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
Want to save up to $380,000 on your home purchase cost? Here’s how
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Labor came to power having pledged a radical ‘Help to Buy’ scheme, under which the federal government would help low-to-middle income buyers by essentially co-purchasing up to a maximum of 40 per cent of a new home and up to 30 per cent of the purchase of an existing dwelling. The policy seems to have been forgotten by most people, including, perhaps, Labor which included $325 million for the scheme in this week’s budget, but provided no new details on the policy ... But if you are someone who has completely given up on the idea of homeownership because you think you will never be able to afford it, it’s definitely something worth getting your head around and keeping your eye on. So, how does it work?
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/want-to-save-up-to-380-00…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership.EU citizens’ housing ‘at risk’ as new Home Office digital ID leaves them unable to prove status to landlords
Lucie Heath (No paywall)EU nationals living in the UK say their ability to find housing or employment is being hampered by a new digital ID system introduced by the Home Office. Some say they have experienced technical glitches with the system, which sees EU nationals given a digital share code to prove their immigration status – rather than a physical card, that has left them unable to prove their status when trying to rent a property or find work. EU nationals who have obtained a right to live in the UK via the post-Brexit settlement scheme are only able to prove their rights and entitlements in this country via the Home Office’s “view and prove” online system. But the3million, a charity that supports EU Citizens living in the UK, told i they are contacted “every week” by people who are unable to access the system and are therefore unable to prove their status to potential landlord or employers. (inews)
https://inews.co.uk/news/eu-citizens-housing-at-risk-as-new-home…
# International, Rent, International, Landlords and agents.Housing affordability crisis continues as strong demand pushes up Adelaide rents
Ethan Rix ABC (No paywall)Adelaide rents rose 12 per cent in the year to September — the city's biggest rent hike on record — according to the latest PropTrack report, published by the company behind realestate.com.au. SA's Housing Minister Nick Champion said the state has an "extraordinarily tight rental market" and asked landlords to have "consideration for their tenants at this time".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-30/rental-crisis-continues-i…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.Affordability shifts for home buyers as Australia’s median house price falls at its fastest rate on record
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)House prices have slumped over the past quarter with the biggest falls on record in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, leaving prices across all the capitals around $53,000 lower than they were in March this year. The drops have been so dramatic, according to the latest Domain House Price Report, that house prices in three cities have now even been dragged below what they were this time last year, with Darwin 4.4 per cent down, Sydney 2.8 per cent lower and Melbourne 2 per cent under.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/affordability-shifts-for-home-buy…
# Australia, Housing market.What property slump? Developers get ready for next apartment boom
Simon Johanson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Developers are gearing up for a flood of new migrants they think will underpin another apartment boom as rental vacancies dry up and inner-city rents surge. Reserve Bank internal research suggests property prices may plunge as much as 20 per cent following its latest series of interest rate rises, but some contrarian developers are banking on the opposite and buying large sites to build on.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/what-property-slump-de…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Ice on the walls: Some farmworkers are getting a rotten housing deal
Gerhard Uys (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Some farmworkers are getting a rotten deal when they sign a tenancy agreement. A dairy farm manager’s wife, who Stuff has agreed not to name for fear of reprisal, said her entire family became ill on a Taranaki farm as agriculture chemicals leaked into an open mouth well that supplied drinking water to the home they lived in as part of a tenancy agreement. The farm owner said he did not have money to address the issue, she said. ... Compliance with healthy home standards was being phased in over a number of years, but since July last year all private rental properties had to comply within 90 days of any new, or renewed tenancy. Landlords must also include a statement of their current level of compliance with the healthy homes standards in all new, or renewed tenancy agreement. All rental homes must comply with the healthy homes standards by July 1, 2024. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/130280473/ice-on-the-wa…
# International, Rent, Health, Minimum habitability standards.More than half of NSW politicians own multiple properties
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)More than half of NSW MPs own two properties or more, parliamentary documents reveal, and one member owns 12. More than 60 per cent of those owners declared rental income on their investment properties in the 2021-2022 financial year. There are half a dozen politicians who own six properties or more. The figure compares to a general population where about one in five – or 21 per cent – of Australian households owned a residential property other than their home in 2019-20, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows. ... While some experts have raised concerns about whether NSW parliament’s rate of property ownership is representative of the broader population, others say it is merely a symptom of a system that encourages high-income earners to invest in real estate. “In representative democracies, parliaments should be representative of the population. These figures reveal that NSW parliamentarians are far more likely to own multiple properties, to earn income from rentals, and they are far less likely to rent,” said Dr Richard Denniss, executive director of The Australian Institute. ... Denniss said tenant protections in Australia were particularly weak compared to other countries and many states, including NSW, continue to have no grounds evictions where landlords can kick tenants out for no reason. ... Greens MP Jenny Leong, who has introduced a bill in state parliament to end no-grounds evictions to help protect renters, challenged her parliamentary colleagues to vote for the piece of legislation. ″I would urge them to vote in favour of stopping people being booted out of their rental property for no reason,” Leong said.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/more-than-half-of-nsw-polit…
# NSW, Rent, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions, State Government.Housing accord could be a game changer for rental crisis
Everybody's Home (No paywall)A major housing package announced in the federal budget is a landmark step towards tackling Australia’s rental crisis, according to Everybody’s Home, the national campaign for real housing solutions. The National Housing Accord includes an additional $350 million to build 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024, on top of the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund which will build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties. State and territory governments have also committed to building 10,000 homes under the Accord. It also includes a target to build one million well-located and energy-efficient homes over the same period.
https://everybodyshome.com.au/housing-accord-could-be-a-game-cha…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Utilities electricity water gas, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing market.