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
Forced home sales set to rise as borrowers struggle with surging interest rates and mortgage repayments
Rhiana Witson ABC (No paywall)As COVID hit and the Reserve Bank cut interest rates to record lows to stimulate the economy, Aaron Doull and his wife Saori took out an $850,000 loan to buy their first home.
Most of their mortgage was fixed at a 2.2 per cent interest rate.
But next year, when the couple come off that fixed loan, they'll face variable interest rates of around 6 per cent. That's well above the 2.5 per cent serviceability buffer that their loan was based on.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-17/housing-apra-rba-forced-s…
# Australia, Housing market.‘Veteran tenants’: Sad Aussie rental truth as renters trapped
Jack Evans news.com.au (No paywall)An extensive study of Australian renters has revealed some alarming figures which suggest tenants are reaching financial breaking point.
The survey of 9000 renters found almost half had their rents increased in the last six months.
Thirty per cent said they had been pushed into shared living arrangements by rent prices and cost of living pressures in that time, while another 21 per cent said they were priced out of their own homes entirely by the added costs.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/veteran-tena…
# Australia, Rent.Rising rent prices: Extreme measures and where to get support
Luana Matrone and Amy Bradney-George Finder (No paywall)Interest rate rises, a lack of housing and growing demand have seen rent costs rise across Australia. Here's how it's affecting people.
In 2022, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increased the cash rate over 8 consecutive months, bringing it to 3.10%.
Residents of 73 remote communities launch class action against NT government alleging poor conditions, racism
Samantha Jonscher ABC (No paywall)Indigenous residents of all 73 remote communities in the Northern Territory have launched a class action lawsuit against the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities over the "uninhabitable" condition of remote housing, accusing it of racial discrimination.
Residents are seeking compensation for rent paid and demanding they be awarded damages for the condition of their homes.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-19/residents-of-all-73-remot…
# Legal significance International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Health.This Christmas you could be living in your car! Just imagine
First Dog on the Moon The Guardian (No paywall)First Dog on the Moon is working with the Antipoverty Centre to raise money for the three women in this cartoon. https://www.gofundme.com/f/christmas-in-a-car
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/19/this-chris…
# Must read Australia, Homelessness, Older people, Welfare, Women.Cunnamulla council becomes its own real estate service to tackle housing crisis
Dan Prosser and Melanie Groves ABC (No paywall)An outback Queensland council is playing the role of matchmaker in Cunnamulla, but it's not bachelors and spinsters they are trying to unite in the small town.
Faced with a shortage of housing stock and dozens of empty homes falling into disrepair, Paroo Shire Council took action 18 months ago — and it's paying off.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-10/cunnamulla-council-turns-…
# Australia, Housing market, Local Government, Strong communities.Landlords told to ‘get a grip’ as almost a quarter of private rented homes do not meet standards
Andrew Woodcock The Independent (Paywall)Figures emerge as damning report finds ‘significant’ failings by landlord of two-year-old who died in mouldy flat
Read the government report this article is based upon here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-of-social-housing-takes-action-against-rochdale-boroughwide-housing-after-investigation-finds-widespread-failings-on-damp-and-mould
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/homes-rental-stan…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Health, Strong communities.Becoming a chatbot: my life as a real estate AI’s human backup
Laura Preston The Guardian (No paywall)For one weird year, I was the human who stepped in to make sure a property chatbot didn’t blow its cover – I was a person pretending to be a computer pretending to be a person.
The recruiter was a chipper woman with a master’s degree in English. Previously she had worked as an independent bookseller. “Your experience as an English grad student is ideal for this role,” she told me. The position was at a company that made artificial intelligence for real estate. They had developed a product called Brenda, a conversational AI that could answer questions about apartment listings. Brenda had been acquired by a larger company that made software for property managers, and now thousands of properties across the country had put her to work.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/13/becoming-a-ch…
# Must read International, Privacy and access, Landlords and agents.