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
Housing help still unclear for Lismore residents after northern NSW flood
Bronwyn Herbert and Kim Honan ABC (No paywall)Val and Neil Dyke are not sure when they and their three teenage sons can move back home. Their house is among more than 3,000 affected by floodwaters that raged through Lismore last week, peaking 2 metres above the town's last record flood. "Mud keeps pouring out of the walls; it's tough going," Neil Dyke said of the clean-up effort. There are currently 270 people still staying in Lismore's two evacuation centres, with thousands of others relying on family and friends and sleeping in spare bedrooms, caravans and garages.
And it is not just in Lismore, with the impact on homes across the Northern Rivers region still being counted and assessed. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet yesterday said the government was "working through issues" with those who "have lost their homes or have been temporarily relocated", but fell short of announcing any specific measures.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-09/lismore-northern-nsw-hous…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market.‘Priced out’: Housing affordability hits decade low before interest rates rise
Matthew Elmas The New Daily (No paywall)More Australians are being priced out of the property market and squeezed by rising rents as housing affordability falls to a decade low. ... Housing affordability last year fell by 3.9 per cent for owners and by 0.3 per cent for renters.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/03/09/housing-a…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Crowdfunding disaster relief offers hope in desperate times. But who gets left behind?
Matthew Wade The Conversation (No paywall)At least 21 people have been killed in the devastating floods across Queensland and New South Wales. Many have lost everything they own, in part due to vicious cycles of underinsurance. The destruction will also worsen the already “beyond dire” housing crisis. Some will have no choice but to move elsewhere and leave behind existing social ties. Rebuilding will take years, and local communities may never be the same. It is perhaps no wonder, then, that people turn to crowdfunding to help those affected.
https://theconversation.com/crowdfunding-disaster-relief-offers-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, State Government.Contribution by IUT and others to the informal conference of EU Ministers responsible for housing
(No paywall)Europe’s Housing Crisis calls for a clear commitment to boost public investment from the EU and European Housing Ministers. [Read on] (International Union of Tenants)
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/final-declaration-of-the-housing-…
# International, Public and community housing, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing affordability, Housing market.Want to know the truth about property taxes? Try these facts
Emily Sims The Fifth Estate (No paywall)The confrontation over Victoria’s Social and Affordable Housing Levy may have been short lived when the proposed levy was quickly dropped after conniptions by the property lobby but the shibboleth that property taxes represent a large proportion of the cost of buying a house is economic propaganda that just won’t die.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/want-to-k…
# Australia, Housing market, Tax.UK Housing Review: Right to Buy branded a ‘strategic failure’
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The Right to Buy has become a “strategic failure” and will exacerbate inequalities unless it is reconsidered, an analysis from the upcoming UK Housing Review has found. The analysis, which forms part of the Chartered Institute of Housing’s (CIH) annual research report on the housing sector, outlined how the Right to Buy has led to a decline in the social rent sector and a growth of the private rented sector in the UK. According to the analysis, a “cautious estimate” would indicate that up to 40% (1.1 million) of homes sold through the Right to Buy are now rented out privately. These statistics undermine the ambition of Right to Buy to boost homeownership, the research said.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/uk-housing-review-righ…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.How the 2011 floods hit Brisbane’s property market, and what will happen this time
Sarah Webb Domain (No paywall)Torrential rain that sparked widespread flooding across south-east Queensland won’t dampen the region’s booming property market, experts say, with interstate and overseas buyer rates still on the rise. Despite some homes in Brisbane’s flood-prone zones suffering complete inundation for the second time in 11 years, industry figures believe property prices are too resilient to falter, with historical data from the city’s flood-hit suburbs revealing medians in some pockets more than doubled between 2011 and 2021.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/how-the-2011-floods-hit-bri…
# Australia, Housing market.10 ways to protect your home from storms and floods
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)With homes on the eastern seaboard being slammed by rain, storms and floods, experts say it’s time to rethink how we’re building our houses, as well as where we’re building them.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/living/10-ways-to-protect-your-h…
# Australia, Housing market.