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
Pressure grows on Airbnb to permit long-term rentals as NSW floods worsen housing crisis
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Airbnb has announced plans to provide free short-term accommodation for flood-affected residents in the northern rivers, as pressure mounts on the company to switch its model and offer long-term rentals at market prices for homeless people. Before the floods, the area was already suffering a housing crisis, with 2,300 homes needed to take the heat out of the market and create what would be considered a healthy vacancy rate. Now it will be felt acutely, with early calculations showing more than 2,195 houses have been rendered uninhabitable because of the floods. More than 6,260 Airbnbs are operating in the area, according to the open source data tool Inside Airbnb. Of those, 4,006 (64%) had a high availability rate, meaning they were available to tourists most of the year and unlikely to be an owner-occupier renting out their home occasionally.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/10/pressure-…
# NSW, Rent, Short-term holiday letting.NSW pledges $551 million in flood support
Farid Farid (No paywall)People whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by the unprecedented flood crisis in NSW will benefit from a half a billion dollar support package. (The Macleay Argus) Also, check out the link at: [https://www.nsw.gov.au/floods/financial-support].
https://www.macleayargus.com.au/story/7652351/nsw-pledges-551-mi…
# NSW, Housing market, State Government.Flood damage bill will be 'extraordinary' as extra cash flows for clean-up
ABC (No paywall)More than $550 million in extra funding from federal and state government's has been announced for flood affected communities. The funds are targeting temporary housing, and local government areas will receive money for removal of flood and storm related damage, debris and green waste. ... About 20 motor homes will leave Sydney today to be used as temporary accommodation for flooded affected residents in northern NSW. They are part of a temporary housing package announced by the federal and state governments yesterday. Other key elements include a 16-week rental support program and money for temporary pods so people can stay on their land while rebuilding.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-11/extra-cash-flows-in-for-n…
# NSW, Homelessness, State Government.‘We’ve run out of options here’: NSW flood disaster worsens housing crisis in northern rivers
Christopher Knaus The Guardian (Paywall)For the past week, [Lucy] Andrews and two other women – volunteers with social work experience – have been doing all they can to ease the vast crisis in emergency accommodation in their corner of the flood-ravaged northern rivers region of New South Wales. Their work began last Tuesday, when one of the women sat down on the steps of Mullumbimby’s civic hall with a notepad and phone, and began offering assistance to anyone who needed emergency housing. She was soon joined by another former social worker and Andrews, who sat at a trestle table from 8am to 8pm each day, creating spreadsheets of the displaced and homeless, triaging them and trying to link them up with safe, appropriate accommodation. ... The region had been gripped by a housing crisis even before the floods. Private rentals were hard to find, and those that were available were exorbitant. Social housing was even more limited. ... It’s an understatement to say the floods have compounded the problem, even in ways not immediately apparent. Andrews, for example, has been served an eviction notice telling her she must leave her Mullumbimby rental. The landlord lost his property in the floods and needs the house back. That throws Andrews and her housemates into a search for housing along with those whose homes have been deemed unliveable.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/11/weve-run-…
# NSW, Eviction, Rent, Homelessness.Insurers brace for rising flood damage amid climate change, and they warn you should too
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)As New South Wales and Queensland clean up after what are likely to be the costliest floods in Australian history, insurers have a stark warning — prepare for things to get worse, especially along the east coast. As businesses with some of the most skin in the game when it comes to climate change effects on extreme weather, insurance companies are at the forefront of research about what to expect as global temperatures warm. ... [And ...] in a warmer climate, damaging hail is expected to increase for the capital cities of Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and, to a lesser extent, Adelaide and Perth.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-12/climate-change-floods-ins…
# Hot topic Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Planning and development.NSW Planning Minister announces independent review into development in flood-prone areas
Kelly Fuller ABC (No paywall)New South Wales Planning Minister Anthony Roberts has announced an independent review of development in flood-prone parts of the state. It comes in the wake of the destruction of 2,800 homes in floods that ravaged the state's Northern Rivers. About 5,500 more were damaged. "I have instructed the secretary of the Department of Planning and Environment to commence an independent review of the relevant instruments, policies and programs applying to development in flood-prone locations across NSW, as well as existing developments," Mr Roberts told a budget estimates hearing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-11/nsw-review-into-developin…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market, Planning and development.Weak money laundering laws put Australia at risk of becoming a haven for Russian cash
Ben Butler The Guardian (No paywall)Australia faces embarrassment of being placed on “grey list” of countries that don’t meet international anti-money laundering standards, experts say. Australia’s lax money laundering laws mean the nation is at risk of becoming a haven for Russian cash belonging to oligarchs who are seeking to avoid sanctions over the war in Ukraine, experts say. The country is one of only three – along with Haiti and Madagascar – yet to commit to bringing lawyers, accountants and real estate agents under the umbrella of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws (AML-CTF).
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/13/weak-mone…
# Hot topic Australia, International, Landlords and agents.Housing crisis worsens as locals turn to cars, floors to sleep
Natassia Chrysanthos The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Northern Rivers housing crisis could quickly become a catastrophe, as flooding in northern NSW renders thousands of homes unlivable and forces people to sleep rough in a region where property prices have already soared at rates higher than Sydney’s in the past year.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/housing-crisis-worsens-as-lo…
# NSW, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Regional NSW.