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
No-fault eviction ban and affordable housing face chop under new reforms, say reports
Ella Jessel Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Ministers are drawing up plans to slash affordable-housing requirements and shelve a planned ban on no-fault evictions in a new set of reforms ... According to The Times, Simon Clarke, the housing secretary, has written to prime minister Liz Truss, putting forward a series of measures and policies to boost housebuilding and fuel economic growth. Under current planning rules, developers must include affordable housing in any scheme of more than 10 homes, but it is understood Mr Clarke now wants to hike this threshold up to 40 or even 50. ... Other policies that do not “boost growth” could be put on the back burner, The Times reports, including a proposed ban on controversial no-fault evictions. This was a promise made in the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto. The ban is not considered a “priority” now, according to the report, despite a surge in the number of renters being made homeless by landlords using Section 21 notices.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/no-fault-eviction-ban-…
# International, Eviction, Affordable housing, Housing market, No-grounds evictions, Planning and development.Sydney expected to overtake Canberra as most expensive Australian city for renters
The Guardian (No paywall)Sydney is tipped to replace Canberra as the most expensive capital city for renters as migration picks up in the harbourside city. Canberra was the only city to record a decline in rents in the three months to September, according to CoreLogic, with asking rents falling by 0.4%. CoreLogic’s Kaytlin Ezzy said the gap between the two most expensive rental markets was narrowing. “Given international migration is expected to continue to support rental demand across Sydney, while affordability is expected to hamper Canberra’s rental growth, it’s likely we’ll see Sydney overtake Canberra as Australia’s most expensive capital city rental market in the coming months,” Ezzy said. ... Low-income renters are about to be squeezed further as the national rental affordability scheme ends. .... Everybody’s Home spokesperson Kate Colvin said winding down the scheme would cancel out the 25,000 extra social-housing dwellings promised by the new government’s housing fund.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/10/sydney-ex…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Sydney.Perrottet proposes cap on annual land tax increases as part of stamp duty overhaul
Alexandra Smith and Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government is proposing a legislated cap on yearly increases to land tax to protect first homebuyers from bill spikes, as Premier Dominic Perrottet accuses Labor of a Mediscare-style campaign designed to sink his ambitious stamp duty reforms. As part of Perrottet’s landmark stamp duty reform legislation, to be introduced to NSW Parliament this week, annual land tax payments will not rise by more than 4 per cent if buyers opt to pay the yearly levy rather than upfront stamp duty. Read their further article entitled: 'Crossbench MPs back a short, sharp inquiry into Perrottet’s stamp duty reforms' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/crossbench-mps-back-a-short-sharp-inquiry-into-perrottet-s-stamp-duty-reforms-20221011-p5boyq.html]. Also, read Michael McGowan's article entitled: 'NSW stamp duty overhaul "vanilla" but could help first home buyers cut costs' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/11/nsw-stamp-duty-overhaul-vanilla-but-could-help-first-home-buyers-cut-costs]. Read Michael McGowan's further article entitled: 'Stamp duty vs land tax: how to save money on five NSW properties' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/12/the-nsw-stamp-duty-question-will-home-buyers-be-better-off-with-an-annual-tax]. Read Dominic Perrottet's opinion piece entitled: 'I want to change stamp duty for good' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/i-want-to-change-stamp-duty-for-good-20221010-p5bojz.html]. Read Daniel Mookhey's opinion piece in reply entitled: 'Why Perrottet’s land tax will leave home buyers out of pocket' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/why-perrottet-s-land-tax-will-leave-home-buyers-out-of-pocket-20221012-p5bp4q.html]. Read Alexandra Smith's opinion piece entitled: 'Premier’s stamp duty desperation a crossbencher’s dream' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/premier-s-stamp-duty-desperation-a-crossbencher-s-dream-20221012-p5bp2x.html].
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/perrottet-proposes-cap-on-an…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government, Tax.No child should have to go through the heartache of homelessness
Clarissa The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... On the day we were evicted from our flat and made homeless, it wasn’t until late afternoon that the council told us where we could go – a hotel in a town an hour and a half by bus away, where we didn’t know anyone, and where I’d never even been before. I would never have been able to get my eldest daughter, Bella, to school and, even though I was heartbroken, I made the decision to let her move in with my mum, who lived near our old flat. She was seven and I had never been apart from her before. We had been evicted from our rented two-bedroom flat in Birmingham, where we’d lived since Bella was a baby. It was the only home she’d ever known and I’d never missed a rent payment – our landlord simply wanted to sell the flat, and we were out in April. ... We need more affordable housing. Nobody on a low income can afford rents at the minute, and the amount you can get in housing benefit has been frozen since last year. The government’s plan to cut taxes for the richest, since reversed, annoyed me so much – there are people like us, and worse off than us, who need the extra help because life is harder with all the price rises.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/07/no-child-s…
# International, Affordable housing, Families, Homelessness.Customer wait list grows for Australia's first Islamic bank granted licence
Housnia Shams ABC (No paywall)For many Australian Muslims like Reem and Fouad Alameddine, the dream of home ownership has been beyond reach. Paying or receiving interest is prohibited in Islam, so taking out a mortgage is off the table. With no other option, the couple face the prospect of becoming lifelong renters. ... Their aspirations of owning a home could soon be realised, after the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) granted the country's first Islamic bank a restricted licence. ... Islamic Bank Australia CEO Dean Gillespie described the home financing scheme as a "joint ownership model", with customers charged rent while they are living as a tenant in the bank's share of the property, instead of interest. ... As the customer makes rental payments, their share in the property increases, until they become the full owner.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-12/australia-first-islamic-b…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.Crossbench MPs back a short, sharp inquiry into Perrottet’s stamp duty reforms
Alexandra Smith and Tom Rabe The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Key upper house crossbench MPs will back a short, sharp inquiry into Premier Dominic Perrottet’s landmark stamp duty reforms in a bid to ensure the legislation is voted on this year.
The Greens, One Nation, the Animal Justice Party and independent Justin Field are broadly supportive of the reforms, which will allow first home buyers to choose between paying stamp duty on the purchase or an annual land tax. However, the MPs are keen for it to be scrutinised by a parliamentary committee and will support it going to an inquiry on the condition it is finalised before the final sitting period next month. Also, read Michael McGowen's article entitled: 'The NSW stamp duty question: Will home buyers be better off with an annual tax?' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/12/the-nsw-stamp-duty-question-will-home-buyers-be-better-off-with-an-annual-tax]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/crossbench-mps-back-a-short-…
# NSW, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market, State Government, Tax.Queensland renters seek ‘landlord register’ to help keep rogue owners honest
Joe Hinchcliffe The Guardian (No paywall)Renters’ advocates will call for the creation of a landlord register at Queensland’s upcoming housing crisis summit in an attempt to help remedy an imbalance of power between property owners and tenants. Tenants Queensland’s chief executive, Penny Carr, said a register could help keep rogue landlords honest while providing information about owners, including how many properties they own and where they live. Information about whether owners are renting out their properties on a short- or long-term basis – or had been leaving them vacant – could also be captured. The proposal has been backed as “reasonable and sensible” by some housing experts, but panned as an “unnecessary” invasion of privacy by the state’s real estate lobby.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/11/queenslan…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Scottish parliament passes emergency rent freeze legislation
Alex Turner Inside Housing (Paywall)The Scottish parliament has passed emergency legislation designed to protect tenants hit by the cost of living crisis that will freeze rents until at least the end of March 2023. ... The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Bill was passed by the government in Scotland last week. It provides temporary powers to cap social and private rents, and introduces an eviction ban.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/scottish-parliament-pa…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Housing market.