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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
A few things hugely bizarre I've noted in property advertising in Australia
(No paywall)1. You don't have to state the size of the property in the ad. I found this to be the case especially with apartments (99% of cases). 2. A partition off the floor that is no more than a storage space, apparently is a bedroom in Australia. 3. "Range". So, when I was looking I made an offer at the top value of the range for a small apartment because I thought it was good value for money. 4. Energy efficiency and emissions ... it doesn't matter in Australia. 5. For sale by owner. These are so common in so many countries ...
https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/wlm52o/a_few_things…
# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas, Housing market.For one type of home, the property downturn is deeper than the rest
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)More expensive homes are bearing the brunt of the property downturn, with new data showing prices are falling fastest at the upper end of the market. Price falls that began for higher-end homes in Sydney and Melbourne earlier this year have accelerated and spread, as rapidly rising interest rates curb borrowing power and put downward pressure on prices.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/for-one-type-of-home-the-pr…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.The towns where the sea-change dream just got more affordable
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Cracks are starting to emerge in Australia’s regional property markets as house and unit values in some of the most sought-after and expensive sea- and tree-change areas have fallen by as much as 4.5 per cent over the past three months, new data shows. Regional values overall recorded their first quarterly fall since August 2020, CoreLogic’s Regional Market Update revealed, due to rising interest rates and a slowdown in tree-change moves, with NSW and Queensland leading the regional property downturn.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-towns-where-the-sea-cha…
# Australia, Housing market, Regional NSW.Embedded networks leaving renters disadvantaged
Eloise Parrab Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)If you have never lived in an embedded network then many of you might be asking what this is and what does it have to do with renters? It's no surprise to the Tenants Union of NSW that a lot of people do not know about embedded networks. Often renters don't find out they are living in a home that is part of an embedded network until they move in. They call their chosen energy provider to set up an account, only to be told they are in an embedded network. At that point they become aware of the first disadvantage: they do not get to choose their energy provider. It is very difficult to currently estimate how many people are being supplied with energy or other services through embedded networks. The Australian Energy Market Commission estimates the number to be around half a million people. ... In this blog I run through some of the issues
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/embedded-networks-leaving-renter…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Rent, Strata, Utilities electricity water gas, Regional NSW.Indigenous families still homeless months after the floods, as leaders say First Nations people are being overlooked for rentals
Carly Williams ABC (No paywall)After moving accommodation five times in five months, Nyangbal and Dunghutti woman Teresa Anderson has had enough. The elder's Cabbage Tree Island home, nestled on a flood plain of cane fields in northern New South Wales, was deemed uninhabitable after the February floods. She has been homeless since. "I've been moved around five times," she told the ABC. ... As floods devastated Lismore and surrounding towns earlier this year, a sludge of sewage-contaminated water raged down the Richmond River, destroying every home in the Aboriginal community. There are 23 homes on the island — with some housing up to 12 people — and at the time every single resident of the 180-strong community was left homeless. Today, every house is still uninhabitable. According to the Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council, today, almost six months after the disaster, about 500 of the 1,296 northern New South Wales residents that are still homeless are First Nations people. ... "It's hard for us to try to get accommodation like rental houses, because once they know it's an Aboriginal family, they just say, 'no, I'm sorry, it's not available."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-12/indigenous-homelessness-i…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Discrimination, Housing market, Race and ethnicity.Northern Rivers Housing Crisis
The Australian Sociological Association (No paywall)The flood crisis in the Northern Rivers focused national media attention on Lismore in March 2022. This attention raised the issues of emergency needs for housing, food, medical care and assistance for animals and pets. The floods, however, extended well beyond Lismore, affecting the whole of the Northern Rivers region of NSW. Already, this region faced many challenges, not least due to the increased costs of housing due to tree- and sea-changers leaving major cities during the Covid pandemic. The region saw price rises in rentals of around 40%, pricing many locals out of the housing market, and forcing them to live in tents, cars and caravan parks. This panel discusses the aftermath of the floods, not just for Lismore, but across the whole of the Northern Rivers region, where an already vulnerable group of communities continue to suffer the effects of the floods, particularly in relation to an exacerbation of the housing crisis.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/WhctKKXgjHWrvLstlDbQnVBR…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Aboriginal renters, Land lease communities, Rent, Families, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Local Government, Regional NSW, State Government.Bailiff evictions in private sector rise by 39% in three months
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United KIngdom ... Bailiff evictions in the private rented sector (PRS) have risen by 39% in three months, according to new government figures. The figures show that 3,405 households in the PRS were evicted by bailiffs in England between April and June 2022, up 39% on the previous quarter. It follows previous figures in May that showed that the number of ‘no-fault’ evictions issued in the first three months of this year was up 41% on the same period in 2020, which was largely before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In May, the government said it will add £10m every year to the legal aid budget available for tenants and leaseholders fighting evictions and repossessions. ... Additional research by Shelter found as the cost of living soars alongside energy bills, 64% of private renters said the current economic climate meant that, if they were evicted, they would struggle to afford the costs of moving.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/bailiff-evictions-in-p…
# International, Eviction, No-grounds evictions.The record rise in no-fault evictions shows why we need to deliver rental reform speedily and carefully to prevent homelessness
Lee Buss-Blair Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... New government statistics show that the number of people calling on councils to prevent them from falling into homelessness after receiving a ‘no-fault’ eviction notice has hit record levels. In total, 6,400 households across England were judged to be at risk of homelessness after receiving a Section 21 eviction notice from their landlord between January and March 2022. The upsurge in no-fault evictions is extremely concerning. What is less clear is whether we are seeing the consequences of the COVID-related hiatus on evictions, or whether this is in response from landlords concerned about the upcoming changes due in the Renters’ Reform Bill, a piece of legislation we very much welcome. ... Rent reform needs to be done quickly ... But it must also avoid unintended consequences that could create or prolong homelessness.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/the-record-rise-…
# International, Eviction, Homelessness, No-grounds evictions.