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
Northern Territory 2022-23 budget to include $690 million for remote housing to ease overcrowding
Samantha Dick ABC (No paywall)The Northern Territory government has allocated $690 million for remote housing in tomorrow's budget, in a bid to ramp up the long-awaited construction of more homes to ease chronic overcrowding. Remote communities have been battling overcrowding for decades, alongside complaints that the delivery of new homes has been too slow, and ongoing debate between the territory and federal governments over the funding of homelands. On the eve of the budget being handed down, the government has outlined plans to build at least 260 new homes and 200 serviced lots in the 2022-23 financial year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-09/nt-remote-housing-funding…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.How long does it take for a rate rise to hit the housing market?
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Rising interest rates are expected to have a swifter-than-usual impact on the property market as reduced borrowing power and higher mortgage repayments weigh on already slowing buyer demand.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/how-long-does-it-take-for-a…
# Australia, Housing market.‘Walking a tightrope’: Why interest rates could hit 2.5 per cent and what it means for you
Matthew Elmas The New Daily (No paywall)Home owners squeezed by rising interest rates are being warned to brace for even more financial pain, with further rate increases set to push up mortgage bills and reduce property prices over the next two years.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2022/05/09/inter…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.6 things you can do today to score a pet-friendly home
Lauren Vardy (No paywall)Apartment hunting can be a task, but as many pet owners know, finding a pet-friendly home is a whole new challenge. Follow these steps to make the rental search a breeze. (rent.com.au)
# Australia, Rent, Pets.‘Completely transform skyline’: Parramatta plan approved after nine years
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The state government has signed off on plans to dramatically transform western Sydney’s skyline, enabling 70-storey towers to be built across an expanded Parramatta central business district. ... The ambitious 40-year vision by Parramatta City Council – now approved by the state government – expands the CBD’s boundaries and allows skyscrapers of up to 69 storeys for mixed-use residential buildings and 52 storeys for commercial offices. The heights are lower than the council’s original proposal for residential towers of 75 storeys and commercial offices of 60 storeys. Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said the plan would create 11,000 new homes and 16,000 new jobs in Parramatta’s CBD, while associated work along Parramatta Road would create a further 27,000 new homes and 50,000 jobs on that corridor over the next 20 years.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/completely-transform-skyline…
# NSW, Local Government, Planning and development.Queen’s Speech 2022: sector responds to new housing bills
Jack Simpson Inside Housing (Paywall)Today saw the official opening of parliament and the annual Queen’s Speech setting the government’s legislative agenda for the next 12 months. From the Social Housing Regulation Bill to the Renters’ Reform Bill, there was a lot to digest. Figures from across the housing sector have responded to the new legislation promised in the speech, with many welcoming the arrival of these crucial bills after years of delays. However, many raised concerns that the government missed an opportunity to bring in more legislation to protect vulnerable people, particularly with the prospect of a cost of living crisis hitting the country. ... Matt Downie, chief executive, Crisis: “This Queen’s Speech provides some hope for renters anxious about being turfed out of their home in the midst of the cost of living crisis and recognises the urgent need to address poor-quality social housing with tenants’ voices at the heart of this reform. But let’s be clear, this speech gives with one hand while taking with the other. The plan to introduce legislation that has the potential to criminalise anyone forced to sleep rough is nothing short of shameful and flies in the face of any effort to tackle rough sleeping for good. Jack Simpson and Lucie Heath explain the new housing bills at: [https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/queens-speech-the-new-housing-bills-explained-75554?utm_source=Ocean%20Media%20Group&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=13197515_IH-DAILY-11-5-2022-GR&dm_i=1HH2,7UV9N,VLV45B,W2SL7,1]
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/queens-speech-20…
# International, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent, Homelessness, No-grounds evictions.Council to review boarding house framework after tragic Newtown fire
Daniel Lo Surdo (No paywall)Inner West Council will discuss a revised boarding house inspection regime at a meeting on Tuesday evening, in the wake of the March fire at Albermarie Boarding House in Newtown which claimed three lives. The review, prepared by Council Environmental Health & Building Regulation Manager Peter O’Connor, offers an extensive report on a decline in the operational standard of the over 250 registered boarding houses across the LGA. (Inner West Independent)
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2022/05/newtown-council-to-review-b…
# NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Housing market, Local Government.Sky is struggling to compete for a new rental in Melbourne, in a trend that's 'getting worse'
Margaret Paul ABC (No paywall)Sky has been to more than 50 house inspections in Melbourne's outer south in the past three months, looking for a new private rental for her and her five children. ... At the Peninsula Community Legal Centre, chief executive Jackie Galloway said an increasing number of people in Dunkley were falling behind on their rent. "It is getting worse," she said. ... Data from Tenancy Victoria backs that up. The peak body for renters has handled 331 tenancy legal matters in Dunkley in the past year, with 15 per cent of cases facing eviction.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-10/cost-of-rent-living-in-me…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.