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
More rented, more mortgaged, less owned: what the census tells us about housing
Rachel Ong ViforJ The Conversation (No paywall)On the surface, the latest census tells us home ownership has changed little over the past five years. Between the 2016 census and this census in 2021, the share of Australians owning their homes remained steady at about 66%. The proportion renting also changed little, climbing from 30% to 30.6%. But a closer look reveals bigger long-term changes. While the proportion owning has slipped only two percentage points from 68% to 66% between 1996 and 2021, the proportion owning outright (without a mortgage) has plummeted from 42% to 31%. The proportion mortgaged is nine percentage points higher. The proportion renting is four percentage points higher.
https://theconversation.com/more-rented-more-mortgaged-less-owne…
# Australia, Rent, Families, Home ownership, Housing market.Ballarat mum begs landlords to be 'compassionate' after nine months in caravan with children
Lexcie Jeuniewic ABC (No paywall)New census data has revealed almost 60,000 Australians call a caravan home. Mother-of-six, Ajay*, is one of them. Last year, the 40-year-old had to leave her rental home in Golden Plains Shire, in western Victoria, when the owners decided to sell the property. Despite applying for numerous rental properties, Ajay was unable to find a new home. "There were hundreds of families applying for the same home," she said. "It was very difficult." Left with no other option, Ajay made the decision to move into her father's caravan. The caravan was initially located at a caravan park in Ballarat, which Ajay said was filled with other families in a similar situation to her own. .. Nine months later, the 40-year-old is still living in the same caravan, but it's now parked in her father's backyard.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-03/permanent-caravan-living-…
# Australia, Eviction, Land lease communities, Families, Homelessness.Homeless in Wagga Wagga's Wilks Park call for more help after eviction notices from council
Shannon Corvo and Sally Bryant ABC (No paywall)As the housing crisis tightens its grip on the nation, the reality for some is just trying to keep warm in a tent. Homeless man Matt Costello has been doing just that for the past 10 months. "There were a lot of bad decisions before I ended up homeless — I got kicked out of my flat, I went to a refuge [and] basically it was no good in there, so I bought a tent and come here," he said. ... Mr Costello is one of around 30 residents living at Wagga Wagga's Wilks Park in southern New South Wales, including a family who need housing to get their son back. He said Wagga Wagga City Council visited the park a few days ago with a police escort and eviction notices. They have less than a month to vacate.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-05/wilks-park-homeless-call-…
# NSW, Homelessness, Local Government, Regional NSW.Climate expert says NSW government should buy Sydney homes left 'uninhabitable' by floods
Harriet Tatham and Maryanne Taouk ABC (No paywall)Flood waters have inundated Judy White's home in north-west Sydney three times in four months. The Nepean River, which peaked at 16.61 metres on Sunday, rose past the top of her front door in Londonderry on Sunday. "I've had this place for 12 months ... I didn't even make it to nine months. People don't understand unless they've been through it," she said. "Where do you start? Mentally, physically, financially, it destroys you ... It's been three months later. I'm still cleaning up and it's happened again." Ms White is not alone. ... "This is a problem that New South Wales governments have known about for over two centuries," [Climate expert James Pittock, a professor in environment and society at the Australian National University's Fenner School] said. "They've simply failed to put in place the land-use planning to prevent people being put in harm's way."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-05/nsw-hawkesbury-nepean-flo…
# NSW, Climate change, Planning and development, State Government.Homeowners warned to expect at least two further rate hikes as repayments soar
Paul Karp and Rafqa Touma The Guardian (No paywall)Homeowners have been warned to brace for a double whammy of interest rate rises on Tuesday and again in August, with total monthly repayments expected to be driven at least $333 higher on the latest predictions. Markets and economists are tipping a 50 basis point increase when the Reserve Bank meets on Tuesday, lifting the official cash rate from 0.85% to 1.35%, with further rises expected throughout 2022.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/05/homeowner…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Interest rates are rising: Is the RBA at fault for allowing Australians to take on too much debt?
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)Can we blame Australians for being a little confused about the Reserve Bank's messaging on interest rates? Towards the end of 2020 and for nearly all of last year, Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said interest rates would not likely rise until 2024. People like Sarah Ibrahim and her partner made life decisions based on that. Also, read Cait Kelly's article entitled: 'Interest rate hikes may send about 200,000 more households into mortgage stress, says analyst' in 'The Guardian' at:[https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/06/interest-rate-hikes-may-send-about-200000-more-households-into-mortgage-stress-says-analyst]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/interest-rates-are-rising…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Corelogic data shows Melbourne is Australia's most affordable capital city for home rentals, followed by Adelaide
Josephine Lim ABC (No paywall)Melbourne has replaced Adelaide as Australia's most affordable city for renting a typical home, latest figures show. Rents in all eight capital cities rose in April to June 2022 and year-on-year, CoreLogic data released on Wednesday shows. At the same time, Australia's rental market continues to tighten as national vacancy rates fell to 1.2 per cent from 2.2 per cent this time last year. Also, read Sezen Bakan's article entitled: 'Shrinking households help drive up national rents at record pace' in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/07/06/rents-market-record-high/].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/corelogic-data-melbourne-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Interest rate hikes may send about 200,000 more households into mortgage stress, says analyst
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Many homeowners may be forced to tighten their belts after the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted the cash rate by half a percentage point, sending an estimated 200,000 households into mortgage stress. On Tuesday, the RBA raised the official cash rate 50 basis points to 1.35% – the highest since May 2019. ... Determining the exact number of households suffering from mortgage stress is near impossible but founding principal of Digital Finance Analytics, Martin North, estimates the figure at about 1.69 million. “This is before the rate rise, which is going to put more pressure on households,” North said. “To put it another 50 basis points, we could see another 200,000 tipping over into mortgage stress in the next few months,” he said.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/06/interest-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.