve Bank internal research suggests property prices may plunge as much as 20 per cent following its latest series of interest rate rises, but some contrarian developers are banking on the opposite and buying large sites to build on.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/what-property-slump-de…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Affordability shifts for home buyers as Australia’s median house price falls at its fastest rate on record
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)House prices have slumped over the past quarter with the biggest falls on record in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, leaving prices across all the capitals around $53,000 lower than they were in March this year. The drops have been so dramatic, according to the latest Domain House Price Report, that house prices in three cities have now even been dragged below what they were this time last year, with Darwin 4.4 per cent down, Sydney 2.8 per cent lower and Melbourne 2 per cent under.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/affordability-shifts-for-home-buy…
# Australia, Housing market.Ice on the walls: Some farmworkers are getting a rotten housing deal
Gerhard Uys (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Some farmworkers are getting a rotten deal when they sign a tenancy agreement. A dairy farm manager’s wife, who Stuff has agreed not to name for fear of reprisal, said her entire family became ill on a Taranaki farm as agriculture chemicals leaked into an open mouth well that supplied drinking water to the home they lived in as part of a tenancy agreement. The farm owner said he did not have money to address the issue, she said. ... Compliance with healthy home standards was being phased in over a number of years, but since July last year all private rental properties had to comply within 90 days of any new, or renewed tenancy. Landlords must also include a statement of their current level of compliance with the healthy homes standards in all new, or renewed tenancy agreement. All rental homes must comply with the healthy homes standards by July 1, 2024. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/130280473/ice-on-the-wa…
# International, Rent, Health, Minimum habitability standards.