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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
China's mortgage boycott is escalating. Now Evergrande suppliers have stopped paying bank loans
Samuel Yang ABC (No paywall)A fast-growing mortgage boycott across dozens of cities in China has prompted some property suppliers to cease their bank loan repayments, raising fears the escalating situation could trigger a further downward spiral in the sector and even threaten the country's financial stability. Hundreds of landscapers, sculpture-makers and construction companies have expressed their anger that they have been bled dry because some debt-saddled developers did not pay their bills while they continued to service or help build apartments, Chinese media Caixin reported. ... Concerns about developers' inability to finish housing projects have ignited a nationwide strike, with a wave of disgruntled homebuyers across the country refusing to pay their mortgages unless their homes are built. Also, read Stephen Bartholomeusz's article entitled: 'Alarm bells are ringing as China’s property cancer spreads' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/china-s-property-cancer-is-spreading-20220726-p5b4kw.html]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-27/china-mortgage-boycott-ev…
# International, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Lismore residents with flood-damaged homes still received bills from energy companies
Caitlin Cassidy The Guardian (No paywall)Lismore residents whose flood-damaged homes have been uninhabitable for months received bills for hundreds of dollars from energy providers based on estimated power usage. Lismore resident Ella Buckland only moved back home with her young daughter last week following flooding in February, and still does not have a meter, but in that time Origin Energy has sent her two invoices for estimated electricity charges.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/27/lismore-r…
# NSW, Utilities electricity water gas.Almost two thirds of rent increase notices examined by Threshold found to be invalid
Ann Murphy (No paywall)From Ireland ... Almost two thirds of rent increase notices brought to Threshold by tenants in the second quarter of this year were invalid, according to the organisation. (Irish Examiner)
# International, Rent.Perth resident fears homelessness after being told to leave public housing following partner's death
Jacqueline Lynch ABC (No paywall)Just weeks after Gerald Virgo's partner died, he was told he would have to leave the house where she took her last breath. Now he is on the brink of homelessness. Mr Virgo had been with his partner Sindy Marchesani for more than two decades. When her liver started failing, he did not hesitate to become her full-time carer. Mr Virgo said last year he moved into his partner's home of 20 years to try and make her final year as comfortable as possible. "She said to me, she didn't want to go to a hospice and I said, 'No you won't. You'll stay here,'" Mr Virgo told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth Mornings. Mr Virgo was by Ms Marchesani's side when she died at the home last month. He was taken aback when, weeks later, the WA Department of Communities informed him he would have to leave the public housing property the couple shared in Hamilton Hill because Ms Marchesani had been the "sole tenant" on the lease.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-26/public-housing-leave-deat…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness.Balancing the rights of renters and landlords
ABC (No paywall)State and territory governments have been making changes to residential tenancy laws that tip the balance in favour of renters and their right to secure and comfortable housing. The latest state to consider these is Western Australia. But, some investors are worried about how that will affect their rights and ability to earn income. (ABS Radio National)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/balanc…
# Audio Australia, Landlords and agents.Tenants speak up on cold, damp houses with high rents
(No paywall)From New Zealand ... Compliance with healthy homes standards is still lagging, more than two years since the law took effect. All boarding houses and private landlords now need to ensure their rental properties meet healthy homes standards within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancies. Checkpoint heard from a lot of renters who say their places still are not up to scratch. (RNZ)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/20188…
# Audio International, Rent, Health, Minimum habitability standards.Australia’s inflation rate reaches 6.1% – the fastest annual increase in 21 years
Peter Hannam The Guardian (No paywall)Australian prices rose 6.1% in the June quarter, the fastest annual pace since 2001 as consumers forked out more for everything from fuel to food. ... The cost of new houses also rose 9% from a year earlier. Also, check at: [https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release]
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jul/27/australia-infla…
# Australia, Families, Housing market.Redevelopment plans for historic Sydney rail workshops unveiled
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Buildings up to 28 storeys will be constructed on 10 hectares of railway land near Redfern station in central Sydney under state government plans for a residential, entertainment and technology hub. The draft master plan for the Redfern-North Eveleigh precinct is centred on an area known as the Paint Shop, which was named after the 135-year-old brick workshop where the state’s passenger trains were overhauled until 1988.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/redevelopment-plans-for-hist…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development, Sydney.