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
The Making of Home review – Judith Flanders’s history of how our houses became homes
Ben Highmore The Guardian (No paywall)The Making of Home is filled with bold arguments and memorable details. Flanders has a knack of providing statistics that register the changes taking place: for instance, she tells us that “in New York City in 1800, less than 5% of men had a workplace outside the house; by 1820, it was 25%, and by 1840, it was 70%”. Her book demonstrates how architecture, furniture making, cooking and heating practices, as well as ideas about labour, children and gender, fashioned the home, making a compelling account of what was gained and lost in the quest for cosiness. You will find a second review by Michael Pye of 'The New York Times' at: [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/books/review/the-making-of-home-by-judith-flanders.html]
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/16/making-of-home-rev…
# History International, Home.For first homebuyers, it’s Labor’s Help to Buy versus the Coalition’s New Home Guarantee. Which is better?
Rachel Ong ViforJ The Conversation (No paywall)Each side is offering something for first homebuyers this election, but the nature of the support is quite different. ... In truth, we can’t really hope to make a dent in the housing affordability crisis without hard policy choices such as reforming tax concessions that have pushed up house prices. Labor put forward such measures in 2019. It isn’t this time.
https://theconversation.com/for-first-homebuyers-its-labors-help…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Tax.Renters competing 'Hunger Games-style' as number of rental properties dwindles
Elias Clure ABC (No paywall)Thousands of Australians who have already given up on buying a home are also facing the prospect of being priced out of the rental market, leading experts have warned. ... [Leading cities researcher at the University of NSW, Dr Chris Martin] said the issue is particularly pronounced in the regions, where rents in some areas have climbed almost 40 per cent since the pandemic. "It's really grim, especially in the regions ... it's just been a perfect storm of problems," he said. Both Dr Martin and Ms Adair [of the Housing Trust] believe more affordable housing supply is needed. Labor, the Coalition and the Greens have all pledged billions to more build more housing, but there are concerns that may not be enough to salvage affordability within the market. This story is part of 'Housing Pitch' on ABC's 7.30 on Monday 2/5/2022 at: [https://iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2201H069S00]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-02/renters-compete-hunger-ga…
# Video Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.Climate change means 1 in 25 homes could become uninsurable by 2030, report warns
Nick Kilvert ABC (No paywall)About one in 25 Australian homes are at high risk of becoming effectively uninsurable by 2030, according to a new Climate Council report based on analysis by a climate risk assessment group. That number rises to more than one in 10 homes for some of the most affected regions, including parts of Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Greater Shepparton, Ballina and Port Adelaide. Also, read Nick O'Malley's article in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/one-in-25-homes-uninsurable-by-2030-due-to-climate-change-new-study-finds-20220502-p5ahte.html]. Read Nicki Huntley's opinion piece entitled: 'Climate change is making our homes uninsurable' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/climate-change-is-making-our-homes-unensurable-20220502-p5ahoe.html]. Read Royce Kurmelovs' article in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/03/flood-and-cyclone-prone-areas-in-eastern-australia-may-be-uninsurable-by-2030-report-suggests].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-05-03/climate-change-fl…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market.What are the differences between the major parties’ homebuying policies this election?
Sarah Martin The Guardian (No paywall)With the cost of houses in Australia soaring in recent years, including up almost 25% last year, both major parties have policies designed at helping people into the property market. The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, used his campaign launch in Perth on Sunday to unveil the party’s new “Help to Buy” scheme, while the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has been talking up the Coalition’s existing “Home Guarantee” scheme which it launched in 2020. So how do the two schemes compare? ... [Grattan Institute’s economic policy program director, Brendan Coates] said that both policies are aimed at accessibility, rather than affordability, and neither was a “panacea” for housing affordability. ... Coates said both policies would have a very small impact on house prices, with the government’s scheme possibly having a slightly bigger inflationary effect. Also, check out a further article in 'The Guardian' by Sarah Martin entitled: 'Scott Morrison says Labor "wants the government to own your home" despite praising similar schemes' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/02/scott-morrison-criticises-labors-housing-policy-despite-praising-similar-schemes]. Check out Sezen Bakan's article on the same issue in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/05/02/home-buyers-scheme-government/]. Check out Jordyn Beazley's article entitled: 'A shared equity scheme could help break the cycle of insecure renting for single parents' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/05/a-shared-equity-scheme-could-help-break-the-cycle-of-insecure-renting-for-single-parents]. Check out Brendan Coates and Joey Moloney's opinion piece entitled: 'Shared equity is a start, but fixing the housing crisis requires more ambition' in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/05/04/shared-equity-housing-grattan-institute/]. Ponder this quote from Scott Morrison: “If your household income goes above $120,000 a year, Anthony Albanese will put a for-sale sign on your lawn.” Well, check the 'Fact checker' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/federal-election-2022/2022/05/03/help-to-buy-morrison-labor/]. Elizabeth Redman in 'Domain' asks: 'Will either party’s plans help aspiring homebuyers?' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/help-to-buy-v-home-guarantee-will-either-party-s-plans-help-aspiring-homebuyers-20220504-p5aii0.html] She quotes the economist, Peter Tulip, [who] is blunt when asked if either major party’s home-buyer incentives will make a difference. “Yes,” he says. “I think they will both do harm.” Check the AHURI Brief on what is a shared equity scheme at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/what-shared-equity-scheme].
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/03/what-are-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.$100 extra a month: Home buyers face mortgage hike with interest rates set to climb further
Shane Wright and Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Home buyers will have to find almost $100 extra a month to pay their mortgages after the Reserve Bank delivered its first increase in official interest rates in 12 years, with warnings it will have to increase them even further to deal with spiralling inflation pressures. Also, read Isaac Gross' article in 'The Conversation' at: [https://theconversation.com/rba-governor-philip-lowe-is-hiking-interest-rates-worst-case-itll-mean-an-extra-600-per-month-on-a-500-000-mortgage-182241]. Read the report by Kate Burke, Tawar Razaghi and Elizabeth Redman in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/as-rates-rise-daniel-and-georgia-feel-safe-as-houses-for-now-20220503-p5ai3l.html]. Read Caitlin Cassidy's article in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/03/paying-off-a-mortgage-heres-how-the-rbas-interest-rate-rise-will-affect-your-repayments].
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/100-extra-a-month-home-b…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.When will we talk about housing affordability for Australians who can’t get on the property ladder?
Jennifer Beveridge The Guardian (No paywall)“Rental prices have exploded, making it near impossible to find a new home and keep myself and my children in our community … It is extremely stressful not being able to feel secure in our home.” [Jennifer Beveridge, CEO of Tenants Victoria, says:] 'Working in a grassroots tenants organisation, we hear these anguished accounts too often – this one is from a single mother in Gippsland.'
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/03/when-will-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Housing affordability challenge requires leadership and vision
Editorial The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When he appeared before the parliamentary inquiry into housing affordability and supply in November, economist Saul Eslake asked MPs whose interests they were most concerned about: “The 11 million Australians who already own at least one property, and the more than 2 million who own more than one, or the minority, albeit a growing minority, who have been unable to buy?” ... Instead of reforming the tax regime, Albanese is now spruiking the government as an investor in and creator of housing. ... The absence of a genuine reform agenda from either of the major parties short-changes us all. An economy preoccupied with house prices, jobs, inflation and overall GDP will end up counting the cost in social division, homelessness and diminished quality of life for too many of its citizens. ... Today the search is on for a leader who can devise a national strategy on housing that targets those in greatest need, including those who are not buying but renting. When it comes to housing, we cannot and should not allow any Australians to be forgotten.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/housing-affordability-challenge-…
# NSW, Rent, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.