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
Perth homeless centre denied planning permission after community opposition
Emma Wynne ABC (No paywall)The City of Perth has refused an application to relocate a 63-year-old homeless drop-in centre 200 metres around the corner, with the Lord Mayor saying the CBD and Northbridge are already "disproportionately carrying the burden" of homelessness services.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-02/perth-homeless-centre-den…
# Australia, Homelessness, Local Government, Planning and development.Banks crack down on high debt-to-income home loans as regulator APRA comes knocking
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)Two of Australia's biggest banks have moved to curb high-risk home lending, as the regulator revealed it has been warning some institutions to cut back on risky loans. ... APRA chairman Wayne Byres confirmed the regulator had contacted some banks with concerns about the level of high DTI loans they were issuing. "We will also be watching closely the experience of borrowers who have borrowed at high multiples of their income – a cohort that has grown notably over the past year." Also, check out the story entitled: 'Australian homebuyers and banks face risky period as inflation and interest rates accelerate' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/31/australian-homebuyers-and-banks-face-risky-period-as-inflation-and-interest-rates-accelerate].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-31/about-to-get-harder-to-ge…
# Australia, Housing market.Albany restaurant Liberte to install entrance gates to stop homeless people living on premises
Tim Wong-See ABC (No paywall)An Albany restaurant plans to install two entrance gates to stop homeless people living on the premises.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-31/liberte-restaurant-albany…
# Australia, Homelessness.Off-the-plan property buyers face ‘perfect storm’ as risks grow
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Off-the-plan property buyers should check with their lender that their conditional loan approval will still be valid when it comes time to stump up the cash.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/off-the-plan-property-buy…
# Australia, Strata, Housing market.Granny flat blues – challenges and trends
Grant Arbuthnot Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The housing crisis in NSW continues. One outcome of this has been an increase in the construction and occupation of ‘granny flats’. These are typically small, self-contained dwellings located in the backyard or back part of a larger house. Traditionally they were intended for use by an elderly relative, but in recent times they are often rented in the private rental market. All of the typical tenancy problems come up in relation to granny flats, as well as some additional challenges.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/granny-flat-blues-challenges-and…
# NSW, Rent, Granny flats, studios.City dwellers escaping to the regions putting pressure on housing crisis
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)City dwellers escaping to the regions are putting pressure on a severe rental shortage, with a vacancy rate below 1 per cent and double-digit rent rises across most of the state. ... Tenants Union chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said the trend of people from the city moving to the regions had put pressure on already limited housing supply in country towns.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/city-dwellers-escaping-to-th…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW, Short-term holiday letting.‘A shrinking resource’: Report highlights scarcity of social housing
Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)A nationwide scarcity of social housing means that some applicants can expect to wait more than 10 years for a home in most parts of Sydney. A study by the UNSW City Futures Research Centre has revealed a 42 per cent drop in the number of households allocated social housing in the past three decades. Meanwhile, the number of applicants with the greatest need has soared by almost 50 per cent in the three years to 2021. ... An increasing number of people with the most urgent need for housing, exacerbated by the pandemic, means a family with less severe needs can expect to wait more than ten years for a three-bedroom property in most parts of Sydney. “Once upon a time jumping from public housing to ownership was possible for thousands of people every year. Today that is almost non-existent,” said report lead author UNSW Professor Hal Pawson.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/a-shrinking-resource-report-…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Housing market, State Government.Families in homes built since 2010 had a worse experience of lockdown. This should be a concern for policymakers
Sandra Costa Santos Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Families in post-2010 homes are more likely to be dissatisfied with home size, space for play and family time, storage and indoor air quality, research by Newcastle and Dundee universities shows. This made lockdown harder. If the UK’s housing stock fell short of meeting everyday family needs before the pandemic, the COVID-19 lockdown only made this worse. Lockdown forced most families to introduce new activities to their home, increasing parent-child conflict. Space became currency for well-being, either heightening tensions or mitigating against conflicts through its ability to adapt to multiplying needs. Despite the idea that we were ‘all in it together’, lockdown exposed pre-existing inequalities.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/families-in-home…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Housing market.