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 must dig’: Meet Zhang Wang, Christchurch’s persistent gardener
Oliver Lewis (No paywall)Wang was away when the digger arrived. She had a hospital appointment that morning to get her hearing aids and ears checked, then she went shopping. When she got back, large parts of her creation had been turned to dirt. ... After [Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (ŌCHT)], her landlord dug up her prized garden, Zhang Wang was despondent. Then the help started pouring in. It may take years to restore what she lost, but out of a garden's destruction came something special.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/05-01-2022/i-must-dig-meet-zhan…
# International, Privacy and access, Public and community housing, Personal stories.Some loved it, others hated it. Either way, the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant was 'life-changing'
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)It was one of the biggest stimulus injections the housing industry had ever seen. The Morrison government's HomeBuilder program enabled eligible owner-occupiers substantially renovating or building a new home to apply for grants. ... The scheme – together with record low interest rates that enabled more Australians to borrow money — saved the housing industry during the pandemic. ... For many first-time buyers the grant was an avenue towards owning their dream home. [But] for others, the lure of grants, which they never succeeded in getting, sent them into a world of misery and debt.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-07/homebuilder-grant-housing…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.The Park Regis intercom broke years ago, then COVID came knocking
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)It was once feted as Australia’s tallest – and most luxurious – apartment building but residents of the Sydney CBD’s Park Regis today live in what’s almost become a fortress. With the buzzers at the entry of the iconic tower broken for the past four to five years, and no plans to fix them, no deliveries or services can gain access to the foyer. ... But the row over the long-time broken entry system, and the Owners Corporation’s failure to repair it, has already gone to NSW Fair Trading for mediation, and now looks likely to end up at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-park-regis-intercom-bro…
# NSW, Repairs, Strata, Tribunal NCAT.‘Patch of paradise’: Property’s tree-change trend tipped to continue
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)The booming tree-change trend in property is predicted to continue into 2022, even though homebuyers may be forced back to city offices if life returns to some kind of post-lockdown normality.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/patch-of-paradise-property-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Regional NSW.Sunnybank house prices soar as Brisbane families try to move inside catchment for four popular schools
Jessica Rendall ABC (No paywall)The southern Brisbane suburb of Sunnybank is surrounded by four primary schools that are described as being of "high demand" and "oversubscribed". Macgregor, Sunnybank Hills, Robertson and Warrigal Road state schools have become major selling points for real estate agents in the area. Antonia Mercorella from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) said it was common for in-demand schools to drive up house prices in certain suburbs. ... Sunnybank resident Wei Chia has been renting in the suburb for four years. When she and her husband Matt Wheare looked to buy a house, they realised they could not afford to put down roots in that area or surrounding suburbs.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-09/qld-sunnybank-property-bo…
# Australia, Families, Home ownership, Housing affordability.Radioactive soil from Hunters Hill to be shipped to the US
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Radioactive soil excavated from Sydney’s lower north shore will be trucked interstate and then shipped to the United States following opposition to the waste being stored at a facility in the city’s south-east. The NSW government last year resolved to remove up to 1800 tonnes of soil beneath six properties along Nelson Parade in Hunters Hill, where a carbolic acid plant and a uranium refinery operated in the 1900s.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/radioactive-soil-from-hunter…
# NSW, Asbestos, lead, hazardous materials, State Government.Housing is scarce on the Capricorn Coast, but beach community rejects plans for high-rise development
Michelle Gately ABC (No paywall)[Former Sydneysider Rahela Beevers] was one of nearly 200 locals who made public submissions to Livingstone Shire Council [in central Queensland] opposing the multi-million-dollar proposal. Only a handful of submissions were in favour of the development, which could see up to 49 apartments built over seven storeys and commercial space on the ground floor ... saying it would help boost housing, especially for retirees.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-10/emu-park-high-rise-propos…
# Australia, Local Government, Older people, Planning and development.Housing affordability should be a federal election priority
Editorial The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)An expected slowdown in property price rises this year may bring some relief to frustrated first home buyers who have been shut out of Australia’s booming housing market, or those who need a larger dwelling to house their growing families. ... Housing affordability is a key political issue that many Australians – or their children – now face. If major parties continue to avoid seriously tackling this issue, it will be the nation’s loss.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/housing-affordability-should-be-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Tax, Young people.