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
Foreign investment in Australian homes falls to 15-year low
Lucy Macken Domain (No paywall)Foreign investment in Australian residential real estate fell to its lowest level in more than 15 years after the pandemic forced the closure of Australia’s borders last financial year. There were a paltry 4384 residential real estate approvals in the 12 months to June last year totalling $10.4 billion, a drop of $6.7 billion worth of investment on the year prior.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/foreign-investment-in-austr…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.House price squeeze: 'I bid dozens of times but lost'
Natalie Sherman BBC (No paywall)As home prices in the US surge at record rates, the American Dream is moving out of reach. Ethan put in more than two dozen offers on homes after starting his house hunt in Phoenix, Arizona in 2020. But as competition heated up, prices in the sprawling desert city jumped 14% in 2020 and then another 32% last year, finally pushing him out of the market. "It was just absolute insanity," says the 29-year-old statistician, who was repeatedly beaten out by buyers offering cash. "At this point, there's no plan to get back into the market unless something drastic happens," he adds. "If you're not in it right now, it's tough to get in."
# International, Rent.Unemployment is falling quickly, so why are so many people still struggling?
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Australia's labour market is tightening. The unemployment rate is declining, and it's headed down to 1970s levels. Job vacancies are at record highs and the number of officially "unemployed" people per vacancy has fallen to 1.6, the lowest on record. So why are so many people still struggling to find work? It has to do with the labour market itself. ... Since becoming unemployed, [Ashlie Stevenson's] applied for hundreds of roles but has rarely heard back from employers. You have to make choices between medicine and food, rent and food," she told the ABC this week. "Choices that, in Australia, you shouldn't have to make." Ms Stevenson has been on the waiting list for public housing for the last seven years and she has spent the last two without a permanent place to sleep.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-10/unemployment-is-falling-q…
# Australia, Rent, Work, employment.The Housing Podcast: what is behind the rising number of disrepair claims being brought against social landlords?
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Over the past year, the issue of disrepair in social housing properties has risen in prominence to become one of the country’s key social issues. This has been brought to light by a long-term ITV News investigation which has featured cases where residents have been living in appalling conditions. These case studies have painted a picture where tenants have been ignored by their landlords for months, or sometimes years.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/the-housing-podcast-what-is…
# Audio International, Public and community housing, Repairs.Mountain View landlords aren't registering units with the city, prompting calls for more enforcement
Kevin Forestieri (No paywall)From the United States ... Mountain View's Rental Housing Committee agreed last week to consider new ways to get property owners to register rental units with the city, a requirement that has gone ignored by many landlords. Under the city's rent control program, property owners are required to be transparent about their rental units and provide information including current rents, latest rent increases and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in each home. But compliance with the mandate has been low, with only about 30% to 35% of landlords reporting this information to the city. (Mountain View Voice)
https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2022/04/07/mountain-view-landlords…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents.Renters to hold protests across England this weekend over ‘broken system’
Liam Geraghty (No paywall)Rent union ACORN and campaign group Social Housing Action Campaign are both holding rallies on Saturday to protest against rising rents, housing conditions and evictions. Hundreds of people will hit the streets across England on Saturday in a rent protest over the country’s “broken” rental system.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/renters-to-hold-protests-a…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.Landlord’s insane texts to Sydney couple after simple request
news.com.au (No paywall)A young couple have been left shocked by the text messages they received from their landlord after making an extremely common request. Trying to find a rental property in one of the most expensive cities in the world is stressful on the best of days, but add an uncooperative ex-landlord into the mix and things get even more difficult.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/landlords-in…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Cash-strapped battlers can no longer afford repairs on houses as maintenance costs soar
Frazer Pearce ABC (No paywall)Routine maintenance jobs, like fixing a leaking roof or rotten stairs and painting, are out of reach for a growing number of cash-strapped Queenslanders as labour shortages and material price hikes bite. The situation has been compounded by the February floods in south-east Queensland and the ongoing deluge in New South Wales, adding further pressure to an already stressed building industry. It has prompted the Council On The Ageing (COTA) to call on the Queensland government to prioritise funding in the next state budget and extend home maintenance subsidies to those who need it most. "The cost of steel and timber and other supplies have gone through the roof … and that's also impacting on the repair side of things too and there's also a shortage of skilled tradespeople," COTA Queensland chief executive Mark Tucker-Evans said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-09/house-repair-crisis-as-ma…
# Australia, Repairs, Home ownership, Older people.