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
ACT's proposed ban on 'no-cause evictions', solicitation of rental bids opens for public consultation
Charlotte Gore ABC (No paywall)'No-cause evictions' and bidding on rental properties could soon be banned in the ACT, with the government opening up a draft bill on rental reforms for public consultation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-27/act-rental-bill-propose-r…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards, No-grounds evictions.A new squeeze looms for home buyers despite property price falls
Melissa Heagney and Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)The rising cost of living is making it harder for potential home buyers to save a deposit and reducing how much some can borrow to spend on their next property. Banks are starting to look more closely at potential borrowers’ expenses when they apply for a home loan, mortgage brokers say, and more scrutiny is likely on the way. ... The cost of petrol, energy bills, groceries and rent has jumped this year amid pressures ranging from Russia’s war on Ukraine, which disrupted global oil and gas supply, to a cold winter that increased demand for heating, and floods on Australia’s east coast that affected vegetable crops. Supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have also hit, along with increased rental demand from students and workers as the economy picked up after lockdown.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/a-new-squeeze-looms-for-hom…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.‘So disheartening’: Photo highlights Sydney’s rental crisis
Chantelle Francis (No paywall)A photo has emerged online of people crowding outside a Sydney apartment building for a rental inspection, highlighting the huge demand for a limited supply of properties available to rent in the city. At least 20 people can be seen crowding around an agent outside the doors to the World Tower in the photo posted on Reddit. (news.com.au)
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/so-dishearte…
# Video NSW, Rent, Housing market.Rental arrears surge in NSW as landlords hike rent at triple the rate
Kate McIntyre (No paywall)The number of tenants falling behind on their rent has surged by almost 50 per cent, as the real estate industry is smashed by cost of living increases across the board. Tenants are falling behind with rental payments as the cost of living soars. Data released from a document signing tool used by property managers shows the number of rental arrears notices issued since January this year surged 45 per cent across NSW as landlords hiked rents at more than triple the previous rate. (news.com.au)
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/sydney-nsw/rental-ar…
# Video NSW, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Landlords and agents.‘Land banking’ by big developers driving up property prices: report
Cara Waters The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The state government’s push to reduce the cost of housing by releasing swaths of land on Melbourne’s fringe is being undermined by big developers, which new economic analysis suggests are banking the land then releasing it slowly to maximise their profits. A research report that analysed the past 10 years of land sales on the outskirts of Australia’s big cities has revealed the true cost to home buyers of “land banking” over that period was $5.9 billion nationwide.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/land-banking-by-big-dev…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government.NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler resigns
Megan Gorey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW’s first building commissioner, David Chandler, has quit the role three years after former Liberal premier Gladys Berejiklian appointed him to lift the standards of the state’s beleaguered construction industry. Chandler – a 40-year veteran of the construction industry – had tendered his resignation and would leave the role on November 30, a NSW Department of Customer Service spokeswoman confirmed on Monday. Also, read the Editorial at: [https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/apartment-buyers-still-need-protection-against-building-defects-20220726-p5b4t9.html] Read Megan Gorrey's article entitled:'"Time for a reset": NSW Building Commissioner says he quit voluntarily' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/time-for-a-reset-nsw-building-commissioner-says-he-quit-voluntarily-20220727-p5b55b.html] Read Ross Taylor's article entitled: 'Without a fearless sheriff, development cowboys may ride again' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/without-a-fearless-sheriff-development-cowboys-may-ride-again-20220726-p5b4t7.html]. Read Megan Gorrey's article entitled: '"The power players are right in your face": How David Chandler took on Sydney’s shoddy developers' in 'Th Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-power-players-are-right-in-your-face-how-david-chandler-took-on-sydney-s-shoddy-developers-20220727-p5b51t.html].
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-building-commissioner-da…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.A farewell to Shiraz and Wagyu: 155,000 borrowers to feel intense pain
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Rarely are legal judgments handed down in more colourful language, and with greater potential to destroy the financial lives of unwitting Australians, as that delivered by Justice Nye Perram on August 19, 2019. In what is now colloquially known as the “Shiraz and Wagyu” case, the corporate regulator took Westpac to court to test responsible lending laws, arguing the bank had relied too heavily on a “frugal” benchmark for living expenses known as the Household Expenditure Measure when determining a borrower’s capacity to service a new loan. ... In his decision in favour of Westpac, Justice Perram effectively declared the HEM an entirely reasonable level of frugality to which new home buyers could be expected to aspire and adhere to immediately. ... It may only be a relatively small number, but these households are set to feel the pain inflicted by a prudential regulator that slashed their serviceability buffer and a legal and banking system that decided it was OK to let borrowers borrow to the max based on a tight “conceptual minimum” of living expenses. Even if they don’t lose their homes, a significant cohort of stressed borrowers is about to emerge with very little fat to cut in their budgets as mortgage rates rise. It’s beef mince and tap water from now on.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/a-farewell-to-shiraz…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Evicted caravan park tenants fear homelessness as demolition of accommodation begins
Sofie Wainwright ABC (No paywall)Kim Berry prays that she does not end up homeless in a few months' time. The 54-year-old, along with other low-income tenants at a NSW Central Coast caravan park, will have their tenancy agreements terminated in November as a lifestyle village is built in its place. "It's heartbreaking to see the despair on people's faces."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-27/evicted-caravan-park-tena…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Homelessness, Local Government, Older people.