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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
House prices react to broader trends — so could rising grocery costs help first-home buyers?
Daniel Keane ABC (No paywall)It's not their fault, but lettuces have been getting a bad rap of late. They're in short supply and hot demand, with prices for icebergs rising above $10 in some cases following devastating flooding along the east coast. ... This clearly is not good news for flood-hit growers or for consumers — but housing experts have indicated there could be a silver living for first-home buyers.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-11/how-will-rising-grocery-c…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Clover Moore urges Sydney renters to take up green energy to meet net zero target
Tamsin Rose The Guardian (No paywall)Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, has urged renters and apartment dwellers to do their bit to help the city reach net zero by switching their energy supply to renewable sources. Moore’s plea comes amid spiralling energy costs and increased pressure on household budgets, with the New South Wales Tenants Union noting while many renters wanted to make green choices, it was not always a simple equation. ... But not everyone has extra cash lying around, and cost pressures on renters are increasing, according to the NSW Tenants Union’s chief executive, Leo Patterson Ross. “Most people are conscious that they could be doing something different, something better for the environment, the question is, are they empowered to do that?” he said. ... Patterson Ross said the onus should be placed on owners and governments to raise the standards of rentals so they were more energy-efficient.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/08/clover-moore…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas.Expect the RBA to go easy on interest rate hikes from now on – we can’t afford rates to climb as steeply as the market expects
Peter Martin The Conversation (No paywall)By lifting its cash rate by 0.5 points, from 0.35% to 0.85%, the Reserve Bank has added about another $120 per month in payments for a A$500,000 mortgage. If financial markets are to be believed, by the end of this year it will have added a total of $800 per month – and, by the end of next year, a total approaching $1,000 per month. ... Unless financial markets are wrong. The good news is, I think they are.
https://theconversation.com/expect-the-rba-to-go-easy-on-interes…
# Australia, Housing market.Cold or mould: Sydney tenants told to keep windows open throughout winter
Stephanie Tran and Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Tenants in Sydney have been told by their real estate agency it is “critical” they regularly open windows during winter to restrict the spread of mould. ... The agency advised tenants that management of mould was “the responsibility of each tenant” and advised them to clean mould as soon as they noticed it. “Mould is not always a sign of a leak or problem, it is largely attributed to a lack of ventilation and can manifest of its own accord in humid environments, then spread quickly if left untreated. “Cleaning this early will not only improve your health but will assist with ongoing mould management.” The chief executive of the Tenants’ Union of NSW, Leo Patterson Ross, stressed that landlords were responsible for ensuring that a property is adequately ventilated. “If the property isn’t built to ventilate safely, so that you aren’t exposed to the elements, that’s the landlord’s responsibility,” he said. ... The Greens MP Jenny Leong has tabled a bill in the NSW parliament calling for increased tenant protections, including a requirement that rental properties are mould and damp-free.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/09/cold-or-m…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Mould.A bench seat to honour community champion
Marjorie Lewis-Jones (No paywall)On May 13, community leaders, volunteers and friends gathered at the Waterloo Neighbourhood Centre to remember Ross Smith (dec. 2016), and to unveil a commemorative seat in his honour.The seat recognises Ross’s decades of volunteer work in the community – his housing activism, his involvement with the ALP, the Waterloo Neighbourhood Advisory Board (NAB), REDWatch and the South Sydney Herald (SSH). “Ross was a champion of community life, a champion of community centres and a champion of community democracy,” said Michael Shreenan, CEO of Counterpoint Community Services in Waterloo. ... [The Rev. Andrew Collis] hailed Ross’s commitment to housing rights, independent media, community services, accessibility, road safety and participatory democracy. (South Sydney Herald)
https://southsydneyherald.com.au/a-bench-seat-to-honour-communit…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Human rights, Personal stories.First homebuyers will likely be hit hardest by Australia’s interest rate rises
Peter Hannam The Guardian (No paywall)First home buyers, many of them clustered in the outer suburbs of Australian cities, are most likely to struggle under what could prove to be an onslaught of interest rate rises, analysts say. The Reserve Bank again surprised the market on Tuesday, lifting its official cash rate by 50 basis points to 0.85% and signalling more increases to come. The “shock and awe” rise – as one economist dubbed it – was the largest since February 2000.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/08/first-hom…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.The housing game has changed – interest rate hikes hurt more than before
Joey Moloney and Brendan Coates The Conversation (Paywall)The Reserve Bank has lifted the cash rate for the second time in two months, this time by 0.50 points to 0.85%. It won’t be the last such hike. Forecasters expect the cash rate to hit 2.5% by the end of next year. This would lift the typical variable mortgage rate to near 5%. ... Skyrocketing house prices have changed the game. For millennials, even historically small increases in interest rates will hurt.
https://theconversation.com/the-housing-game-has-changed-interes…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Prep your pocket — rent could be going up
ABC (No paywall)Today the RBA announced interest rates will go up -- even higher than the experts anticipated. The Government is warning that things could get tough. Mortgages will get more expensive, and rent could, too. Buckle up. (ABC tripleJ Hack)
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, Rent, Housing market.