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
We have downsized to a smaller home and it has freed us to live the life we want
Damian Barr The Guardian (No paywall)Downsizing is, let’s be clear, a privileged problem – and not one I ever expected to have. I grew up in a series of well-built council houses in Scotland at a time when Margaret Thatcher might turn up with the keys in exchange for a sports bag of dirty fivers if you exercised your right to buy. My parents never could or would. A “bought hoose” was a distant dream, even as “luxury units” mushroomed around our village, neat new boxes popping up where slag heaps once sat. They triggered my aspiration, but also made me feel ashamed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/19/we-have-do…
# International, Families, Home ownership, Housing market, Personal stories.Housing associations take action to protect residents during heatwave
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)Inside Housing has spoken to several social landlords that say they have been checking in on tenants aged over 65, as well as those with disabilities, to make sure they can cope in the extreme heat. They have also been posting NHS advice across their social media. England is under its first ever red warning for extreme heat, which means even fit and healthy people are at risk of death. Temperatures may reach 40°C.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/housing-associations-t…
# International, Public and community housing, Climate change, Disability, Older people.House prices are falling, so which buyers can get a better deal?
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Falling property prices and reduced competition for homes are helping buyers get more bang for their buck, as home values in about four in 10 suburbs fell over the past quarter. But many buyers still have to compromise when searching for their next home, experts say, because of cuts to borrowing capacity and a pullback in the number of homes listed for sale, reducing their level of choice.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/house-prices-are-falling-so…
# Australia, Housing market.How Sydney’s big wet is seeping into our homes, old and new
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Saturated Sydney apartment blocks will be tested during another week of rain, as buildings that have never leaked before start to leak. The unusually wet year has caused unprecedented issues with mould and water ingress in apartments old and new, experts say, and extra rain could now cause damage.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/how-sydney-s-big-wet-is-see…
# NSW, Repairs, Strata, Sydney.WA shires with highest number of vacant homes, according to Census data
Sm McManus ABC (No paywall)Two shires in Western Australia have some of the highest rates of unoccupied housing in the country — but for two very different reasons.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-21/wa-housing-vacancy-census…
# Australia, Housing market, Local Government.Mortgage holders should brace for short-term pain as RBA signals steady interest rate rises to tackle inflation
Amy Remeikis The Guardian (No paywall)Mortgage holders should brace themselves for interest rate rises of at least another 1.15 percentage points before the end of the year as the Reserve Bank of Australia attempts to hose down inflation before it takes hold of the economy.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/20/mortgage-…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.ATO cracking down on dodgy holiday let claims
JimmyThomson (No paywall)Danger, danger, holiday letting hosts! If you have been fudging the figures on your tax claims for your holiday home investments, the Australian Tax Office is coming after you.
Actually, the ATO has been issuing this warning almost every year since 2015, if not before. ... and now they have a raft of technology to help them track down the dodgers and fudgers. Not least among them is the NSW register of holiday lets as well as online letting platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz which list when the property is available. (Flat Chat)
Why are one in four Sydney homes being pulled from auction?
Kate Burke and Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)One in four Sydney home sellers are ditching plans to take their property to auction, as interest rate rises reduce buyer demand and put downward pressure on prices and the auction clearance rate. Sellers have increasingly abandoned auction plans amid the cooling property market, fearing they will not have enough buyer competition if they proceed, industry experts report. Most are converting to a private sale campaign, though some are postponing their auction, and others are withdrawing from the market altogether.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/why-are-one-in-four-sydney-…
# NSW, Housing market, Sydney.