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
Rents 'explode' across the country, as house prices fall in many Melbourne, Sydney suburbs
Rhiana Whitson ABC (No paywall)Rents have soared because of a record low number of available rental properties in a "crisis" that analysts predict is set to worsen. Capital city rents jumped 11.8 per cent in a year, after a 2.2 per cent rise in the month to April 12, according to SQM Research. Capital city house rents surged 14.7 per cent in a year, while unit rents rose 11.2 per cent. "The reality on the ground will be that many families, many young people will not be able to find the home that they actually require," Louis Christopher, managing director of SQM Research, said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-12/brt-house-prices-fall-ren…
# Australia, Rent, Families, Home ownership, Housing market, Young people.Quality costs more. Very few aged care facilities deliver high quality care while also making a profit
Hal Swerissen The Conversation (No paywall)You don’t have to look to far to find examples of poor quality residential aged care. Most recently, residents have too often been un-vaccinated, frightened, isolated, and have died alone in aged care facilities during the pandemic. It’s tempting to see poor quality as simply the result of extreme circumstances or bad actors behaving incompetently or unscrupulously. But these problems existed well before COVID. As the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found, they’re built into the system.
https://theconversation.com/quality-costs-more-very-few-aged-car…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Older people.Boxed in: Sydneysiders hit with fastest-growing house rents in 13 years
Kate Burke and Melissa Heagney Domain (Paywall)Sydneysiders are paying $50 more a week to rent a house, with the median rental asking price rising at the fastest annual rate in 13 years. ... Those hoping the cooling conditions seen in the sales market would flow through to the rental market may be left disappointed, with independent economist Saul Eslake saying while prices were predicted to soften this year, as interest rates rise, it would not affect rising rents. “There is not much connection in my view between property prices and rents,” Eslake said. You can read a similar report about Melbourne by the same journalists entitled: '"Every time I get ahead, I have to move again": Melbourne rents hit record high' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/every-time-i-get-ahead-i-have-to-move-again-melbourne-rents-hit-record-high-20220413-p5ad4p.html].
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/boxed-in-sydneysiders-hit-w…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market.Rental crisis is another COVID hangover and it’s going to get worse
Elizabeth Knight The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The ingredients that have led to advertised rentals increasing by up to 22 per cent over the past year have become more potent and will only add to the cost of living pressures. The increase in mortgage interest rates, the changes in the make-up of households and the return of immigration will all play into what experts are starting to see as a significant jump in the cost of advertised rentals. After two years of COVID-induced lack of demand for rental property which resulted in cheap rents, the tide has turned. ... [And] now the affordability virus looks to have spread to the rental market.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/rental-crisis-is-ano…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing affordability, Housing market.There’s a big economic divide around housing, and it’s getting bigger, says Shaun Carter
Rose Mary Petrass The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Shaun Carter, founding architect of Carter Williamson says that it’s vital for people to access social housing close to places of work. Separating and segregating the housing market is leading to entrenched disadvantage, he says. Safe, secure and sustainable housing is a human right, he says. Shaun Carter made a splash a few years ago in the battle to save the brutalist Sirius building at Millers Point. ... "The way that social and affordable housing is currently being organised is leading to a social and economic divide between regions of Sydney. ... Western Sydney will have regular days of 50 degrees soon. Australia will be more adversely affected by climate change. If you have structural problems in the cities and infrastructure like not enough trees, the temperature will become hotter and rainfall will stop. You are building-in climate disadvantage. You are setting the city up to fail on a grand scale."
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/theres-a-…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Climate change, Housing market, State Government.‘Scary’ outlook for renters as weekly rents soar
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)A survey of 1000 Australians by Compare The Market found that 65 per cent would be unable to afford an increase in their rental payments, with separate data from CoreLogic showing capital and regional rents rose by 2.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively in the first quarter of 2022. That equated to an average weekly rent rise of $13 across the regions and capitals. And property experts say rents will only continue to rise.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/04/11/rent-pric…
# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Rental prices in Australian capital cities spike by up to 21% as available housing plummets
Caitlin Cassidy The Guardian (No paywall)The cost of renting a house has soared by up to 21.2% in Australia’s capital cities, with further rises expected as the national rental crisis deepens. Over the past 12 months, capital city house rents have recorded price increases of 14.7% while rental units have risen by 11.2%, SQM Research has found.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/13/rental-pr…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.Renting lowdown
Money Box BBC (No paywall)Record rent rates and rising bills. Advice for renters from an expert panel.
# Audio International, Rent, Housing market.