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
Australia ranks fourth on global property risk list. Will we dodge it?
Elizabeth Redman The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australia is one of the most likely countries in the world to clock property price falls, a new ranking shows, after prices boomed over the past two years. Property prices are high compared to rents and incomes, the Bloomberg Economics research found, although local experts caution prices will not necessarily drop far enough to get back in line with fundamentals. Australia ranked fourth in the OECD for the risk of a property price correction, behind New Zealand in first place and just ahead of Canada in fifth, two other countries where property markets have been hot for years.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/australia-ranks-fourth-on-g…
# Australia, Housing market, International.As a kid I was homeless, and that’s why I joined the Vinnies CEO Sleepout last night
Richard Stewart The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Overnight I took part in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout to raise money to support people experiencing homelessness – as I did when I was about 10 years old. As a child, I was the beneficiary of Vinnies’ support and that set me on a path to lead my life as I do today.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/as-a-kid-i-was-homeless-and-that…
# NSW, Homelessness, Personal stories.Stronger, smarter, strata: the climate for change in Victoria
Gregor Evans The Fifth Estate (No paywall)With the Victorian election rapidly approaching, strata communities offer a valuable channel for the state government to deliver its building electrification and net zero policies. ... More and more Victorian consumers are beginning to shift to more sustainable living choices, whether considering or purchasing an electric vehicle for the first time due to increased petrol prices, moving into “smart homes”, or installing ever-more affordable solar panels, as a cleaner, greener economy – led by market forces – takes shape. Strata living, by its very nature, can act as a multiplier effect towards improving the efficiency of our built environment and urban spaces, and is a sector of our economy and society where industry is uniquely placed to make this happen.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/stronger-smarter-…
# Australia, Strata, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change.Mayor’s local plan for 25,550 new homes in west London approved
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)The local plan will see 25,500 new homes built in the Old Oak and Park Royal area in Brent, with the development of more than 12,000 affordable homes. A large portion of the area is brownfield and owned by central government. It also planned for public green space to take up 30% of the land. London mayor Sadiq Khan said the local plan “will allow my development corporation to unlock that potential and continue our work to build a better London for everyone”.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/mayors-local-plan-for-…
# International, Affordable housing, Housing market.Planning minister Rita Saffioti intervenes in Perth homeless centre standoff
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)West Australian Planning Minister Rita Saffioti could soon overturn a decision by the City of Perth council to block the relocation of a community centre providing support services to homeless people about 200 metres around the block from its current location in Northbridge.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/planning-minis…
# Australia, Homelessness, Planning and development, State Government.Five things you should know about this year’s census
Craig Butt The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)On a winter evening last August, you or a family member probably would have filled out the 2021 census, along with millions of other people across Australia. The survey’s questions canvassed everything from living arrangements and household structures to work, education, ancestry, health and more. The census is a huge undertaking, and it takes the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) a while to collate the results. It will release the first, and biggest, tranche of data on Tuesday.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/five-things-you-should-know-abou…
# Australia, Families, Housing market.Pandemic’s impacts on how people live and work may change city centers for decades to come
Andrii Parkhomenko and Eunjee Kwon The Conversation (No paywall)If companies allowed more of their employees to permanently work from home, businesses would gravitate toward city centers, while people would primarily live in the periphery, resulting in less traffic congestion and falling real estate prices downtown.
https://theconversation.com/pandemics-impacts-on-how-people-live…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Work, employment.Renters under increasing strain as cost-of-living pressures bite across Australia
Melissa Brown ABC (No paywall)It's lucky Siobhan Joseph likes the cold, because she can't afford to turn on her heater. The 57-year-old is paying more than 80 per cent of her JobSeeker benefit on rent for her Marrickville home in Sydney's inner-west. Ms Joseph gets about $770 per fortnight from JobSeeker and other support payments, and spends about $600 of that on rent. "So I have about $174 left over for everything else," she said. [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-27/renters-facing-increased-…
# Australia, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Families, Personal stories.