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
Can New York solve its housing crisis?
Anne McElvoy (No paywall)Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, grew up on the verge of homelessness. Now he’s in charge of fixing the city’s housing crisis. Host Anne McElvoy asks him how he plans to do it. They discuss how an influx of 20,000 migrants, many from the southern border, adds to the problem. Mr Adams, a former police captain, defends his record tackling violence and relays his concerns about the Democrats’ pitch ahead of the midterms. (The Economist)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2022/11/03/can-new-york-solve…
# Video International, Homelessness, Housing market, Local Government.The UK Housing Review: five charts that illustrate the state of the nation
Jules Birch Inside Housing (Paywall)The UK Housing Review provides a trove of data about trends in the country’s housing policy. Jules Birch picks through the detail. He covers 'Shifting rules on rents', 'Counting first-time buyers', 'Letting hotels take the strain', 'Failing on decarbonisation' and 'Leveling up decent homes'.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/the-uk-housing-review-fi…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing market, Landlords and agents.The $100,000 hit to potential home buyers as cost of living soars
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Potential home buyers have had their budgets cut by as much as $100,000 as banks reassess their rising cost of living. Families are the hardest hit as they have more essential costs, which account for the majority of inflation pressures, and fewer ways of cutting back on non-discretionary spending.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-100-000-hit-to-potentia…
# Australia, Families, Home ownership, Housing market.Only in Sydney: $15,000 a week rent to find cockroaches – and the landlady – on arrival
Lucy Macken The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When the American director of the Illawarra Hawks basketball team, Jared Novelly, arrived at the penthouse of The Hyde tower last year ready to move into his $15,000 a week rental he was not expecting to find his landlady still in residence. Nor did he expect to find faulty finishes, a cockroach-infested kitchen, a spider-infested barbecue and pool area on the rooftop, spilled ointments in the bedroom, and bags of dirty underwear and clothes. ... Jared Novelly is seeking exemplary and aggravated damages, costs and rent revision in a dispute over the condition of his luxury penthouse rental. In his landlady Marie Bolton’s defence, she states the penthouse was clean and claims the repairs she knew about previously have been fixed, and that other jobs were not done because of limited access. The four-day hearing in the Supreme Court is set to start on Monday.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/only-in-sydney-15-000-a-wee…
# NSW, Rent, Starting a tenancy, Tribunal NCAT.Sydney’s plunging property prices leave potential sellers spooked
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Sydney’s fastest house price decline in decades has scared home sellers, who were less likely to list their properties for sale in October than the month before. A seasonal spring rush of properties for sale has failed to materialise and new listings fell 2.3 per cent last month from the previous month, SQM Research data shows.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sydney-s-plunging-property-…
# NSW, Housing market.How long after missing a mortgage payment does a home get repossessed? A financial counsellor says it doesn't have to come to that
Dannielle Maguire ABC (No paywall)With the Reserve Bank of Australia warning of more interest rate rises in the future, there are fears overextended borrowers might default on their mortgage repayments. It's a frightening prospect but Lody Stewart, a financial counsellor who works with Financial Counselling Australia, says there are ways to get yourself out of trouble. But before we get into that, let's run through the three steps of a bank repossessing a home.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-07/what-happens-when-your-de…
# Australia, Home ownership, Mortgagee repossession.Victorian Liberals pledge stamp duty cut for first-home buyers, Labor promises veterans card
Yara Murray-Atfield and Richard Willingham ABC (No paywall)The Victorian opposition has said it would scrap stamp duty for first-home buyers who purchase property worth less than $1 million if it wins the state election. ... "We want to get more Victorians into home ownership, not into long-term renting, but into owning their own home," Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-06/victorian-election-libera…
# Australia, Home ownership, State Government, Tax.Australia has a problem with inflation, and that likely means more interest rate hikes to come
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)Why mortgage rates could climb considerably higher from here. [Read on] (ABC The Drum)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-05/more-interest-rate-hikes-…
# Australia, Housing market.