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
Gunnedah residents feel forgotten after flood inquiry focused on Northern Rivers
Jennifer Ingall ABC (No paywall)For those who have lived through flood events, big or small, the confirmation of a third La Niña brings a whole new feeling of anxiety. With the nation's focus largely on northern NSW, residents who lived through major floods in the state's north west just months earlier feel forgotten. A number of Gunnedah residents made submissions to the recent flood inquiry but feel they have not been included in its recommendations.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-15/gunnedah-residents-feel-i…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market.Dispatches from the National Housing Summit 2022
Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Here's a round-up of the major talking points from the National Housing Summit in Birmingham
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/dispatches-from-…
# International, Public and community housing, Utilities water energy internet, Housing market.Federal migration lift will add to housing ‘pressure cooker’: Palaszczuk
Matt Dennien The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Queensland opposition has warned against a new housing summit becoming a “talk fest”, as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk suggested a federal government decision to lift annual migration intakes would strain the sector further. Palaszczuk on Tuesday announced a roundtable – with stakeholders including councils and social service groups – to be held on Friday, before an October state-based summit to canvass the issues facing people trying to get, or keep, a roof over their heads.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/federal-mig…
# Australia, Housing market, State Government.Why super funds may be hesitant to invest in Australian housing
Joey Moloney and Brendan Coates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australia has $3.3 trillion of superannuation savings – the fourth-largest retirement savings pool in the world – but practically none of it is invested in Australian housing. Treasurer Jim Chalmers wants to change that. At last week’s job summit, he committed to working with super funds to invest in housing. Some $575 million has also been committed to encourage private capital, including super funds, to invest specifically in social and affordable housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/why-super-fund…
# Australia, Housing market.Examining LAHC’s claims about the social objectives of estate renewal
Alistair Sisson (No paywall)As LAHC moves to implementing its decision to redevelop the Waterloo Estate, the social objectives claimed for the redevelopment and what is needed to deliver them becomes a focus. In this paper Dr Alistair Sisson, an academic in the field examines LAHC’s claims about the social objectives of estate renewal. (redwatch) You may also read this article on: [https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/examining-claims-about-social-objectives-estate-renewal]
# NSW, Public and community housing, Estate renewal, Housing market.Extreme weather driven by climate change endangers 1.6 million households, report says
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Up to 1.6 million homes nationwide are at moderate or high risk now from climate change-related extreme weather, with the number forecast to increase by more than 60 per cent by 2050. Some of the hardest-hit areas will be entire Sydney postcodes north and south of the Hawkesbury River where almost every property could be affected by 2050, while in Melbourne, up to 45 per cent of properties will be at high risk in Port Melbourne and about one in six in Albert Park. Climate risk analysts Climate Valuation, who issue reports for potential home buyers and mortgage lenders about the risks facing residential properties, analysed 14.3 million addresses in Australia and found 1.6 million homes were already at moderate or high risk from climate change-related extreme weather. That number is likely to rise to 2.6 million by 2050, Climate Valuation said, as frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as flooding in Lismore and Perth and bushfires in NSW in 2019 increase.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/where-properties-are-at-hig…
# Australia, Climate change, Home ownership, Housing market.How we won a rent freeze in Scotland
Gordon Maloney (No paywall)As the Scottish government announce a rent freeze, an activist with Living Rent who fought and won shares how they did it, and what must come next. (Huck Magazine)
https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/activism-2/how-we-won-a-ren…
# International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.Sydney suburbs worst hit by rental price hikes
Adelaide Lang news.com.au (No paywall)New housing data from advocacy group Everybody’s Home reveals renters are facing dramatic rent hikes, with one suburb experiencing a rental increase of more than $100 a week. In the last three months, Sydney suburbs have seen vacancy rates decline and rental prices skyrocket amid an escalating cost of living crisis. ... Everybody’s Home spokeswoman Kate Colvin said it is “both unfair and unwise” that renters were being forced to bear the cost of the inflation. “The rental crisis is sending shockwaves through the community, with renters hit with massive rent hikes having to cut back on food, petrol and other essentials,” she said.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/sydney-subur…
# NSW, Repairs, Housing affordability, Housing market, Sydney.