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
Embracing alternative housing ideas to house our ageing population
AHURI News AHURI (No paywall)With new housing supply highly unlikely to meet the needs of the 440,000 households aged 55 years projected to need affordable housing by 2031, Australia has to develop new ways of housing older people safely and securely. New AHURI research, ‘Alternative housing models for precariously housed older Australians’, is exploring the potential of alternative housing models to increase the supply of affordable housing for older Australians and the role alternative financing schemes could play in expanding those options. ... The models having the greatest potential to better meet people’s needs are: cohousing; integrated mixed-use developments; modular-style manufactured housing utilising vacant land; low-rise medium density development; reforms to the private rental sector to better protect older tenants. You will find the full report at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022-05/AHURI-Final-Report-378-Alternative-housing-models-for-precariously-housed-older-Australians.pdf]. In particular, flick down to the heading: '2.11 Tenant-friendly private rental' on pages 31 to 33.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/news/embracing-alternative-hou…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing market, Older people.As temperatures go through the roof, are our homes fit for summer?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)There are entire towns in Southern Europe that are whitewashed, age-old examples of using light-coloured materials to reflect heat rather than absorb it in a bid to keep homes cool. Yet on the same day the latest IPCC report issued a warning to the world that it was “now or never” to stave off climate disaster, the NSW government abandoned its plan to switch to light-coloured roofs, among a suite of other sustainability measures aimed at improving building standards in the state.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/as-temperatures-go-through-…
# NSW, Climate change, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.Will Albanese deliver relief in public housing?
Rachel Mealey ABC (No paywall)Anthony Albanese often speaks about his origins in public housing in Sydney's inner-west. He's taking the reins of government at a time when other Australian families are in the midst of a housing crisis, with few options in public or private housing. Will Mr Albanese's response to the crisis bring relief for those struggling now. (PM)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/will-albanese-deliver-r…
# Audio NSW, Public and community housing, Federal Government.Reserve Bank says property market buoyed as households downsized
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A sharp fall in the size of households, as people moved out of share houses or their parent’s homes, helped offset the effect of the collapse of immigration on the Australian housing market, the Reserve Bank believes. In a speech on the property market this morning, the bank’s assistant governor Luci Ellis also noted government programs – including the federal Coalition’s HomeBuilder subsidy – helped to push up prices while she also warned rents in Sydney and Melbourne may rise quicker than expected.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/reserve-bank-says-proper…
# Australia, Rent, Share houses, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Home ownership.Renters slugged with $150 extra in home energy bill costs per year
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Tenants spend more on energy bills than homeowners because rental properties are less efficient to heat and cool, a new study has found. And experts say the government should set minimum standards for rental properties and encourage landlords to invest in making their properties more energy efficient. Report author and head of the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University professor Paul Burke, said renters spent about 8 per cent more on electricity than similar households that were owner occupied. The research was published in the journal Energy Policy. ... Joel Dignam, executive director of tenancy group Better Renting, said the current rental crisis prevented tenants from demanding more and allowed landlords to provide the bare minimum. “Governments need to draw a line and make mandatory minimum requirements so people can pass winter in a rental home without their health being at risk,” he said.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/renters-slugged-with-150-ex…
# Australia, Rent, Health, Minimum habitability standards.Buy now, pay later schemes for Australian renters ‘prey on vulnerable’, financial counsellors warn
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)New buy now, pay later-style schemes targeting renters are “preying on the vulnerable”, say consumer advocates who have renewed calls for the federal government to overhaul credit laws to better regulate the sector. A recent entrant into the market, Tenanting, follows the model of buy now, pay later (BNPL) products such as Afterpay, which offer microloans for retail purchases that users can then pay back in four instalments. Tenanting advertises that it will pay rent on an individual’s behalf “instantly” with the user repaying it over four instalments with the addition of a 5% fee. Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) has taken aim at the company, calling it “yet another alarming example of a fintech company taking advantage of loopholes in the credit laws”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/04/buy-now-p…
# Australia, Rent.More than two million badly insulated homes in deprived areas ‘financially unviable’ to retrofit
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)The Building Back Britain Commission (BBBC), which is behind the research, said the 2.3 million homes are in areas identified as ‘levelling-up priority areas’ – largely as a result of lower property values. It has called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to commit £2.3bn every year for 10 years to raise energy-efficiency standards for poorer households.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/more-than-two-million-badly…
# International, Utilities electricity water gas, Housing market.There’s a new government, so what’s next for Australia’s house prices?
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Australia’s downward house price trend will not change despite a new federal Labor government being elected on the weekend, experts say. Economists are predicting the property market will continue to soften despite new policies aimed at helping first home buyers, single parents and low-income earners get into the market sooner and a promise of 30,000 extra social and affordable homes.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/there-s-a-new-government-so…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.