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
Julie Collins on fixing Australia’s housing crisis – Australian Politics podcast
Paul Karp The Guardian (No paywall)Australian housing minister Julie Collins joins chief political correspondent Paul Karp to discuss what the government is proposing to help people afford housing as the cost-of-living crisis puts more people under pressure. They discuss the possibility of rent freezes, improving renters’ rights and when she thinks they’ll be able to pass Labor’s housing accord
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2023/may/06/jul…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing market.What's in the federal budget to help ease the housing affordability crisis?
Maani Truu ABC (No paywall)Whether you're trying to keep up with runaway rent increases, hoping to break into the market for the first time, or struggling to budget for mortgage repayments, it's clear Australia is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis.
It's no surprise, then, that the issue featured in Treasurer Jim Chalmers's speech as he handed down his second budget to parliament. "For too long, secure, affordable housing has been out of reach for too many Australians," he said.
So is there anything new in Tuesday's budget aimed at relieving some of the pressure? Let's take a look.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-09/housing-affordability-cri…
# Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.RBA's rate hikes creating inflation, Ross Garnaut says, calling for radical overhaul of economic policy
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Australia's economy has become increasingly dominated by powerful firms that are extracting "economic rents" from the system, economist Ross Garnaut is warning.
Their market dominance has contributed to declining real incomes for workers, has made our cost-of-living crisis worse, and is undermining productivity growth, he says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-05/ross-garnaut-rate-hikes-f…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.Federal budget 2023: $4 billion to cover wage increases for vital services in budget
Adrian Rollins Canberra Times (Paywall)The federal government will pump an extra $4 billion to help pay the wages bill for government and community organisations providing critical services to the elderly, veterans, survivors of family violence and other vulnerable groups.
The budget is expected to include a measure providing extra funds to support the indexation of wages for workers on programs including Commonwealth Home Support, Veteran Home Services, community legal centres, First Nations healthcare, social housing and homelessness services, programs to reduce violence against women and chronic disease support.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8185553/services-for-vuln…
# Hot topic Australia, Campaigns and law reform, Federal Government, Housing affordability.No silver bullet for renters: housing minister
Rachel Clun WA Today (No paywall)Housing Minister Julie Collins has admitted the federal government has “no silver bullet” to deal with soaring rents and widespread housing shortages as tenants’ rights groups demand all states and territories end no-fault evictions.
But the real estate industry hit back, saying calls to control rent rises and lock in tenancies would force landlords out of the market and do nothing to address supply shortages.
https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/federal/no-silver-bullet-for…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Michael Pascoe: Stop growing the landlord class and focus on ‘taboo’ public housing
Michael Pascoe The New Daily (No paywall)Funny thing about the various state and federal governments responses to the housing crisis: They don’t mention “public housing”.
“Affordable housing” is all the rage, “social housing” certainly gets a look in and “build-to-rent” is popular, but “public housing” – housing owned directly by government – seems to have been culture-cancelled other than in the context of Anthony Albanese’s “log cabin” story.
Labor governments are giving a good impression of having adopted the discredited Jason Falinski aversion to “houso”, despite it still being the main source of shelter for people priced out of private property.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2023/05/06/michael-pascoe-pub…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government.Rent Control Explained: What It Is, Why Aussies Want It, and What You Can Do
Joel Burrows The Latch (No paywall)Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Renters are actually human beings. They have thoughts and feelings. They can sing in the shower and quote Blade Runner in the rain. What’s more, these folks don’t like being exploited.
Yet, as it stands, Australian renters are buckwild easy to milk. This is because there’s currently no cap on how much their rent can be raised by. If a landlord gives the right amount of notice, they can raise the price of one’s unit by $500 per week.
Now, if it’s not self-evident, this practice is bad. It turns everyday people into poverty-stricken messes. If your rent shoots up, you can go from feeding your family to stealing carrots at a self-service machine.
Why the rental crisis could soon become much worse for millions of Aussies
Peter Vincent Daily Mail (Australia) (No paywall)Australia's rental crisis could be about to get worse with the number of new properties being built unexpectedly crashing in every state or territory except one.
The first quarter of 2023 was the weakest for building approvals since 2012 across the nation, a result many experts didn't see coming.
In NSW total building approvals for March plummeted by 34.1 per cent compared to a year ago, while in Victoria they tumbled 26.6 per cent.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12061783/Australian-ren…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.