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
‘Time bomb’: Housing problem costing Australia hundreds of millions every year
Sam Clench news.com.au (No paywall)A neglected problem at the core of Australia’s property market is causing increasingly disastrous consequences, new research shows. A dearth of social and affordable housing in Australia is costing communities tens of millions of dollars per year, and placing a “time bomb” at the heart of our economy. That is according to new analysis from Dr Andy Nygaard, an Associate Professor at Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for Urban Transitions. Dr Nygaard’s research suggests insufficient investment in social and affordable housing is now costing the national economy a whopping $676.5 million in foregone social and economic benefits each year. And that cost is set to keep growing, to as much as $1.286 billion by 2036. ... [Kate Colvin, national spokeswoman for Everybody’s Home] said Dr Nygaard’s research showed a lack of investment in affordable housing was “pushing Australians into acute stress and dysfunction.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/time-bomb-hou…
# Research alert Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Families, Federal Government, Housing market.Are Baugruppen the Answer to the Housing Affordability Crisis?
Lloyd Alter (No paywall)From United States ... Housing affordability is a widespread problem and it has only managed to grow during the pandemic. ... But there are alternatives to traditional homeownership, such as Baugruppen—the German word for “building groups” that refers to a principle of collective housing. (Treehugger)
https://www.treehugger.com/baugruppen-housing-affordability-cris…
# International, Share houses, Housing affordability, Housing market.Housing affordability for young people is beyond a crisis — so what do we do now?
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)We've hit a crisis moment for younger Australians on housing affordability. Record property prices forced many into choosing between committing to saving for a home, trying their hand in the stock market or just giving up on home ownership altogether. The whole point of labelling something a "crisis" is to set up a decision-making framework so we can effectively navigate an extraordinary moment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-05/house-prices-affordabilit…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Young people.Reserve Bank holds interest rates for now but home owners brace for mortgage shock
Michael Janda and Emilia Terzon ABC (No paywall)The Reserve Bank has left the official cash rate on hold near zero, but borrowers are already bracing for what life may look like with higher mortgage interest rates. ... The Reserve Bank's benchmark interest rate has been at 0.1 per cent since November 2020 ... However, most analysts expect an interest rate rise by August, with some expecting the first rate increase in June, and a few even suggesting it could happen next month.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-05/reserve-bank-holds-intere…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Thousands of properties are at risk from rising sea levels and tides. Here's how to protect yourself against coastal erosion and inundation
Maani Truu ABC (No paywall)Wild swells have battered the NSW coast over the weekend, with Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach disappearing beneath raging ocean. ... And it's not just in NSW. Rising sea levels are posing a risk for properties all across Australia — now and many decades into the future. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — the most comprehensive report on climate change ever released — estimates a sea level rise of up to 55 centimetres by the end of the century, while not ruling out a two-metre increase in the same period.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-06/how-to-avoid-damage-sea-l…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market.Australia’s first-home buyers urged to ‘go in with eyes wide open’ about future rate rises
Jodyn Beazley The Guardian (No paywall)The Reserve Bank governor, Philip Lowe, in February urged people to be prudent with their borrowing and to build a buffer to withstand an increase in mortgage repayments, given interest rate rises this year are “plausible”. Financial experts are also warning people entering the home guarantee scheme to “go in with their eyes wide open”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/06/australia…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Airbnb slams Christchurch's new house sharing rules as 'most restrictive in Australasia'
Tina Law (No paywall)New Zealand is impeding some consent requirements and up front processing fees to enable local councils to get back some degree of control and management of whole unhosted homes used for tourist letting. Predictably the big platforms are complaining about complexity and cost, it couldn’t be any simpler. ... New rules governing Airbnb-style accommodation in Christchurch are being described as “the most restrictive and outdated” home-sharing laws in Australasia, but others say the rules do not go far enough. People who rent out properties as unhosted visitor accommodation in residential areas will now have to obtain a resource consent, which will cost at least $1000 but will not expire. Christchurch City Council made the decision last week following a lengthy process to change the District Plan. ... Auckland Council and Queenstown Lakes District Council have also passed legislation to introduce higher rates and tighter regulations on short-term accommodation.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128264975/airbnb-slams-christch…
# International, Rent, Housing market, Local Government, Short-term holiday letting.When will interest rates rise and how high will they go?
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)It's the key question for several million mortgage borrowers: When will the Reserve Bank start raising interest rates and how high will they go? Unfortunately, there's no clear answer. It was only months ago that the Reserve Bank was still hinting that rates probably wouldn't rise until 2024. That's long since been blown out of the water, and now it's considered a near certainty that rates will rise this year, the only doubt being exactly when.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-06/when-will-interest-rates-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.