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
First-home buyers dropping out of the property market as investors return, new data shows
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)First-home buyers are getting crowded out of the hot property market by stiff competition from investors, downsizers and buyers in between. ... Rising prices have tempted investors back into the market in recent months, attracted by the prospect of future capital growth and the chance to borrow at interest rates that could stay low until 2024. Those same price rises have pushed homeownership further out of reach for some first-home hopefuls, who struggle to save enough to keep up with the increased deposit requirement.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/first-home-buyers-dropping-out-of…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Climate change: Wales set to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes
Steffan Messenger BBC (No paywall)Plans to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes for rent in Wales by 2026 have been set out by the Welsh government's climate change minister. The hope is to tackle both a housing shortage and the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. Housing associations say it could lead to thousands of jobs and training opportunities. But the Welsh government's opponents have said they would have gone further and built more. All the houses will meet what the government describes as "bold, new quality and environmental standards".
# International, Public and community housing, Climate change, Minimum habitability standards.‘One life event away’: Homeless urged to complete the census
Julie Power The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Welfare groups expect next Tuesday’s census to record a significant increase in homelessness, particularly in regional areas because of unemployment and high rents caused by the pandemic. ... Homelessness advocates and welfare groups are working with the Australian Bureau of Statistics to encourage anyone who is homeless - or living in insecure and uncertain housing - to complete the census form accurately. It is the only national record of homelessness. ... Mission Australia’s chief executive James Toomey said contrary to popular belief, only seven per cent of families and people who were homeless were sleeping rough on the streets or in cars. ... At Rev Bill Crews Foundation in Ashfield, staff from the ABS will help visitors lining up for a free meal or the vaccine to complete the census. Rev Crews said the demand for free meals and the need for affordable public housing was “off the charts”. “If I am really blunt, governments know the situation, they really honestly know, they just don’t act upon it,” he said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/one-life-event-away-homeless-urg…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Health, Homelessness.The pandemic property boom is pricing locals out of the British countryside
Jade Angeles Fitton The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Devon, where I grew up and have lived on and off my whole life, always had a surplus of affordable places to live. Even a couple of years ago many private rentals stood empty for months. This year, when my husband and I needed to move back from Lundy, an island off the north Devon coast, things were very different. There was such a dearth of long-term rentals that I found myself jumping on anything listed. ... Over the past 18 months, the pandemic has triggered a reappraisal of city living. Many of those who began working from home desired more space; those without gardens craved access to the outdoors. This has caused a boom in rental and buying markets in rural areas ...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/01/pandemic-p…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.House prices continue to rise in July but experts flag imminent slowdown
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)House prices across the country continued to boom in July but property analysts are noticing signs of a slowdown triggered by affordability concerns and the Greater Sydney lockdown. ... Homelessness Australia chair Jenny Smith has raised concerns the total spend by the federal government on social housing and homelessness has been cut by almost $1 billion in real terms over the past decade as house prices and rents rise. Check out Tawar Razaghi's article entitled: 'Australian property prices continue to break records despite lockdowns: Core Logic' in Domain at: [https://www.domain.com.au/news/australia-property-prices-continues-to-break-record-growth-value-despite-lockdowns-core-logic-1076910/?utm_campaign=strap-masthead&utm_source=smh&utm_medium=link&utm_content=pos5&ref=pos1] Or, read a further report entitled: 'Australian house prices rose more in July than incomes are rising in a year, data shows' in The Guardian at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/02/australian-house-prices-rose-more-in-july-than-incomes-are-rising-in-a-year-data-shows]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/house-prices-continue-to…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market.Here comes PlanTech to help transform our cities – but how?
Claire Daniel, Jago Dodson, Chris Pettit and Audrey Marsh The Fifth Estate (No paywall)We have seen the recent emergence of FinTech, LegalTech and PropTech, in the financial, legal and property sectors. Now PlanTech is emerging as a framework and platform for urban planning. But the planning profession, practice, and policy are starting from far behind these earlier adopter sectors.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/urbanism/planning/here-comes-plant…
# Australia, Housing market, Planning and development.Perth house prices continue to rise but experts flag slowdown over affordability concerns
Lauren Pilat The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Perth property prices recorded the lowest increase across the nation last month as analysts flag a slowdown triggered by affordability concerns and first home buyer incentives ending. ... [CoreLogic’s head of research Australia, Eliza Owen] said the biggest challenge for WA remained the supply, demand and affordability of the rental market. “Investors have been withdrawing from the market since the end of the mining boom in 2014 so rental stock has continuously been dwindling across the city ... In the past few months, past year even, there have been more people returning to Perth and that’s really pushed up rents quite substantially.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-house-pr…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.The new Aussie battlers vying for a spot in the housing market
Nathan Morris ABC (No paywall)Four years ago, as war raged in Khaled Ali's home country of Syria, there was a constant threat of being kidnapped or killed at any time by Islamic State militants. ... He was able to escape to Toowoomba in southern Queensland. ... The most recent cohort of refugees is from Iraq and Syria, including hundreds of Ezidi families. "They have very low knowledge in banking regulations and policies, how mortgages work, how insurance works" ...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-04/new-aussie-battlers-vying…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Race and ethnicity.