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Tenants Advice & Advocacy Services have limited availability over the holiday period. The Tenants' Union will operate a Tenancy Advice Hotline from Wednesday 18/12/2024 until Wednesday 8/1/2025 (excluding weekends and public holidays). The hours of operation are 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.
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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
Greens renew push for two-year rent freeze, saying it would save millions of Australians $3000
Alex Chapman (No paywall)Greens Housing and Homelessness spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather said a rent freeze would provide “real and immediate cost of living relief”. “For families choosing between buying food and paying the rent, $3000 could mean the difference between eviction into homelessness and keeping a roof over their heads. Rents are out of control, millions of Australians are struggling to pay the rent, and families are facing living in tents and cars because they can’t afford record rent increases. When Australian renters have paid an extra $7 billion in rent over the last year alone, no wonder so many are struggling.” (7 News)
https://7news.com.au/business/housing/greens-renew-push-for-two-…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing market.Rent assistance is ‘laughably low’, economists warn, but calls for an increase fall flat
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Low-income households face the prospect of rising rents without an increase in rent assistance, as the government rebuffed calls to boost the payments on offer. An emphatic Productivity Commission report on Friday called for an overhaul of taxpayer spending on housing help, saying the government should prioritise a review of rent assistance given the “strong case” to improve its adequacy and targeting. ... Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said reforming Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) was not on the agenda in the coming budget, blaming this on the “$1 trillion debt left behind” by the former Morrison government.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/rent-assistance-is-laughabl…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Welfare.House prices: why a fall isn’t certain and wouldn’t help first-time buyers much anyway
Alan Shipman The Conversation (No paywall)The UK remains a nation of homeowners, with two-thirds of all dwellings belonging to the people who live in them. But as interest rates swiftly rise, there are fears that many of those households will soon find their mortgage payments unaffordable.
https://theconversation.com/house-prices-why-a-fall-isnt-certain…
# International, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Hobbit homes to earthships: the NSW village setting a green example for Australia
Julie Power The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Nestled under a grassy hill near the shire of Gosford, Linda Scott is building a natural house ripped from the pages of Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Nasturtiums bloom near a round front door fit for Bilbo Baggins. Scott has renovated and built homes before. Nothing, though, has been as hard for the 77-year-old as the Hobbit-style house built from bags of earth. ... Scott is one of the 22 original founders of Narara Ecovillage who contributed $7.5 million to buy and develop the 67 hectare site in 2013. Today it is run as a co-operative, with 40 completed homes, units and tiny houses accommodating 113 adults and children. The next stage of 43 lots is now being excavated and developed, and is expected to add another 90 residents.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hobbit-homes-to-earthships-t…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Climate change, Granny flats, studios, Housing market, Regional NSW.Aged care is about to get more expensive. Here’s what you need to know
Rachel Lane The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)If you’re a self-funded retiree or choose not to disclose your income and assets, residential aged care is about to get a lot more expensive. The government have announced that from October residential aged care facilities will be moving to a new funding model. The model is called the Australian National Aged Care Classification, or AN-ACC, and is designed to align funding with the costs of delivering care.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/aged-care-is-a…
# Australia, Housing market, Older people.Byron Bay locals unite against short stay rental cap
(No paywall)Locals and business owners in Byron Bay have banded together to challenge the Byron Shire Council’s push to cap short-stay home rentals to 90 days every year. Tourism Research Australia’s national and international visitor survey shows the 90-day cap could see a loss of $267 million per annum from the local economy, threaten up to 1448 jobs and may have very little positive impact on housing stock or affordability in the region. (Travel Weekly) Also, see Bruce MacKenzie's article from June of this year, entitled: 'Byron Bay council gets go-ahead for 90-day holiday letting cap' on ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-10/byron-bay-council-gets-go-ahead-for-90-day-holiday-letting-cap/101142014]
https://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/byron-bay-locals-unite-a…
# NSW, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Class action threatened over WestConnex property damage claims
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government is facing the threat of a class action from homeowners in Sydney’s inner suburbs who claim their properties have been damaged due to construction of the multibillion-dollar WestConnex motorway. Law firm Dentons is investigating the potential lawsuit which it says could be joined by thousands of residents living above or near the route of the 33-kilometre tollroad - touted as Australia’s biggest infrastructure project.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/class-action-threatened-over…
# NSW, Home ownership, State Government.Half a trillion in wealth wiped from Australian households in three months
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)High interest rates and financial turmoil have wiped $500 billion in wealth from Australian households, with warnings from Treasurer Jim Chalmers the global economy has become a “pretty dangerous place” that will pull some of Australia’s key trading partners into recession. As official data showed inflation at a 30-year high, Chalmers said it would be “foolish” to believe Australia and the federal budget could be spared from the fallout of the troubling economic conditions emerging around the world. ... The value of land and buildings dropped by almost $150 billion in the quarter ... The biggest hit to property was in NSW and Victoria.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/global-economic-environm…
# Australia, Families, Home ownership.