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
Coronavirus escapees from big cities are driving a regional property property boom. Can it last?
Ian Verrender ABC (No paywall)Like many quiet corners of the country, real estate prices have gone mad. The frenzy, driven mainly by escapees from the Big Smoke, shows little sign of slowing. And while the official figures point to a rise of around 10 per cent across regional NSW in the past year, the situation on the ground suggests otherwise. Anything with water views, or proximity to a beach, has seen meteoric price rises. From just three years ago, prices have doubled and, in some cases, trebled leaving rusted=on locals flushed at the prospect of newfound wealth but fearful for the future of their families. Can it continue? Or is this just a bubble within a much bigger bubble?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-28/can-regional-property-boo…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Regional NSW.The Sirius Penthouse Has Sold For $35 Million, Just Three Years After Residents Were Kicked Out
Claire Keenan (No paywall)Sydney’s iconic Sirius Building’s penthouse has sold for $35 million dollars — just three years after the last housing commission residents were forcibly removed from the building. (Junkee)
# NSW, Public and community housing, Housing market, State Government.NSW Budget – horses or houses? Where’s the priority?
Shelter NSW (No paywall)Shelter NSW is encouraged to see NSW’s recovery underway with unemployment falling. We remained concerned however, that the state’s improving fortunes are not being shared – with crippling housing unaffordability leaving many behind and driving inequity especially for younger generations. “With a windfall of over $1 billion in additional stamp duty”, said John Engeler, CEO Shelter NSW, “it was disappointing to see so little directed back to support people unable to compete in the private housing market.” Read more in our media release at the link provided.
https://shelternsw.org.au/news_items/nsw-budget-horses-or-houses…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Housing affordability.California has a $5.2bn plan to pay off unpaid rent accrued during the pandemic
Sam Levin The Guardian (No paywall)California is pursuing an ambitious plan to pay off the entirety of unpaid rent from low-income tenants who fell behind during the pandemic, in what could constitute the largest ever rent relief program in the US. The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, is negotiating with legislators and said the $5.2bn plan would pay landlords all of what they were owed while giving renters a clean slate. If successful, the rent forgiveness plan would amount to an extraordinary form of aid in the largest state in the US, which has suffered from a major housing crisis and severe economic inequality since long before Covid-19. You can read the same story, this time entitled 'California Has a Plan to Pay the Back Rent for Low-Income Tenants. All of It.' (The New York Times) at: [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/21/us/california-rent-forgiveness.html?referringSource=articleShare] Again, you can read the same story, this time entitled: 'California to Pay off all Past Due Rent Accrued During COVID, Giving Renters Clean Slate' (Newsweek) at: [https://www.newsweek.com/california-pay-off-all-past-due-rent-accrued-during-covid-giving-renters-clean-slate-1602556]
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/22/california-rent-…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Aboriginal housing policies must be based on community needs — not what non-Indigenous people think they need
Martin Loosemore, Campbell Drake, John Evans and Sara Wilkinson The Conversation (No paywall)The recently announced $250 million NSW budget boost for Aboriginal housing is much welcomed and long overdue. In implementing this important new initiative, it is critical to consult Aboriginal communities about what culturally appropriate housing looks like. In the past, public housing policies have often been imposed on Aboriginal communities based on non-Aboriginal ideals of good housing. Research findings show the social values of Aboriginal people differ significantly from non-Aboriginal values. Unfortunately, well-intentioned government policies too often ignore these crucial differences.
https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-housing-policies-must-be-…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Home ownership, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, Planning and development.Sirius Redevelopment Launch Takes Over $400m
(No paywall)It was once home to some of Sydney’s most vulnerable, but brutalist icon the Sirius building has been reimagined as luxury residences and more than $400 million worth of sales were made at a launch event at the weekend. CBRE senior director of residential Ben Stewart said three penthouses were sold on the weekend and that there were only 17 or the building's 76 apartments remaining. ... Its penthouse sold for $35 million last week. A second penthouse was sold for $19 million to a buyer from Coogee, netting JDH Capital $54 million. The larger $35-milliopn penthouse was built as a pod on top of the pre-existing building with a floorplate of 311sq m, and sold at $112,540 per square metre. (The Urban Developer)
https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/sydneys-400m-appetite…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Housing market, State Government.Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven loses confidence vote over housing crisis
ABC (No paywall)Stefan Lofven, Sweden's Social Democratic prime minister since 2014, lost a confidence vote in parliament on Monday amid a housing crisis and skyrocketing real estate prices, making him the first Swedish government leader ever to lose such a motion. The vote was initiated by the small Left Party, an ally of the minority government that is not in the two-party centre-left coalition but had provided votes to pass the government's legislation. ... The Left Party said it lost confidence in Mr Lofven over a proposal to abolish rent controls on newly built properties. Sweden has strict regulations on rents aimed at maintaining affordable prices in larger cities.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-22/sweden-prime-minister-ste…
# International, Rent, Housing market.Social housing rescued me when I fled domestic violence in 1970s Australia. That safety net has long gone
Anonymous The Guardian (No paywall)The wait time of more than 10 years for social housing is unacceptable. Women and children fleeing abuse have nowhere to run ... The author escaped domestic violence with her three small children in the 1970s. She is retired and volunteers in her community. She still resides in social housing. She says: 'I am forever grateful that social housing “rescued” me and my family.'
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/21/social-hou…
# NSW, Domestic violence, Public and community housing, Women.