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
Why you should pay attention to New Zealand's rental crisis, even if you aren't renting
Dileepa Fonseka (No paywall)New Zealand has a long history of being slow to face up to the plight of its renters, but the issue is only going to grow. [Read on] (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128194617/why-you-should-pay-at…
# International, Rent, Housing market, International.WA government denies fire boss power to veto ‘undefendable’ property developments
Sarah Brookes The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The group fighting a controversial property development in the Perth Hills are disappointed the State Government has ignored an independent recommendation to give the DFES Commissioner the power to veto new subdivisions that would be undefendable during a major blaze.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-government-…
# Australia, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.Social housing reforms branded ‘wishy washy’ as tenants call for firmer timeline
Stephen Delahunty Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Tenant campaign groups have said they are concerned the government has still failed to provide a timescale for the implementation of its post-Grenfell social housing reforms and branded ministers’ most recent announcement on the issue “wishy washy”.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/social-housing-reforms…
# International, Public and community housing.Homeless deaths surge by 80% in two years
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The number of people dying while experiencing homelessness increased by 80% over the past two years, new research has found. An annual piece of work by the Museum of Homelessness (MoH), named the Dying Homeless Project, found that 1,286 people died while homeless across the UK in 2021 compared with 710 in 2019. The numbers, which include people sleeping rough and those placed in emergency accommodation, increased by 32% from 2020 to 2021, with a death now occurring on average every seven hours.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/homeless-deaths-surge-…
# International, Homelessness.How a million Australians could be lifted out of poverty through tweaks to tax
Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Tweaks to superannuation and personal income tax could fund a boost to income support payments and rental assistance, and lift a million Australians out of poverty as people grapple with increasing hip-pocket pain, particularly for the country’s poorest. ... Renters and single parents have the highest poverty rates, according to the research ... The ANU researchers outlined three potential models for reducing poverty and the tax adjustments that would be required to fund them. The low model, which would lift JobSeeker by $150 per fortnight and increase Commonwealth rent assistance by 50 per cent, could be paid for by reducing the capital gains tax concession from 50 per cent to 37.5 per cent. [Read on]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/how-a-million-australian…
# Research alert Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Landlords and agents, Tax.NSW floods: drone footage shows scale of devastation in Lismore – video
The Guardian (No paywall)Communities across the New South Wales northern rivers, Australia, have been hit by major flooding for the second time in a month, with Lismore’s flood levee overflowing and the rising waters forcing people across the region to evacuate. Angus Gray, a photographer and Lismore resident, has been using a drone to film flooding in the area and is sharing it with people forced to leave their homes so they can assess the damage to their properties
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2022/mar/31/nsw…
# Video NSW, Housing market, Regional NSW.Property values soar in suburbs at risk of coastal erosion
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Property values in suburbs at risk of coastal erosion and storm surge have jumped over the past five years, but values of the most affected homes are likely to take a hit when they are no longer insurable or when it becomes harder to find buyers, experts said.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/property-values-soar-in-sub…
# Australia, Housing market.Interest rates are predicted to rise. Here's what you can do to stay afloat
Emily Stewart ABC (No paywall)Keeping up with your mortgage repayments might soon get harder. Not only is the Reserve Bank likely to raise official interest rates sometime this year, but other costs like petrol, food (even coffee!) are getting more expensive. At the same time wages growth hasn't caught up.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-31/interest-rates-mortage-re…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.