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
‘Situation is urgent’: Push for rethink on critical shortage
(Paywall)A Far North housing crisis has been the catalyst for a push to unlock more low cost home construction through policy shifts and should be tackled in a similar way to a natural disaster response. (Cairns Post)
https://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/cairns-housing-q-shelt…
# Australia, Housing market.Why the surge in home construction will do little to address affordable housing
Amber Schultz (No paywall)Following a two-year slowdown in housing construction, the boom is back, with a record number of houses being developed. But it’s not likely to fix Australia’s shortage of affordable or social housing, despite government investment. Labor, land and material shortages continue to slow down construction, while interest rates will keep rental costs high. (The Mandarin)
https://www.themandarin.com.au/192749-why-the-surge-in-home-cons…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing.Cutting rental costs
9 News (No paywall)Simple ways to make your rent more affordable (Today)
https://9now.nine.com.au/today/videos/latest/simple-ways-to-make…
# Video Australia, Rent, Share houses, Affordable housing.What happens when a property passes in at auction?
Elizabeth Redman The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)More properties are passing in at auction, with buyers and sellers turning to post-auction negotiations to secure a sale. But experts say buyers should be prepared for potential traps. Also, read Elias Visontay's article entitled: '"Older, whiter and smaller": new census data to show how Covid changed Australia' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/27/older-whiter-and-smaller-new-census-data-to-show-how-covid-changed-australia]
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/what-happens-when-a-propert…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Millennials drive regional growth as migration from capital cities hits five-year high
Mel Dearmer, Madeline Austin, Georgie Hewson and others ABC (No paywall)Regional growth across Australia is being driven by a mass exodus from capital cities, with people aged 24-40 leading the tree change, new data shows. ... "We colloquially use the term 'the Australian dream' of getting a backyard where the kids can grow up in, and that's actually a reality — it exists here." But it was not just affordability that drew Mr Fletcher to regional life.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-23/millennials-drive-regiona…
# Australia, Families, Housing market, Regional NSW.Kean’s budget bid to make the 11-year-old Coalition look brand new
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW Treasurer Matt Kean had a very clear objective in mind on Tuesday. For Kean, this budget - the final before the state election - was designed to redefine the Coalition. .... NSW Budget: Winners: First home buyers ... Experts say stamp duty adds a further two-and-a-half years to an average worker’s journey in saving for a house deposit. Under the new First Home Buyer Choice scheme, house hunters can choose to opt out of stamp duty by paying an annual levy of $400 plus 0.3 per cent of the land value of the property. Eligible first-home buyers can choose to join the scheme from January 16 next year.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/kean-s-budget-bid-to-make-th…
# NSW, Housing market, Tax.‘Getting onto the wait list is a battle in itself’: insiders on what it takes to get social housing
Alan Morris, Andrew Clarke, Cameron Parsell, Catherine Robinson and Jan Idle The Conversation (No paywall)Social housing has become extremely difficult to access; in 2021 around 160,000 households were on the waiting list. To have any chance of getting a social housing spot in a reasonable time frame, applicants must be on the priority waiting list; people on the general waiting list may never get social housing. However, to get on the priority list, applicants need to ... prove they are massively disadvantaged.
https://theconversation.com/getting-onto-the-wait-list-is-a-batt…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing.NSW government urged to act on rental crisis and social housing ahead of state budget
Tamsin Rose and Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)A rental crisis and a bloated waitlist for social housing has sparked calls for the New South Wales government to do more to help the sector despite treasurer, Matt Kean, suggesting no substantial investments will be announced in Tuesday’s state budget. ... Despite pleas from housing advocates to increase its investment in social housing, the government has primarily focused on homebuyers ahead of the budget, with a $780m shared equity scheme announced on Sunday, alongside $500m for housing planning and infrastructure reforms. ... But the Community Housing Industry Association’s (CHIA) NSW head of policy, Caitlin McDowell, said more needed to be done to help more than 50,000 families waiting for social housing spots – a number that could grow. ... An open letter to the premier, signed by the state’s top housing bodies including CHIA NSW, Shelter NSW and urban thinktank the Committee for Sydney, called for affordable housing to be dealt with in the budget. Also, read Peter Hannam's and Tamsin Rose's article entitled: 'NSW state budget 2022: lessons learned from Coalition election losses' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/21/nsw-state-budget-2022-analysis-new-south-wales]. Read Tamsin Rose's and Peter Hannam's article entitled: 'NSW state budget 2022: vouchers for schoolchildren, stamp duty reform and a forecast surplus in 2024-25' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/21/nsw-state-budget-2022-new-south-wales]
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/21/nsw-gover…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Home ownership, State Government, Tax.