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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
RIP underquoting: In 2022, houses are actually selling for what they're asking – or less
Ellen Lutton Domain (No paywall)Loud amid the chaos of last year’s property boom were the headlines that reported, week after week, properties selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars – sometimes millions – over the reserve or asking price. For the sellers of these properties, it was like winning the lottery. For buyers, however, it was an incredibly frustrating and confusing experience. ... But that’s changed as the property market has shifted.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/rip-underquoting-in-2022-houses-a…
# Australia, Housing market.I’m considering an interest-only home loan. What do I need to know?
Adrian Lee The Conversation (No paywall)An interest-only home loan, as the name suggests, is where you only pay the interest on a loan and not the principal (the original amount you borrowed). While authorities such as the Reserve Bank often see them as risky, interest-only loans can be helpful in some circumstances. If you’re considering an interest-only loan, here’s what you need to know.
https://theconversation.com/im-considering-an-interest-only-home…
# Australia, Housing market.More housing supply isn’t a cure-all for the housing crisis
Yushu Zhu, Dorin Vaez Mahdavi and Meg Holden The Conversation (No paywall)Canada needs to build more homes, faster, according to a recent report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The report estimates that British Columbia alone will need 570,000 new units by 2030 to meet a moderate affordability level of 44 per cent. Not coincidentally, building more housing has gained steam among policy-makers ... While it’s important to recognize the lack of affordable housing as part of the housing crisis, the problem with our housing system isn’t as simple as the disequilibrium between supply and demand. Increasing market housing supply will not end the housing crisis on its own. ... [Also, the] negative secondary effects of the pandemic did not impact everyone equally. Our study found that homeowners fared the best in mental and social well-being, while market rental tenants fared the worst.
https://theconversation.com/more-housing-supply-isnt-a-cure-all-…
# International, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Housing market.Last Wittenoom resident's future uncertain as WA government refuses to say when she must leave
Tom Robinson and Kelly Gudgeon ABC (No paywall)The West Australian government is refusing to say when the final resident of asbestos-covered Wittenoom will be forced out of her home of 40 years. Lorraine Thomas, 80, was ordered to leave the Pilbara town on August 31, but missed the deadline because of personal circumstances, according to her family. The state government told her to leave after it closed the town and acquired the remaining properties under the Wittenoom Closure Act earlier this year, and planned to demolish and bury all structures. Documents seen by the ABC reveal police and court officers intend to travel to the town to evict anyone who remains, but the government has refused to say when this will happen.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-02/last-wittenoom-resident-u…
# Australia, Eviction, Asbestos, lead, hazardous materials, State Government.Alex builds houses seven days a week, but isn’t making any more money
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Builders are being forced to construct homes at a loss as consumers decline to meet in the middle on out-of-date contracts that do not reflect rising construction costs. Some industry figures warn that more businesses will go bust as a result, which could entrench the market power of remaining businesses and permanently increase the cost of building a new home. ... Materials and labour costs have soared thanks to two years of strong demand for new homes and renovations that was further stimulated by the Morrison government’s HomeBuilder initiative, in the face of ongoing limits such as supply chain bottlenecks and weather impediments. Industry figures say that as result, most builders have been forced to honour contracts that were quoted months before construction began.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/alex-builds-houses-seven-da…
# Australia, Housing market.Disability royal commission examines conditions inside Supported Residential Services
Elizabeth Wright and Celina Edmonds ABC (No paywall)The daughter of a woman who lay dead on the ground of a supported residential service for more than two hours has called for changes to the system that "failed" her mother. Evidence about the "neglect" of 65-year-old Kaye Wilson came on the last day of the disability royal commission hearing into homelessness and insecure housing. The woman's daughter, Georgia Wilson, gave emotional testimony about the two months her mother lived at one of Victoria's supported residential services (SRS). Kaye Wilson, who had mental health issues and schizophrenia, moved into the SRS in February 2020. She paid $490 a week, the total amount of her disability support pension (DSP), for a room with a toilet and shower. SRS are privately-owned and operated facilities that provide accommodation and support for people who require assistance with everyday living, including people with disability. After two days of evidence, commissioner John Ryan said they had heard from residents of different SRS who were "routinely hungry, cold and living in unhygienic conditions".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-03/disability-royal-commissi…
# Australia, Disability, Housing market.Six months on from the Goodna and Brisbane floods, the neighbours of Mill Street have discovered a resilience they never knew they had
Tobias Jurss-Lewis ABC (No paywall)The street has scars. Some are obvious, like the shells of cars scattered in yards, the abandoned homes or the silt marks on 3-metre-high signs that tell you the road is prone to flooding. They're still there, six months after an indiscriminating brown tide swallowed houses, possessions and cars alike. Children will tell you the floodwaters looked like chocolate milk. Adults will tell you they looked like "the worst nightmare you can dream".
Mill Street in Goodna — a 1 kilometre stretch of businesses, rental properties, homes and homeless shelters — reveals almost every conceivable type of suffering that this disaster unleashed. While the suffering is far from over, some scars are harder to see. Some are subtle. Like the loose lock on the back door, where looters kicked it in. Or the cautious way Allen Kunst walks out to the footpath every time a car drives past, wary it might be a looter.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-03/goodna-ipswich-brisbane-f…
# Australia, Families.Size matters: what Tokyo can teach us about a compact lifestyle
Jeremy Smart The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Six years ago I packed up a one-bedroom apartment in inner Melbourne, swapping it for a smaller (and twice as expensive) apartment in Hong Kong. At around 25 square metres, friends in Australia were shocked that anyone, let alone a couple, could live in such compact confines. ... In 2019, Beijing moved to quash Hong Kong’s vibrant pro-democracy movement. The harsh crackdown made the once-free city no longer viable as a base and a new home was sought. We settled on a 37-square-metre apartment in Tokyo. It even fits a small cat. Australians, meanwhile, live in some of the largest homes in the world. In the capital cities, the average new house in 2021 was more than 242 square metres. Six and a half of our apartments could fit inside the typical Australian dwelling.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/size-mat…
# International, Home.