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
Almost one-third of Australians face rental or mortgage stress, survey finds
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Almost a third of Australians say they face mortgage or rental stress amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with household savings also taking a hit in recent months. Against a backdrop of rapidly rising property prices and record-high rents across much of the country, 31 per cent of people are struggling to make their rent or home loan payments, new figures show. ... [Julia Davis from the Financial Rights Legal Centre] feared the latest lockdowns would only add to the financial stress of those who had already chewed down on their savings last year and noted some people were already spending less on food and other essentials in order to meet their repayments.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/almost-one-third-of-australians-f…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing market.Rents rise at fastest pace since January 2009
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)National rents reported their fastest annual growth in more than a decade last financial year. Data released by CoreLogic on Monday shows national rents soared 6.6 per cent as the economic recovery beat expectations and record amounts of government stimulus flowed into Australian bank accounts. House rents increased in all capital cities over the financial year and unit rents rose in all capital cities except Sydney and Melbourne, which were affected by an oversupply of apartments and a lack of migrants due to international border closures. But the largest rent hikes were seen in regional Australia. Taryn Paris in the Urban Developer writes about the same issue at: [https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/regional-rental-prices-outpace-cities].
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/07/19/rents-fas…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.Pandemic boost to household wealth leaves many renters feeling poorer, research finds
Rob Stock (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Robert Whitaker is wealthier than a year ago, but feeling poorer. A lot of other renters feel the same. ... Whitaker, one of the founders of the Renters United political group representing the interests of renting households, was not surprised renters were feeling poorer, despite many having more money in the bank, and in KiwiSaver, as the rapid rise in house prices had put many further from ever owning a home. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125735639/pandemic-boost-to-hou…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership.'They got out of hand’: Auckland street wrestles with fate of 400 pet rabbits
Tess McClure The Guardian (No paywall)After years of complaints from neighbours and concerns about house prices, hundreds of rabbits in a suburban garden had to go ‘by any means necessary’. ... The story starts simply. In August 2014, residents Elaine Cowlin and Dylan Lewis bought four rabbits from a local pet shop. They didn’t de-sex them. The rabbits began to breed. “We just love rabbits,” Cowlin tells the Guardian. ... One of the villas across the road sold for $3.62m in February. In such a place, a multitude of fluffy animals let loose is not just an eccentricity – it represents a potential threat to the value of a street packed with multi-million-dollar assets.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/14/they-got-out-of-ha…
# International, Health, Housing market.The next housing crash will hit even harder than the last
Rory Hearne (No paywall)The latest house prices show the disastrous extent of the crisis in housing — there needs to be a sea change in policy. (Irish Examiner)
https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-40327…
# International, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.Where in Australia it’s cheaper to pay off a mortgage than rent
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)It’s now cheaper to buy rather than rent well over a third of the properties in Australia, the latest figures have found.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/where-in-australia-its-cheaper-to…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.National Low income housing coalition update
(No paywall)From the United States ... Join NLIHC and other national leaders of the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF) tomorrow (July 15) for a national call-in day to tell Congress that housing is vital infrastructure! (International Union of Tenants News)
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/national-low-income-housing-coali…
# International, Campaigns and law reform, Coronavirus COVID-19.Vulnerable renters put out despite reinstated ban on evictions during lockdown
Sasha Foot (No paywall)The NSW government reintroduced an eviction moratorium for renters this week. Tenants who can’t pay their rent in full due to Sydney’s lockdown cannot be evicted between now and September. However, the eviction moratorium only applies to households that can prove their income has reduced by 25% or more due to the lockdown. Madison Scott, a young renter in Newtown and frontwoman of local band Concrete Lawn, is not satisfied with the government’s support packages eligibility thresholds. The disaster payments can’t be acquired by people on youth allowance or other income support payments. (City Hub)
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2021/07/vulnerable-renters-left-in-…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.