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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
We tracked down the owners of empty Sydney homes to try and find out why they've been left vacant
Amy Greenbank ABC (No paywall)Every suburb has one. A home that's been left empty for years, perhaps decades. Walking past, you might peer in the windows and wonder why. There's estimated to be up to 140,000 "inactive" or vacant homes in Australia, according to experimental data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The highest proportion are in NSW, particularly Greater Sydney. So, we narrowed our search to nearly a dozen Sydney 'ghost homes', selected at random, to investigate.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-22/sydney-ghost-homes-vacant…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, .Housing in Sydney won't become affordable until at least the 2030s
Daniel Jeffrey 9 News (No paywall)Housing affordability in Sydney is dire and buying a home is going to remain out of reach for much of the population until at least the 2030s. That's according to a new study from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and University of Technology Sydney (UTS) which looks at the relationship between housing affordability and employment contracts. It found that not only is the rising proportion of part-time workers completely priced out of the city's property market, but full-time earners are facing increasing financial hurdles standing in the way of home ownership.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/housing-crisis-australia-sydne…
# Must read NSW, Rent.The Sydney suburbs where landlords haven’t been able to raise the rent
Tawar Razaghi The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)A handful of Sydney’s most coveted lifestyle and premium locations recorded cheaper house rents than a year ago, new data shows. Experts said while rental conditions remain tight, with Sydney house rents holding steady at a record $750 a week, tenants even in the top end of town were feeling the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. There were only 20 Sydney suburbs that recorded house rent declines in the year to June, Domain data shows – bucking the trend of widespread rises – but almost all had a median weekly asking rent of $1100 or higher.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-sydney-suburbs-where-la…
# Research alert NSW, Rent.Group hit hardest by the rental crisis
Clareese Packer Yahoo News (No paywall)Overcrowding could be on the rise again as experts warn international students may be particularly vulnerable to Australia’s “tough” rental market. Renters remain in the deep end, particularly in Sydney, with the national median rent sitting at $600 per week, according to latest figures from PropTrack. Rental prices have increased by 9 per cent over the past year, while the number of properties available for rent is down 4.4 per cent from last year and 25 per cent lower than the five-year June average.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/group-hit-hardest-rental-crisi…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.A room with no view: Sydney 'capsule' for rent for $1,080 a month
Cameron Carr SBS (No paywall)Australia's rental prices are soaring; so securing a place in the heart of the city for $250 a week might sound like a steal. But if you want to move into this "unique accommodation solution" — as its listing agent describes it — you'll almost certainly have to make some sacrifices. The rental is not a small apartment or one-room studio, it's a "capsule": A small, cell-shaped room with just enough space for a mattress.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/a-room-with-no-view-sydney-c…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas.Hundreds of land lease properties under construction for over 60s in Sydney
Mikala Theocharous 9 News (No paywall)A large land lease development is underway in Sydney's north-west, with experts saying the model could solve the housing crisis. The 12-hectare construction site in Gables, near Box Hill, will accommodate 231 homes for an over-60s community, as an alternative to retirement home living. The option means residents own their home but rent the land so they don't pay stamp duty or exit fees.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/over-200-land-lease-properties…
# Hot topic NSW, Land lease communities.Renters Reform back on the Agenda
Generation Rent (No paywall)Yesterday, the King announced the new government’s plans and – as expected – the Renters Reform Bill is back. Only this time it’s called the Renters’ Rights Bill. During the election campaign, Labour promised to finish the abolition of Section 21 evictions that the last government started, along with a number of other changes intended to make renting fairer. In the two-page briefing document published alongside the King’s Speech, there were no big surprises based on what we already knew. But we were looking out for what language was used, what details were included and what was missed out.
https://www.generationrent.org/2024/07/18/renters-reform-back-on…
# Must read International, Eviction, Rent.Putting design first: six social housing projects from around the world
Maddie Thomas The Guardian (No paywall)The social housing of last century often calls to mind towering blocks of flats, poorly maintained with dark, pokey and cold units. But alongside a rise in community living, the 21st century has brought quality construction, sustainability, and quality of life to the forefront of social housing design. Australia’s commitment to and funding for social housing stock is limited. But by 2037, Australia is estimated to have 1.1 million people seeking social housing. Professor of architecture and head of the University of NSW’s school of the built environment, Philip Oldfield, says that for an investment in social housing to match cosmopolitan cities like Paris or Barcelona, more housing of quality needs to be built.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/jul/20/put…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing.