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
Most Australian homes won’t stand the test of time
ASh Cant The New Daily (No paywall)As states mop up from another devastating flood, it is time to consider planning for the disasters ahead – starting at home. Floods and bushfires have left thousands of people without a place to live over the past few years. The reality is many of those houses – and those still standing or under construction – are not fit for the current climate, let alone a future that is driven by climate change. Not only should we be considering where our homes are built, but also how they are constructed, senior lecturer at RMIT’s School of Property, Construction and Project Management, Dr Trivess Moore said. We need to consider whether the design will enable the structure to withstand extreme weather, Dr Moore said.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/10/28/australia…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.What makes a great footpath? The answer is key to our happiness and wellbeing as we age
Fatemeh Aminpour The Conversation (No paywall)As people age, they often become less confident about walking. Fear of falling can limit the activity of older people, leading them to become isolated. So what, exactly, makes for a great footpath to walk on? My colleagues and I explored this question in a recent paper. We used an evidence-based tool to measure the walkability of urban roads – assessing not just the footpath itself, but the features around it. The results can help urban designers make our cities more walkable, especially for older people.
https://theconversation.com/what-makes-a-great-footpath-the-answ…
# Australia, Health, Older people, Planning and development.How rural landsharing and co-housing are helping Australians enter the property market and find community
Liana Walker ABC (No paywall)When Lexie Gonzalez was growing up in public housing, she believed that she would never own a home. "It wasn't a value instilled in me that I could own my own house," she says. Her partner Mark Doonan feels the same: "All I've ever done is rent," he says. ... But then Doonan and Gonzalez discovered Goolawah Cooperative, a neighbourhood-to-be that would become their home. The Goolawah Cooperative is an example of a Rural Landsharing Community (RLC), an alternative and typically more affordable form of home ownership. An RLC is similar to Multiple Occupancy (MO) in which a company or a cooperative owns a block of land. Instead of residents then purchasing a divided lot, they purchase a share within the company or cooperative and then build a home on the land.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-31/rural-landsharing-and-coh…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Share houses, Home ownership, Regional NSW.NSW regional property prices fall for first time since early 2020
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)House prices in regional NSW have started to decline, new figures show, as rising interest rates and a drop in sea- and tree-changer activity reduces buyer demand. The median house price for regional NSW overall dropped 2 per cent over the September quarter, Domain figures show, falling more than $14,700 to about $715,300. Unit values dropped 3.5 per cent, or $20,000, to $555,000.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/nsw-regional-property-price…
# NSW, Housing market, Regional NSW.First home buyers’ dilemma – buy now, or wait for later?
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The question facing many of those looking to get a foot on the property ladder is whether to dive in now in the belief house prices will not fall much more, or wait in the hope prices will fall further in the months to come.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/first-home-b…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Queensland heads off crisis talks with doubling of social housing spend
Matt Dennien (Paywall)An extra 5600 social and affordable homes will be built by the Queensland government over the next five years in a previously floated move made to preempt crisis talks. But the number is still short of what the sector says it needs. The state government will pour an additional $1 billion into its housing fund, doubling its size and the number of homes built from its investment returns by 2027.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/queensland-heads-off-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Housing market.Vladimir Putin's military draft sent thousands of men fleeing to Kazakhstan, driving up rents in its biggest cities
Lucia Stein ABC (No paywall)Though thousands of kilometres away from the front-line in Ukraine, the consequences of Vladimir Putin's deadly war are being sharply felt in Kazakhstan. ... After Putin declared a "partial mobilisation" in an attempt to get his disastrous war back on track, more than 200,000 Russians packed up their bags and descended on Kazakhstan. The sudden influx caught many small communities by surprise. Hotels, hostels and Airbnb apartments quickly sold out within days, sending prices for remaining accommodation skyrocketing and forcing new arrivals to find emergency lodging in schools, cinemas and gyms. ... The arrival of thousands of Russians in such a short period of time has also strained housing markets in some cities, prompting landlords to raise rents against a backdrop of rampant inflation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-29/vladimir-putin-faces-more…
# International, Rent, Homelessness.Turning a rental backyard into an edible garden
Gardening Australia ABC (No paywall)For many gardeners, living in a rental home can really put a dampener on garden dreams, but for horticulturist Brooklyn Mabbott her lack of home ownership hasn’t stopped her from creating a productive edible back garden her household can pretty much live off. The 29-year-old lives in Bowden, ten minutes away from the busy city streets of Adelaide. (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/how-to-turn-your-backyard-into-a…
# Australia, Rent, Home.