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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Own an investment property? It may be time to diversify
Craig Sankey The New Daily (No paywall)Many residential properties have performed very strongly recently, but the following factors need to be considered ... [read on]
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/03/20/investmen…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Flipping heck! This house sold for $500,000 more in three months
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Economist at the Housing Industry Association Angela Lillicrap said the property type was becoming more popular due to houses becoming less affordable. “Everybody wants a detached house, but at some point they become unaffordable, so a semi-detached house, like a duplex, is the next option,” Ms Lillicrap said.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/flipping-heck-this-house-so…
# NSW, Housing market.Inquiry says first home buyers should be able to use super savings as loan security
Nour Haydar ABC (No paywall)First home buyers should be allowed to use their super savings as security for a home loan and states should ditch stamp duty in favour of a land tax, according to a parliamentary inquiry into housing affordability in Australia. Committee chair Jason Falinski disputed the need for the federal government to review a number of tax concessions it offers, saying they were not a major factor contributing to high prices. In a dissenting report, Labor MPs rubbished the committee's findings, saying the inquiry failed to address the structural problems within the housing market. ... The committee also recommended that state and territory governments gradually replace "inefficient" stamp duty, which is paid at the point of sale, with a broad-based land tax which is paid annually.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-18/housing-affordability-inq…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development, Tax.Could rent control help to ease Australia's housing crisis?
Michelle Gately ABC (No paywall)Families are living in tents, caravans, cars, hotels or sleeping rough as Australia's rental crisis continues to worsen. With flooding in Queensland and New South Wales wiping out thousands of homes and rising fuel costs adding to household budget pressures, rental affordability won't change in a hurry. While there's no easy solution, industry experts believe government intervention is needed, but to what extent? One suggestion is rent control, a measure that divides opinion. UNSW researcher Chris Martin believes the right form of regulation is needed in the short-term to improve rental affordability and keep people in their homes. "It's been off the agenda in Australia for far too long and governments have been afraid of it," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-17/could-rent-control-help-t…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.March 2022 News
Shelter NSW (No paywall)In this month's edition:
Reimagining the economics of public housing estate renewal and the role of government - new research
Planning matters - Shelter NSW submissions
Newtown boarding house fire - Residents Hardship Fund established
Healthy Homes For Renters - Better Renting Summer report launch!
Shelter NSW at the AHURI National Housing Conference 2022
WelcomeMat 2.0 – improved online affordable housing portal now open
March 29 is Budget Night – email the Federal Treasurer
National Shelter appoints new CEO - Emma Greenhalgh
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/shelter-nsw-march-2022-ebulletin?e…
# NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Campaigns and law reform, Estate renewal, Federal Government, Health, Housing market, Planning and development.A ‘hovel’, but it’s home: Sydney’s boarding houses point to affordability crisis
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Warwick Mudge, 51, describes the Petersham boarding house where he has lived for seven years as a “wreck” and a “hovel”. On the flipside, he says, it’s cheap for Sydney’s inner west, the shops are within strolling distance, and the train station’s so close “you can spit on it”. ... Mr Mudge is among residents who have made a home inside one of the city’s boarding houses as NSW grapples with a widespread housing affordability crisis. ... The precarious conditions for residents of boarding houses across Sydney have come under the spotlight this week after a fire that was allegedly deliberately lit destroyed a Newtown building, killing three people. ... The incident prompted Inner West Council mayor Darcy Byrne to write to Premier Dominic Perrottet pushing for the state and local governments to conduct an urgent review of boarding house regulation and management. ... Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said, under the current regulations, there was often little accountability for boarding house owners, and boarders did not have the same rights as tenants.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-hovel-but-it-s-home-sydney…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Out of sight
Che Chorley and Steve Vivian ABC (No paywall)In the crowded homes of the Northern Territory’s remote communities, residents are trying to keep their hopes of a better future alive. On most afternoons in the community of Rockhole, Evelyn Andrews can be found holding court in her front yard, sat beneath the shade of a tree. At house number 21, she shares her home with between 10 and 15 other people. “We love it in the community, we’ve got the river right there and the kids are safe,” she says. “But we need some more houses.” Evelyn’s community of Rockhole sits just outside Katherine, the Northern Territory’s third-biggest town, in Jawoyn country about 340 kilometres south of Darwin. For the first two years of the pandemic, remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory were untouched by coronavirus. But in November, the virus began to spread through remote communities. Rockhole was one of the first to be hit. [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-19/remote-housing-homelands-…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Housing market, Personal stories.Better than sleeping rough’: Newtown boarding house fire puts spotlight on sector
Luke Henriques-Gomes The Guardian (No paywall)Advocates call for reform including a licensing regime and better enforcement of existing regulations after tragedy that killed three men. ... Chris Martin, a housing policy expert at UNSW, says some [local councils] are also mindful that closing a place down can mean “making a group of people homeless”. Martin would like to see an accreditation regime to regulate who can operate boarding houses. The idea was floated in an ongoing review of the Boarding Houses Act, which is being overhauled to include other similar settings as the “Shared Accomodation Act”. Martin says it has not been picked up by government. ... [John] Engeler, of Shelter NSW, believes only community housing providers should have rights to run boarding houses.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/20/better-th…
# NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Housing market, State Government.