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
Not getting your bond back can be hugely stressful when moving house. So what can tenants do about it?
Jasmine Hines ABC (No paywall)Tenants Queensland said across the country, steep rent rises and cost of living pressures are leaving many renters struggling when moving to a new home, meaning they can't afford to fight lengthy bond dispute claims. CEO Penny Carr wants the Queensland government to introduce a provisional bond transfer system to ease financial stress so bonds could be moved from property to property.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-17/bond-returns-queensland-r…
# Australia, Bond, Rent, State Government.With flood and rain in Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales, there's a tricky conversation we have to have
Virginia Trioli ABC (No paywall)[The federal emergency management minister, Murray Watt] said the country needed to have a conversation about property buybacks: voluntary ones, preferably, but possibly even compulsory ones where they are needed. "We're not talking about relocating every home, you know … but the areas where it's happening time and time again,'' he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-15/tricky-talk-we-have-to-ha…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.Clarence Plains shaking off stigma as home buyers snap up affordable housing
Selina Ross ABC (No paywall)Linda Nicholson has called Clarendon Vale home for more than two decades. The suburb — and its neighbour, Rokeby — in outer-east Hobart were developed in the 1970s for public housing. ... Clarendon Vale was surrounded on three sides by bush and farmland until around 20 years ago, when the suburb of Oakdowns was developed on its south-east boundary. Now, new suburbs are also being developed on its west, north and north-east boundaries. Collectively, the area has been named Clarence Plains and it is rapidly becoming a popular option for home-buyers because house prices have increased across greater Hobart.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-17/clarence-plains-housing-c…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Housing market.Stamp duty cut to go ahead despite Hunt ditching other tax measures
Stephen Delahunty Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Today the new chancellor has announced that the “permanent” cut to stamp duty tax will go ahead despite ditching nearly all of the other tax measures announced in the Mini Budget last month. Jeremy Hunt confirmed in a short statement this morning that the plan to double the stamp duty threshold will still go ahead despite scrapping almost all of the other tax measures that he said have not been legislated for in parliament. ... For first-time buyers, who pay no stamp duty on the first £300,000, that threshold will rise to £425,000. It was one of few measures kept by Mr Hunt, whose speech today was aimed at providing stability and confidence in the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline after the measures announced in the Mini Budget spooked gilt markets.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/stamp-duty-cut-to-go-a…
# International, Home ownership, Tax.How does the RBA set interest rates each month? Why was this month's decision a close call?
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)The Reserve Bank's deputy governor has offered a detailed insight into the process that goes into the RBA's interest rate decision every month, while the latest board minutes revealed this month's rate decision was "finely balanced".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-18/how-does-the-reserve-bank…
# Australia, Housing market.Rivalry? What rivalry? Sydney and Melbourne have more in common than you think
Matt Wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Melburnians and Sydneysiders might think their cities are very different. But the latest census revealed striking similarities between Australia’s big urban twins.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/rivalry-what-rivalry…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development, Sydney, Work, employment.Sydney property prices ‘highly overvalued’, UBS report warns
Elizabeth Redman The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Sydney property prices are “highly overvalued” despite their recent falls, a report from global investment bank UBS has found. The harbour city escaped being classified as property bubble territory in the latest annual UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index, but was still considered well above fair value.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sydney-property-prices-high…
# NSW, Housing market, Sydney.‘So much debt’: Property values sink in four out of five suburbs
Elizbeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Property values are falling in four out of five suburbs across the capital cities, new figures show, as the housing downturn becomes deeper and more widespread. Values fell in 2405 house and unit markets over the three months to September, CoreLogic figures show, or 79.5 per cent of markets analysed. It’s a jump from 1293 in the three months to June.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/so-much-debt-property-value…
# Australia, Housing market.