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
How will renters like Cameron be impacted by interest rates rising?
David Taylor and Karen Tong ABC (No paywall)Economists agree as the Reserve Bank raises interest rates, renters will likely cop higher rents. Why? Because landlords who have not yet paid off the cost of their mortgage will pass on their higher monthly repayments to their tenants in the form of higher rent.
"Basically, rate rises will increase pressure on renters," said NAB's chief economist Alan Oster. Not enough to crunch them but investors will want to try to offset the impact of rate rises on their cash flow."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-06/what-impact-will-interest…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.To make housing affordable, property prices need to fall, hurting many Australians with big debts
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)"Let's make housing affordable". It's a catchphrase that federal politicians in recent decades have repeatedly used in their pre-election pitches, and which current major party campaign pledges are centred on. Over the past four decades, governments have thrown money at first-time buyers under the guise that it will make housing more affordable. While those who got the grants may be grateful, many economists argue it's simply fuelled house price growth and made it harder for another generation of young people to buy a home (or at least do it without the backing of their parents). ... But anyone who talks about making housing more affordable also needs to address the worrying flip side – falling house prices for Australians who are already in the property market and have a mortgage. ... So, can we make housing affordable without sending house prices tumbling?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-05/housing-affordability-pro…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Rent Strike: How low-income tenants face hard choices over how to make up housing benefit shortfalls
Chaminda Jayanetti (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Tenants on low incomes in private housing face rent shortfalls of hundreds of pounds a year after the government froze housing benefit for a second year running, amounting to a real-terms benefit cut in most of England as living costs soar. Analysis of government data shows tenants even in relatively cheap properties face heavy and rising rent shortfalls despite receiving housing benefit. (The House)
https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/rent-strike-how-lo…
# Australia, Rent, Welfare.Brisbane Council urged to ease housing stress with Olympic funds
Cloe Read The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Interest rate rises will add financial pressure on home owners and landlords at a time when Queensland’s tight rental market has forced people into house sharing, temporary accommodation – or the streets. Amid a broader debate over housing policies, Brisbane Council’s opposition party has called for millions in Olympic-related money to be reallocated to provide more housing options in the fast-growing city. ... Queensland Council of Social Service chief Aimee McVeigh last week warned that the situation was so dire, “women and children are returning to domestic violence situations and living in cars with newborns because there is nowhere else to go”.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-council-urge…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Local Government.Who really wins and loses from first homebuyer schemes? What you need to know as a buyer, owner or renter
John Freebairn The Conversation (No paywall)The Coalition and Labor parties have each produced election policies designed to help low and middle income earners buy homes. Who is likely to benefit from them and who is likely to suffer is far from obvious, and depends in part on the price of the homes on offer. But broadly speaking, both parties’ schemes will hurt buyers of low-priced homes and renters – and here’s why.
https://theconversation.com/who-really-wins-and-loses-from-first…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.‘Where do they expect us to go?’ Life at one Bay Area encampment before eviction
Maanvi Singh The Guardian (No paywall)In many ways, the plight of this encampment is the story of homelessness in California. Its residents have been evicted several times over the past years, disassembling and reassembling their lives each time. Of the dozen or so remaining residents, nearly everyone has health issues that make staying at a temporary shelter difficult or impossible. Many have spent years on waitlists for subsidized apartments but are nowhere near to landing a stable home, often getting lost trying to navigate the labyrinth of social service and health systems available to them.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/05/san-francisco-ba…
# International, Disability, Homelessness.Radical Sydney
Terry Irving and Rowan Cahill (No paywall)Chapter 27 (pp 196 to 203): The anti-eviction war - Union Street, Erskineville. A great read from 1931 ... In 1999 Jocka Burns recorded for ABC Radio's Hindsight team one of the songs written at the time:
For we met them at the door,
And we knocked them on the floor,
Bankstown and Newtown,
We mad the cops feel sore.
They outnumbered us ten to one.
And were armed with stick and gun,
But we fought well, we gave them hell,
When we met them at the door.
New eBay-style online property auctions offer transparency as Australian buyers bid from home
Justine Huntsdale ABC (No paywall)Wollongong real estate agent Neil Webster recently sold a house in Shellharbour using a timed online auction. He said while the technology might not be best for every property, it offered a level of transparency that added credibility to his industry. "There's a perception that real estate agents aren't the most trustworthy of people, it's a hark back to the bygone era when agents would do some dubious practices at times," he said. "By using these platforms, we can operate in a more transparent way because people register, they're bidding and it's like eBay. You get notified every time an offer is made and you know someone is genuinely out there bidding against you."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-07/ebay-real-estate-auctions…
# NSW, Housing market, Landlords and agents.