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
Renters to hold protests across England this weekend over ‘broken system’
Liam Geraghty (No paywall)Rent union ACORN and campaign group Social Housing Action Campaign are both holding rallies on Saturday to protest against rising rents, housing conditions and evictions. Hundreds of people will hit the streets across England on Saturday in a rent protest over the country’s “broken” rental system.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/renters-to-hold-protests-a…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.Landlord’s insane texts to Sydney couple after simple request
news.com.au (No paywall)A young couple have been left shocked by the text messages they received from their landlord after making an extremely common request. Trying to find a rental property in one of the most expensive cities in the world is stressful on the best of days, but add an uncooperative ex-landlord into the mix and things get even more difficult.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/landlords-in…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Cash-strapped battlers can no longer afford repairs on houses as maintenance costs soar
Frazer Pearce ABC (No paywall)Routine maintenance jobs, like fixing a leaking roof or rotten stairs and painting, are out of reach for a growing number of cash-strapped Queenslanders as labour shortages and material price hikes bite. The situation has been compounded by the February floods in south-east Queensland and the ongoing deluge in New South Wales, adding further pressure to an already stressed building industry. It has prompted the Council On The Ageing (COTA) to call on the Queensland government to prioritise funding in the next state budget and extend home maintenance subsidies to those who need it most. "The cost of steel and timber and other supplies have gone through the roof … and that's also impacting on the repair side of things too and there's also a shortage of skilled tradespeople," COTA Queensland chief executive Mark Tucker-Evans said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-09/house-repair-crisis-as-ma…
# Australia, Repairs, Home ownership, Older people.Brooklyn Tenants of Neglected Building Push for Community Control
Roshan Abraham (Paywall)The tenants of one of New York’s most notorious landlords are fighting for legal changes to keep their apartments affordable and safe. ... Gary Simon has lived in the same mostly rent-regulated apartment complex in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn for over 30 years. He says the landlords of the 43-unit building have been getting worse in that time, and the last few owners who bought the building skimped on maintenance. “They just drain the equity without caring about human life,” Simon says. (nextcity.org)
https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/brooklyn-tenants-of-neglected…
# International, Rent, Repairs, Affordable housing, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents.Do you really need to save a 20 per cent deposit?
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)More first home buyers are giving up on saving a 20 per cent deposit, as sky-high property prices blow out the time it takes to pull together a down payment on a home. Aspiring homeowners have been flocking to government loan guarantee schemes and the bank of mum and dad in a bid to get into the market faster amid rapidly rising prices. Others are forking out extra money for lenders mortgage insurance, so they can buy with a smaller deposit.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/do-you-really-need-to-save-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Young people.Off-grid family who trekked to safety from flooding at Upper Lansdowne return with big plans
Emma Siossian ABC (No paywall)As sunlight streams through rainforest trees, Lauren and James Archer splash in a creek with their young children. It's a typical day at their off-grid property in the hills of Upper Lansdowne on the New South Wales Mid North Coast. The Archers made a tree change from western Sydney about six years ago and, despite some significant challenges during flooding, they haven't looked back.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-09/family-embrace-off-grid-l…
# NSW, Families, Home ownership, Regional NSW.Brisbane's median property values race to a record high, jumping more than 40 per cent in some suburbs
Baz Ruddick ABC (No paywall)Queensland's property prices are moving further out of reach for first home buyers with new figures showing values in some suburbs jumped more than 40 per cent in the 12 months to March.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-10/qld-real-estate-price-sou…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Sky-high prices push potential home buyers to borrow to the max
Elizabeth Redman The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Some first-home buyers are stretching their borrowing to the limit to try to get into the pricey property market despite looming interest rate rises, mortgage brokers warn. Other buyers, especially owners looking to upgrade, are starting to take a more conservative approach to their debt levels as they plan for borrowing costs to rise.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sky-high-prices-push-potent…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.