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
“I don’t know of any more ambitious project anywhere in the world that’s doing these things. It’s pretty impressive” – Mulpha’s zero carbon “City of Tomorrow”
Rose Mary Petrass The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Mulpha has gathered a premium design team to deliver its zero carbon mixed-use “City of Tomorrow” at its huge Norwest Norwest Business Park, in The Hills district north west of Sydney. And some of the features may set a new national benchmark if not individually at least in aggregate. Among them an airconditioning system that experts say should be mandated for its ability to minimise heating outdoor spaces, a zero waste supermarket and water recycling.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/i-dont-kn…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market, Planning and development.The latest sign the housing boom is losing steam
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)More units than houses sold under the hammer in almost all major cities in February in another sign the housing boom is losing steam. Affordability constraints and the return of investors meant clearance rates for units were higher than houses in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra, according to Domain’s February auction report.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-latest-sign-the-housing…
# Australia, Housing market.Vale Shane Warne, the prolific property flipper
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Shane Warne knew how to flip more than a cricket ball. The late Aussie leg-spinner had a keen interest in collecting and trading prestige real estate, especially in Melbourne’s exclusive suburb of Brighton, and one of his homes was so nice he owned it twice.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/vale-shane-warne-the-prolif…
# Australia, Landlords and agents.Deciding on a rent rise isn’t easy
Kim Brear Inside Housing (Paywall)Under government rules, English housing associations can apply a 4.1% rent rise from April. But should they? Kim Brear explains how Leeds Federated made its decision ... Following a wider discussion, and taking into account all perspectives, we decided we will raise rents by 4.1%.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/deciding-on-a-re…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent.Geelong house prices almost on par with Melbourne but signs market heat is dying off
Rachel Clayton ABC (No paywall)At the beginning of 2020, speculation about a housing crash fuelled hope in first home buyers that they could, finally, get a foot in the market. But that swell of expectation came crashing down as the record-setting market of the past two years further exacerbated the dividing line of home ownership in Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-09/melbourne-geelong-housing…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Welcome to Boom Town: How sea-changers found new life in Geelong
Jewel Topsfield The Age (Paywall)But Geelong has always been a tale of two cities, divided by wealth, and the pandemic has exposed fissures in a town where intergenerational poverty has long been a problem.
Melburnians have turbo-charged the economy but the sea-change trend has also pushed up house prices and caused a shortage of rental accommodation. Some local residents have found themselves priced out of the town they grew up in, forced to move further afield to Colac or Winchelsea, or give up the dream of home ownership. ... The Urban Development Institute of Australia has warned that land supply in Geelong is approaching a crisis point, putting affordability at risk. ... Rising rents (the median house rent in Geelong has jumped 10 per cent to $440 in the last two years) are putting some locals under enormous pressure.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/welcome-to-boom-town…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Legal help for flood-affected communities
Community Legal Centres NSW (No paywall)Community legal centres are here to help if you've been affected by floods in NSW. Our thoughts go out to the people, families and communities impacted by the flooding, storms, and dangerous rainfall across the state. Read the information page here.
https://www.clcnsw.org.au/legal-help-flood-affected-communities-…
# Must read NSW, Domestic violence, Rent, Home ownership.‘Let’s face it, it’s climate change’: Floods renew debate over where we should live
Michael Koziol, Nick O'Malley and Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk: “I’ve never seen so many natural disasters, we seem to be dealing with more and more; more cyclones, more floods,” she said on Friday. “Let’s face it, it’s climate change.” Prime Minister Scott Morrison also acknowledged we would see more calamities because of climate change. “This is what the Bureau of Meteorology is telling us, this is what all of these things tell us.” Read Eddie Lloyd's article entitled: 'The PM calls this a natural disaster – it’s not natural, it’s climate change smashing down our doors' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/04/the-pm-calls-this-a-natural-disaster-its-not-natural-its-climate-change-smashing-down-our-doors]. Read Daniel Hurst's article entitled: '"It’s not a footnote. It’s the story": Climate Council says too many Australian leaders silent on cause of floods' in 'The Guardian' at: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/07/its-not-a-footnote-its-the-story-climate-council-says-too-many-australian-leaders-silent-on-cause-of-floods]. Read Robyn Fitzgerald's article entitled: 'Why the listless reaction from governments, the hush on climate change?' in 'Michael West Media' at: [https://www.michaelwest.com.au/why-the-listless-reaction-from-governments-the-hush-on-climate-change/].
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/let-s-face-it-it-s-climate-c…
# Australia, Climate change.