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
‘Where do they expect us to go?’ Life at one Bay Area encampment before eviction
Maanvi Singh The Guardian (No paywall)In many ways, the plight of this encampment is the story of homelessness in California. Its residents have been evicted several times over the past years, disassembling and reassembling their lives each time. Of the dozen or so remaining residents, nearly everyone has health issues that make staying at a temporary shelter difficult or impossible. Many have spent years on waitlists for subsidized apartments but are nowhere near to landing a stable home, often getting lost trying to navigate the labyrinth of social service and health systems available to them.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/05/san-francisco-ba…
# International, Disability, Homelessness.Radical Sydney
Terry Irving and Rowan Cahill (No paywall)Chapter 27 (pp 196 to 203): The anti-eviction war - Union Street, Erskineville. A great read from 1931 ... In 1999 Jocka Burns recorded for ABC Radio's Hindsight team one of the songs written at the time:
For we met them at the door,
And we knocked them on the floor,
Bankstown and Newtown,
We mad the cops feel sore.
They outnumbered us ten to one.
And were armed with stick and gun,
But we fought well, we gave them hell,
When we met them at the door.
New eBay-style online property auctions offer transparency as Australian buyers bid from home
Justine Huntsdale ABC (No paywall)Wollongong real estate agent Neil Webster recently sold a house in Shellharbour using a timed online auction. He said while the technology might not be best for every property, it offered a level of transparency that added credibility to his industry. "There's a perception that real estate agents aren't the most trustworthy of people, it's a hark back to the bygone era when agents would do some dubious practices at times," he said. "By using these platforms, we can operate in a more transparent way because people register, they're bidding and it's like eBay. You get notified every time an offer is made and you know someone is genuinely out there bidding against you."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-07/ebay-real-estate-auctions…
# NSW, Housing market, Landlords and agents.What will the election mean for housing?
Geraldine Doogue ABC (No paywall)As home ownership slips out of reach for many younger Australians and low income earners, will the polices announced this week on the election campaign help? And what's the history of shared equity housing schemes? Guest: Rachel Ong Viforj is a Future Fellow and Professor of Economics at Curtin University. (ABC Saturday Extra)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/hous…
# Audio Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.‘Doing the heavy lifting’: The councils projected to fall short of new housing targets
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Two-thirds of Sydney’s councils are projected to miss their target for the construction of new homes over the next five years, which is expected to put further pressure on the affordability crisis. Data from the NSW Planning Department shows 23 out of 33 Sydney councils will not meet 2021-26 housing targets - leading to a shortfall of more than 48,000 homes. Grattan Institute economic policy program director Brendan Coates said Australia would become a less equal society if it does not build enough homes. “Either people accept greater density in their suburb, or their children will not be able to buy a home, and seniors will not be able to downsize in the suburb where they live,” he said. “Economic growth will be constrained. And Australia will become a less equal society – both economically and socially.” Peter Tulip, chief economist at the Centre for Independent Studies, said repeatedly falling short of targets to deliver new homes was adding to the housing affordability crisis.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/doing-the-heavy-lifting-the-coun…
# NSW, Affordable housing, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development.Glasgow Council loses key homelessness case in Scotland’s highest court
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)The highest court in Scotland has quashed an argument put forward by Glasgow Council that it does not have an “absolute” duty to find suitable temporary accommodation for homeless households due to its finite resources.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/glasgow-council-loses-…
# International, Homelessness, Local Government.The risk of ‘liar loans’: Can overstretched borrowers cope with higher interest rates?
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)In an era of booming house prices and fierce competition for properties, tales of Australians pushing the envelope with their mortgage applications – usually by fudging expenses to maximise borrowing power – have not been uncommon. ... And with interest rates set to keep rising (Goldman Sachs analysts now expect the cash rate to hit 2.6 per cent by the end of the year), the key question is whether these overstretched borrowers will be able to cope. ... Many in the financial establishment are not convinced there will be a major wave of bad home loans. But few predicted inflation and interest rates would be rising this sharply either.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/the-risk-of-…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Retrofit to the rescue?
Nick Atkin Inside Housing (Paywall)The energy crisis and soaring bills must lead to change in the way social landlords do business. ... At Yorkshire Housing, we are phasing out the use of gas in new homes from this year. All new homes commissioned from 2022 will be gas-free. We are also setting our own net zero standard that goes far beyond government targets. From 2026, our new homes will not only be gas free but also use underfloor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs to make heating more efficient, solar panels will generate electricity for the customer and national grid, they’ll have super insulated walls, roofs, floors, and use triple glazing to maximise thermal efficiency.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/retrofit-to-the-…
# International, Public and community housing, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change, Minimum habitability standards.