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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. 

Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.

See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.

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Archive

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Key topics

Have property prices risen more under Liberal or Labor governments?

Tawar Razaghi
Domain (No paywall)

It’s often assumed property prices rise under a Liberal government and are more likely to fall under a Labor government, but is that an urban myth? But according to CoreLogic data, property prices – going as far back as 1990 – have endured peaks and troughs regardless of which side of politics was in power. Economists agree broader economic conditions, such as interest rates, which are largely influenced by global factors, are far more important in dictating property prices than any one side of politics.

https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/do-property-prices-fall-und…

# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.
 

As the housing crisis rages on, Anglicare floats plan to convert disused aged care home into unit block

Keira Proust
ABC (No paywall)

"[Rentals] are as rare as hen's teeth and too expensive," [Black Summer bushfire victim Ursula] said. "Yet there are houses in Eden that stand empty." One of those empty buildings is the former Roy Wotton Gardens aged care home. ... Not-for-profit organisation Anglicare is attempting to raise enough money to buy the building, which it plans to convert into 16 affordable units for people in need.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-20/proposal-to-convert-nursi…

# NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.
 

Expanding the Home Guarantee Scheme comes with pros and cons for first-time property buyers

Michael Janda
ABC (No paywall)

The government is planning to expand the Home Guarantee Scheme, which allows first home buyers to purchase with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent. But what might that mean for prospective home-owners? ... However, RateCity's research director Sally Tindall described the increase in thresholds as a "band-aid fix".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-19/expanding-the-home-guaran…

# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.
 

New research shows how bad Australia’s housing crisis has become

Rohan Smith
news.com.au (No paywall)

Staggering new research shows exactly how hard it is for a young person to pay rent in any of Australia’s capital cities, let alone buy a home. The research carried out by the Everybody’s Home campaign — a coalition of housing, homelessness and welfare organisations — will send a chill down the spines of young people hoping to enter the housing market in jobs like retail and hospitality. Researchers looked at the average rent of a single bedroom in a two-bedroom apartment in Australia’s capital cities. They cross referenced that with the weekly wage of a level 1, 18-year-old hospitality or retail worker, as well as somebody on Youth Allowance. The findings? The average 18-year-old retail worker in every capital city spent way above 30 per cent of their income on renting just that one room — a figure most experts say indicates rental stress.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/new-research…

# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Young people.
 

Construction industry looks at one-bedroom dongas to ease housing crisis on Gold Coast

Nicole Dyer, Matt Webber, and Kimberley Bernard
ABC (No paywall)

The cost of living has forced business owners to think outside the box to address housing on the Gold Coast. ... Last year's Woman of the Year, entrepreneur and founding director of My Bella Casa, Tamika Smith, believed off-site construction of one-bedroom houses for new dwellings was the answer.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-20/one-bedroom-dongas-pitche…

# Australia, Housing market.
 

Australia’s election debate on energy ignores the miracle of rooftop solar

Saul Griffith
The Guardian (No paywall)

Power harvested from our roofs and stored locally could smash carbon emissions and obliterate household energy bills.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/20/australias…

# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change.
 

What a £350,000 average house price means for first-time buyers in Great Britain

Colin Jones
The Conversation (No paywall)

The average house price in Great Britain has risen above £350,000 for the first time, according to property website Rightmove. ... As a result, middle-income households are priced out of the market. ... The UK government’s statistics show that the proportion of people who owned and lived in their own home peaked at just under 71% in 2003 in England. By 2020, it had fallen to 64%. In the 2000s, the private-rented sector grew massively, with the rise of buy-to-let landlords. At the same time, there was a large increase in the number of young adults living with their parents. This phenomenon has also continued because both buying and renting have become increasingly unaffordable. Nevertheless, people largely still aspire to own their own homes.

https://theconversation.com/what-a-350-000-average-house-price-m…

# International, Home ownership, Housing market.
 

Unprincipled moves: Is World Health Day worth celebrating?

Susan Thompson, Norma Shankie-Williams and Danny Wiggins.
City Futures (No paywall)

Our physical environment is central to our health. So with the NSW government dumping the D&P SEPP, is there much to celebrate this World Health Day?

https://blogs.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/blog/2022/04/unprincipled-…

# NSW, Climate change, Health, Planning and development, State Government.
 

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