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
Khan outlines plan for City Hall-owned developer following independent review
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (No paywall)London mayor Sadiq Khan has outlined a long-term plan to create a City Hall-owned developer ... Following an independent review into housing delivery in London, Mr Khan has agreed to take a two-stage approach to creating a City Hall-owned developer. The first stage will involve strengthening existing activities such as land assembly and the second piloting direct delivery.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/khan-outlines-plan-for…
# International, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Local Government.Aussies On Reddit Are Sharing The Fkd Amounts Of Rent They Pay Compared To What They Earn
Michael Di Iorio (No paywall)Rent. Apart from being a rock musical with incredibly dark overtones, it’s also the one thing you probably dread the most. Given Australia’s piss-poor relationship with rent prices, I’d be shocked if you weren’t a little spooked by it. According to the 2022 Demographia International Housing Affordability Report, the average house price in Sydney (the capital S stands for Satan) is 15 times the average household income. In fact, Sydney came second on the list of least affordable markets in the world. ... These batshit stats inspired one Reddit user on r/Sydney to ask their internet friends how much they were paying in rent. The answers came from all across NSW and gave a healthy insight into the unhealthy amount we pay our landlords. (Pedestrian)
https://www.pedestrian.tv/online/aussies-rent-prices-income-redd…
# NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Work, employment.Flooded offices of Koori Mail becomes ground zero to help Lismore residents
Nakari Thorpe ABC (No paywall)It started with a single marquee with a box of fruit and vegetables. But more than a fortnight on since floodwaters ravaged the northern NSW town of Lismore, the Koori Mail's makeshift recovery centre has become a full-scale operation. The national Indigenous newspaper has been leading recovery efforts despite losing its entire offices in the devastating floods. For the first time in its three-decade history, it was unable to publish. It's now destroyed two-storey building has become a grassroots ground zero providing basic supplies to medical assistance. The garage is a grocery store filled with donated canned food, baby goods and cleaning supplies, or as Ms Moran, a Dunghutti and Nyangbal/Arakwal woman, calls it "Koori Coles". Locals can also see a doctor on-site, talk to a counsellor in a safe space and even take some much-needed time out with a massage.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-20/koori-mail-offices-recove…
# NSW, .Flood design tips you should know before building or buying a home
Hailey Renault and Rachel Mealey ABC (No paywall)The architecture firm behind Queensland's flood-proofing guide says people who have adopted its building and design recommendations are saving money on their insurance premiums and getting back into their homes faster.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-22/flood-design-tips-you-sho…
# Australia, Housing market.Shepparton's 'everyday' people struggling to find rentals as backlash grows over housing project
Charmayne Allison ABC (No paywall)Mary was still grieving her husband's death when she realised she could no longer afford a home. ... She searched for weeks but was among a rising number of people getting squeezed out of the region's rental market by soaring house prices. Mary eventually found the only accommodation she could afford — social housing. ... Mary, now 89, found her new home in a block of units provided by Wintringham, an organisation supporting elderly and frail men and women who are at risk of homelessness. But a new proposal by Wintringham and Beyond Housing to build 30 social housing dwellings above a council-owned car park in Shepparton's CBD has received widespread backlash from neighbouring residents and businesses.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/sheppartons-everyday-peop…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Older people.‘Act urgently now’: Why sky-high house prices are a problem for everyone
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Fixing housing affordability is an enormous task, but it’s too important not to get right. Another review has laid bare the challenge for first-home hopefuls facing skyrocketing property prices, combined with rising rents and scant interest on their savings. ... Independent economist Saul Eslake said the recommendations might help over an eight- to 10-year time frame, as constraints on new supply are an issue for housing affordability, but took issue with the scope. “While there are things that can usefully be done in that area, trying to solve the housing affordability problem solely from the supply side is like being in a boxing match with one hand tied behind your back,” the principal of Corinna Economic Advisory said. “Government policies which have served to inflate demand have also contributed to the deterioration in housing affordability and the decline in home ownership.”
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/act-urgently-now-why-sky-hi…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development, Tax.Buyers are aware of the potential disaster in the rush to the regions
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Around three-quarters of Australians would move from a capital city to a mid-sized regional town under the right circumstances, new research shows, but the threat of bushfires and floods play into where they would choose to live. Only 16 per cent are happy to stay put in the city, a new Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute report, titled Understanding what attracts new residents to smaller cities, revealed.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/buyers-are-aware-of-the-pot…
# Research alert Australia, Housing market, Regional NSW.Pre-fab homes on govt land provide more social housing
Judy Skatssoon (No paywall)Modular homes that are constructed off-site and transported to location are being built by the state government to help meet the demand for more social housing in WA. The West Australian government has so far delivered 36 modular homes through its social housing modular build program and last week announced it had signed a new tranche of 21 contracts worth $9 million with ‘multiple companies’ after inviting tenders. (Government News)
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/pre-fab-homes-on-govt-land-pro…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Housing market, State Government.