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
Sydney house prices falling at fastest pace on record
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Sydney house prices are falling at their fastest rate in decades, and some of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods have dropped by more than $250,000 in three months. House prices fell 5.2 per cent over the September quarter, wiping almost $80,000 off the median sale price, which sits at about $1,464,000, Domain’s latest house price report, released on Thursday, shows.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sydney-house-prices-falling…
# NSW, Housing market, Sydney.Systemic buybacks could avert future flood crisis, experts say
Matilda Marozzi ABC (No paywall)Several planners are calling for a systemic program of compulsory land buybacks in disaster-prone areas across Australia. University of Melbourne planning and risk reduction researcher Alan March said people's lives would be affected again and again without governments investing more in disaster prevention. "It will take a huge amount of leadership to change our approach," Professor March told The Conversation Hour. "We need to look at a long-term, whole-of-system view to really make this work."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-23/systemic-buybacks-could-a…
# Australia, Housing market.As the cost of living bites, a homelessness crisis on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula is worsening
Margaret Paul ABC (No paywall)Victoria's Mornington Peninsula is known for being a popular holiday destination, a place where people can spend tens of millions of dollars on clifftop mansions in its more exclusive areas. Hidden from that rosy view are the 1,000 people who, the council says, are sleeping rough in tents and cars along the peninsula every night. Wilbur is one of them. ... The 25-year-old has been homeless for about two years, since he had to move out of his parents' place at Safety Beach. He's been living in a tent on the Rosebud foreshore, about 90 kilometres south-east of Melbourne's CBD, for about six months. Working four days a week at a local cafe and living with mental illness, Wilbur said he worked hard to have a positive attitude to being homeless, because it was the only way to get by.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-25/homelessness-increasing-i…
# Australia, Homelessness.My house has been flooded, what's the first thing I need to do? Here are the do's and don'ts of the big clean-up
ABC (No paywall)We all know the saying: if it's flooded, forget it. But the dangers don't end when the flood waters recede. The damage it leaves behind is sometimes obvious, but it's what you can't see that can be just as dangerous: water contamination, exposed power lines, gas leaks and more. Here are some of the do's and don'ts in the immediate aftermath of a flood. ... It may look like it's "just water", but there's a lot more lurking in those murky depths. Polluted flood waters can cause wounds, infections, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis as well as ear, nose and throat infections. [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-21/what-to-do-in-the-afterma…
# Australia, .Cat wandering ban at Tasmania's new Huntingfield housing development due to endangered bird species
Adam Holmes ABC (No paywall)One of the biggest housing developments in Tasmania for decades has achieved federal environmental approval but with a major catch — residents will need to prove their pet cats will stay on their property. The presence of the critically-endangered forty-spotted pardalote in a neighbouring reserve meant the second and third stages of the 470-lot Huntingfield development needed to be considered by the Commonwealth.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-19/huntingfield-development-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.4 reasons affordable housing is slow to recover after disasters like hurricanes, and what communities can do about it
Shannon Van Zandt The Conversation (No paywall)From the United States ... How a community recovers after a disaster like Hurricane Ian is often a “chicken and egg” question: Which returns first – businesses or households? Businesses need employees and customers to be able to function. Households need jobs and the services businesses provide. As an urban planning researcher who focuses on housing recovery after disasters, I have found in my research that they’re mutually dependent. However, in coastal communities, the recovery of tourism-based businesses like restaurants and hotels depends in large part on the return of affordable housing for employees.
https://theconversation.com/4-reasons-affordable-housing-is-slow…
# International, Affordable housing.Building insurers back in the apartment game
Jimmy Thomson (No paywall)When Building Commissioner David Chandler told us that his shake-up of new building standards in NSW would lead to a return of insurers providing cover for new apartment builds, there were a few in the industry who quietly said, ‘tell him he’s dreamin’.” This week that dream became a reality when a major insurer offered cover for selected new apartment blocks’ construction – the first time that has been available to blocks over three storeys high in 20 years, following the collapse of HIH Insurance and the GFC. (Flat Chat) Also, read Rose Mary Petrass' article entitled: '“Bad news for bad developers” – NSW first with 10 year apartment defect insurance' in 'The Fifth Estate' at: [https://thefifthestate.com.au/business/bad-news-for-bad-developers-nsw-first-with-10-year-apartment-defect-insurance/]
# NSW, Strata.Australian Institute of Architects lashes NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet for 'unwarranted attack' over Barangaroo
Paige Cockburn ABC (No paywall)... the peak body for architects, with over 12,000 members, has written to the premier to take issue with his comments and for "twisting tales". In the letter, the Institute said Mr Perrottet's remarks were "distasteful, derogatory and false" and demanded he apologise. ... "The institute does not negatively pass judgement on the work of members of our profession. It is our role, however, to point out government process discrepancies and failures which impact our profession and the general public, and this has been the case historically with the Barangaroo site."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-26/nsw-architects-demand-apo…
# NSW, Planning and development, State Government, Sydney.