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
Dozens of tiny homes proposed for Sunshine Coast as housing crisis worsens
Amy Sheehan ABC (No paywall)A builder leading a social housing project in the Sunshine Coast hinterland has described the region's accommodation crisis as "scary" and says there needs to be more action on the ground. Greg Phipps has been building modular homes since 2007. Now Noosa Council has accepted his application to build 34 small modular houses on a six-acre block at Cooroy as part of a private social housing endeavour. Mr Phipps said he took action after seeing how bad the housing crisis had become in the region.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-21/dozens-of-tiny-homes-prop…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development.The Stats Guy: We need (much) more public housing in Australia
Simon Kuestenmacher Simon Kuestenmacher The New Daily (No paywall)I don’t know what you’ve done this week, but I sure was busy looking for new statistics. This time I’ve unearthed for you a wonderful long-term dataset about housing occupancy from the ABS. ... You’ve probably seen headlines or read reports showing that more than 150,000 households – or over 430,000 people – are currently on the waiting list for social housing. A few hundred new units per year do nothing to ease the pressure. We need to think big and we need to act now. ... Yes, adding more public housing is expensive. Not adding more public housing is more expensive, though. How come? The bottom quintile (the poorest 20 per cent) of renters on the private housing market use up more than 50 per cent of their household income to cover housing costs. This means saving for a rainy day, or even building wealth through investments or property, is forever out of reach.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/2022/06/18/the-stats-guy-public-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Federal Government.$554.1 million investment for new and improved social and Aboriginal housing
NSW Department of Planning and Environment (No paywall)The NSW Government is investing $554.1 million to fast-track the delivery of new and upgraded homes for both social and Aboriginal housing over the next four years. Treasurer Matt Kean said the funding was part of the Government’s $2.8 billion Housing Package delivered through the 2022-23 NSW Budget. (Media Release)
https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/News/2022/Millions-investment-fo…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, State Government.Tenants – knowing what’s wrong shows us how to fix it
Alastair Harper (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... I read Tenants, Vicky Spratt’s important new book on the housing emergency, on a slow train-ride from Cornwall, my journey carving through coastal towns and villages very much on the front line of the housing emergency. Cornwall has seen its housing waiting list almost double since 2019, from 12,000 to 22,000 households. At the same time, we as a country are losing around 20,000 social homes every year. (Shelter)
https://blog.shelter.org.uk/2022/06/tenants-knowing-whats-wrong-…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent.Dinner and a show in Melbourne comes with a serving of harsh reality
Susan Murphy The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)In London, decades ago, I saw people sleeping in doorways, out of reach of falling snow. In New York I saw middle-aged Vietnam War veterans holding up cardboard signs, begging on the streets, and was grateful Australia looked after its citizens. Three decades later, rough sleepers in our city are everywhere.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/dinner-and-a-show-in-me…
# Australia, Homelessness.Ontario must commit to affordable housing for all, not attainable housing
Murat Ucoglu and Ute Lehrer The Conversation (No paywall)During his provincial election victory speech on June 2, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he aimed to build more housing to make the housing market more “attainable” for everyone. Although most people probably didn’t pay close attention to the specific choice of words Ford used during his speech, it’s alarming that Ford abandoned the word “affordable” in lieu of “attainable.” Instead of applying a word that speaks to the economic side of the housing crisis, his script writer opted for a term that means achievable, realistic, manageable.
This is troubling because it indicates that Ford is actively shifting the discourse away from an already very loose concept of affordability to a terrain that is even less defined.
https://theconversation.com/ontario-must-commit-to-affordable-ho…
# International, Affordable housing, Housing market.Falling prices not enough to make housing more affordable: Moody’s
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Housing across the country will become less affordable this year and next even as prices fall, with a leading ratings agency warning strong wages growth will not be enough to offset the impact of higher mortgage interest rates.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/falling-prices-not-enoug…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Talkback — Will dumping stamp duty ease Australia's housing crisis?
Nat Tencic ABC (No paywall)The NSW Government has announced it wants to scrap stamp duty in favour of a land tax. Replacing the one-off tax in favour of an annual fee has been talked about for decades. It's hoped this will lead to people living in more appropriate housing and resulting a more efficient tax system, but whether it will reduce house prices is less certain. (ABC Life Matters)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/talkba…
# Audio Australia, Home ownership, State Government, Tax.