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
Being evicted for no reason in Sydney is stressful, frightening and all too common
Kirby Warren The Guardian (No paywall)In January, as I was enjoying my annual leave, I received a no-grounds termination notice for my apartment in Sydney’s inner west. My lease was coming to an end in February but after what I thought was a successful inspection with both the owner and agent in December, I expected to get a renewal offer with a rent increase and I could decide what I wanted to do. I was a good tenant who paid rent on time and immediately addressed any issues that came up with the property. All in all, I figured I was in a pretty good position. But then I got the email on my phone alerting me that I had been evicted and dread washed over me. I had to be out in under five weeks.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/22/being-evic…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Personal stories, Sydney.‘Five years to get nowhere’: Minister slams Sydney council over housing impasse
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Housing Minister Rose Jackson has scolded a Labor-led Sydney council after it voted to delay a public housing renewal project that has waited more than five years for approval.
Bayside Council last month deferred consideration of a proposal by the state-owned Land and Housing Corporation to demolish 26 ageing public housing units in Mascot and build 152 new apartments – 45 of them public housing – in buildings up to eight storeys.
The government needs approval to increase the height limit and dispense with a local planning requirement for shops on the ground floor.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/five-years-to-get-nowhere-mi…
# Hot topic NSW, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.Sydney house prices to rise 9pc to a record high
Nila Sweeney Australian Financial Review (Paywall)Sydney house prices are predicted to increase as much as 9 per cent by June next year, powered by strong demand from surging population growth and scarce listings, despite further interest rate rises expected this year, Domain says.
By the end of financial 2024, Sydney median house prices are expected to hit $1.66 million, which would eclipse the $1.59 million peak set in March 2022.
Australia’s housing market is also forecast to have moved towards a well-established, steady recovery over the financial year 2024 as interest rates stabilise or begin to decrease.
Population pressures combined with chronic undersupply would fuel price increases, even as interest rates were still expected to rise this year, said Nicola Powell, Domain’s chief of research and economics.
https://www.afr.com/property/residential/sydney-house-prices-to-…
# Hot topic NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Planning and development.Court battle escalates as Coolah Caravan Park declares legal action over unpaid site fees
Kenji Sato ABC (No paywall)Richard Squire says a five-year legal battle with the operators of a caravan park has ruined his finances, his mental health, and any certainty for his retirement.
The 79-year-old is one of the residents locked in a costly legal battle with the directors of Coolah Tourist Park, owners of Coolah Caravan Park.
"There was friendship and that's where it all went pear shaped — thinking they were friends," Mr Squire said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-26/coolah-caravan-park-legal…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Land lease communities, Older people, Personal stories.Can big apartments solve Sydney’s housing crisis?
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Owning a property will continue to get harder for families of four or more unless Sydney increases its supply of larger apartments.
The NSW government is pushing for higher, denser residential developments. Premier Chris Minns last month flagged an increase in apartment builds, saying the focus should be on building up, not out, to reduce urban sprawl.
Greater Cities Commission chief commissioner Geoff Roberts said on Saturday housing targets needed to be bolder and parts of Sydney will be asked to double or even triple the number of homes they deliver in coming years.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/can-big-apartments-solve-syd…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Planning and development, State Government.Councils can’t handle more housing? Tell ’em they’re dreamin’
Andy Marks The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Fixing our nation’s housing affordability woes requires more than policy, planning, or market remedies. A change in mindset is necessary. The way we live – the “vibe”, one might say, of our relationship with housing – needs reimagining.
Wholesale imaginative change is possible. Australians unexpectedly made cultural icons of the fictional family featured in the 1997 film, The Castle. The Kerrigans revelled in “the serenity” of living adjacent to an airport and under high voltage powerlines. They were secure in their sense of self, of family, of place. And we loved them for it.
When NSW productivity commissioner Peter Achterstraat advocated an increase in housing density in Sydney’s CBD and inner suburbs, particularly in areas “close to transport hubs”, and near “jobs and amenities”, locals were anything but serene.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/mayors-say-they-can-t-handle…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Planning and development, State Government.Housing Trust photographic exhibition celebrates social housing tenants
Natalie Croxon Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Jo Fisher has held a stable job at the University of Wollongong as the manager of its bookshop for 30 years, yet still found herself staring down homelessness less than two years ago.
# Hot topic NSW, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Personal stories.NSW street count reveals increase in people sleeping rough in Wollongong, Illawarra
Natalie Croxon Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)The number of people sleeping on Wollongong's streets has jumped over 30 per cent in a year, the latest street count has revealed.
# Hot topic NSW, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Regional NSW.