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
'Big four' banks made huge profits as Australians took out bigger mortgages for pricier housing
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)Australia's big four banks — ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac — now hold a whopping $1.87 trillion in home loans. Throughout 2021, as Australian house prices skyrocketed, Australians kept on taking bigger mortgages — many worth more than six times their income — pushing up the profits of the big four banks. EY analysis of big four bank 2022 half-year results, has found that they had a combined cash profit after tax of $14.4 billion. That's up $700 million from the 2021 half-year results, or an increase of 5.1 per cent. The big four's $1.87 trillion share of home loans makes up the bulk of the nation's total housing loans, which is worth almost $2 trillion all up.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-10/big-four-banks-profits-ho…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Tiny and alternate houses can help ease Australia’s rental affordability crisis
Heather Shearer and Paul Burton The Conversation (No paywall)Rental housing in Australia is less affordable than ever before. It is no exaggeration to call the situation a crisis, with vacancy rates at record lows. But there are some relatively simple, easy-to-implement and cost-effective things that can be done to ease rental affordability pressures. These include relaxing planning restrictions on small and non-traditional houses, allowing granny flats to be rented to anyone, permitting property owners to let space to tiny house dwellers, and possibly even subsidising the building of granny flats or modification of houses for dual occupancy.
https://theconversation.com/tiny-and-alternate-houses-can-help-e…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development.Sinn Féin makes history ‘after promising biggest shake-up in housing for 50 years’
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)Sinn Féin became the largest party in Stormont following the election on 5 May after winning 27 seats, followed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which came in second after it dropped three seats to 25. The Alliance Party won 17 seats compared with eight in the last election. Sinn Féin has described its housing plan as the “biggest shake-up of the housing system for over 50 years”. As part of this, it plans to deliver more than 100,000 homes over the next 15 years in urban and rural communities across the North. Deirdre Hargey, communities minister and a Sinn Féin politician, unveiled this plan as part of the draft housing supply strategy in December. She said a third of the homes will be affordable.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/sinn-fein-makes-history-aft…
# International, Public and community housing, Affordable housing.Northern Territory 2022-23 budget to include $690 million for remote housing to ease overcrowding
Samantha Dick ABC (No paywall)The Northern Territory government has allocated $690 million for remote housing in tomorrow's budget, in a bid to ramp up the long-awaited construction of more homes to ease chronic overcrowding. Remote communities have been battling overcrowding for decades, alongside complaints that the delivery of new homes has been too slow, and ongoing debate between the territory and federal governments over the funding of homelands. On the eve of the budget being handed down, the government has outlined plans to build at least 260 new homes and 200 serviced lots in the 2022-23 financial year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-09/nt-remote-housing-funding…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.How long does it take for a rate rise to hit the housing market?
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Rising interest rates are expected to have a swifter-than-usual impact on the property market as reduced borrowing power and higher mortgage repayments weigh on already slowing buyer demand.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/how-long-does-it-take-for-a…
# Australia, Housing market.‘Walking a tightrope’: Why interest rates could hit 2.5 per cent and what it means for you
Matthew Elmas The New Daily (No paywall)Home owners squeezed by rising interest rates are being warned to brace for even more financial pain, with further rate increases set to push up mortgage bills and reduce property prices over the next two years.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2022/05/09/inter…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.6 things you can do today to score a pet-friendly home
Lauren Vardy (No paywall)Apartment hunting can be a task, but as many pet owners know, finding a pet-friendly home is a whole new challenge. Follow these steps to make the rental search a breeze. (rent.com.au)
# Australia, Rent, Pets.‘Completely transform skyline’: Parramatta plan approved after nine years
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The state government has signed off on plans to dramatically transform western Sydney’s skyline, enabling 70-storey towers to be built across an expanded Parramatta central business district. ... The ambitious 40-year vision by Parramatta City Council – now approved by the state government – expands the CBD’s boundaries and allows skyscrapers of up to 69 storeys for mixed-use residential buildings and 52 storeys for commercial offices. The heights are lower than the council’s original proposal for residential towers of 75 storeys and commercial offices of 60 storeys. Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said the plan would create 11,000 new homes and 16,000 new jobs in Parramatta’s CBD, while associated work along Parramatta Road would create a further 27,000 new homes and 50,000 jobs on that corridor over the next 20 years.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/completely-transform-skyline…
# NSW, Local Government, Planning and development.