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
New housing supply, population growth and access to social infrastructure
AHURI (No paywall)A study undertaken by Researchers from The University of Sydney focuses on the potential to better inform the planning, scheduling, delivery, maintenance, and coordination of social infrastructure in the rapidly growing greenfield areas of major Australian cities through the use of big data sources and techniques. The research focuses on greenfield areas of Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth greater metropolitan regions to demonstrate data sources and methods that are able to be replicated in other contexts. This study breaks new ground, as it extends the idea of accessibility to social infrastructure as a critical facility to support daily life.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#inbox/WhctKKWxWFhTzTWmft…
# Australia, Housing market, Planning and development.7600 new homes earmarked for Sydney’s Macquarie Park
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)More than 7600 new homes are planned for half of Macquarie Park over the next two decades as part of a blueprint for developing the fast-growing area into an innovation precinct.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/7600-new-homes-earmarked-for…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development.Rental Opportunity of the Week: How to Stop Landlords Constantly Being the Worst
Joel Golby (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Why do landlords never look at a flat like this and think, ‘Am I really trying to make someone live in here?’ Do they have any experience of actually living life in a space before they try to rent one? (Vice)
https://www.vice.com/en/article/3aqp48/flat-rent-stockwell-renta…
# International, Rent, Minimum habitability standards.NSW Budget won’t fix housing crisis, sector says
Eva Baxter (No paywall)Those who work in the sector call for dramatic expansion and clearer terms following the 2021-2022 NSW Budget’s $800 million commitment to the state’s housing crisis. Cathryn Callaghan, Senior Policy Officer at Shelter NSW, told City Hub, “you’d expect to see billions, not hundreds of millions.” Victoria announced $5.3 billion in 2020, and Queensland $2.9 billion this year. (City Hub)
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2021/06/nsw-budget-wont-fix-housing…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, State Government.‘Urgency among buyers’: Melbourne, Canberra on track to join Sydney’s $1m property club
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Melbourne and Canberra are on track to join Sydney as the nation’s $1 million cities after further large increases in property values despite coronavirus lockdowns.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/house-prices-surge-to-fr…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market.Rescue work halted at Miami apartment site over fears of further collapse
Terry Spencer The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)From Miami ... Rescue efforts at the site of a partially collapsed Florida apartment building have been halted out of concern about the stability of the remaining structure after crews noticed widening cracks and up to 30 centimetres of movement in a large column, officials said. ... The cause of the collapse is under investigation. A 2018 engineering report found that the building’s ground-floor pool deck was resting on a concrete slab that had “major structural damage” and needed extensive repairs. The report also found “abundant cracking” of concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage. Just two months before the building came down, the president of its board wrote a letter to residents saying that structural problems identified in the 2018 inspection had “gotten significantly worse” and that major repairs would cost at least $US15.5 million ($20.75 million). With bids for the work still pending, the building suddenly collapsed last Thursday.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/rescue-work-halted-at…
# International, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Are low interest rates increasing inequality? No, says the world’s central bank
John Hawkins The Conversation (No paywall)[BIS, the global expert on monetary policy] agrees the gap between the rich and the poor within countries has indeed widened since about the 1980s, and the COVID recession has made things worse. But it concludes low interest rates are not the real culprit. The BIS report instead emphasises the impact of technological progress and globalisation. Technological progress, particularly in information technology, has increased the productivity and incomes of the wealthy (such as top lawyers and tech company executives). It has done little for many low income earners (such as aged care workers and restaurant staff). ... A central bank can only do so much to mitigate these factors. ... Central banks may be able to help reduce inequality through some of their other roles, however.
https://theconversation.com/are-low-interest-rates-increasing-in…
# Australia, Housing market.(Another) real reason we’ve got constant undersupply of apartments and to shake off the toxic cycle
Andrea Sharam The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Developers and financiers are driven by a logical desire to avoid a sudden fall in demand. So they undersupply the market demand. But there’s another more ordered and safe way to better meet our housing needs. How about a developer’s fee for service?
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/another-r…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.