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
This Unhinged Rental Ad For A Home Near Byron Bay Has Unaligned Every Single One Of My Chakras
Soaliha Iqbal (No paywall)Sometimes I wonder just how accurate Netflix’s Byron Baes was in its depiction of certain people’s ~spirituality~ but trust me, even our beloved Hannah could not have cooked up this wild rental ad. James Mchenery, who fittingly owns a natural remedies business, shared a rental ad via Facebook of a three-bedroom house on a four-month trial lease in Myocum, near Byron Bay.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/bizarre-northern-rivers-rental-ad/
# NSW, Rent, Landlords and agents.What the rise in inflation means for interest rates and cost of living — and it's not good news
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)We saw a significant development today that means a May rate rise from the Reserve Bank is now a distinct possibility. ... The bottom line? Borrowers locking in fixed rate loans have been seeing higher interest rates for some time, but right now it's those on variable rates that will pay higher monthly bills. ... For a borrower on a variable rate with $500,000 owing, their monthly repayments could rise by $513 by May 2023, if the cash rate gets to 2 per cent as predicted.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-27/inflation-interest-rate-m…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.The federal budget missed a key opportunity, according to property investors
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)While the 2022-23 federal budget was focused primarily on helping owner-occupiers, first-home buyers and those needing affordable housing, many believe more should have been done to support residential property investors too. “There is a real need for more rental accommodation, particularly in the regions where vacancy rates are virtually zero in many areas,” says Max Shifman, national president of the Urban Development Institute of Australia. “We rely partly on investors to provide homes for tenants, but the supply of housing isn’t keeping up with the demand at all. Supply side support and reforms are critical. “So the budget was a missed opportunity to fix the planning system to deliver more new housing and to support the provision of more infrastructure to build on develop-able land.”
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-federal-budget-missed-a…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Vote Compass data shows nearly half of Australians worried about making ends meet
Emily Baker ABC (No paywall)Kaleisha Ivory is used to having to make hard decisions, but at the centre of every one is her daughter, Lillie. The single mum from north-west Tasmania has moved 24 times in about two years, and had to give up her much-loved job in the community sector because of her struggle to find stable accommodation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-25/vote-compass-cost-of-livi…
# Australia, Families, Federal Government, Housing market.Can you still buy a house in Australia for less than half a million?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Inflation figures will be out today and the cost of living is rising fast – especially the cost of housing, one of the largest expenses of any household. So, where can buyers still find an affordable house in a capital city? It sure is slim pickings, but there are a few options out there, albeit – in most cases – far from city CBDs.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/can-you-still-buy-a-house-i…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Developer hit with fresh orders to fix ‘serious defects’ in 10-storey tower
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A large Sydney developer has been ordered to fix serious defects in a 10-storey apartment building in the city’s southwest for the second time in three months. ... The [state's building] watchdog has given developer Toplace 180 days to retrofit and strengthen shoring piles and a capping beam in the Charles Street apartment building, which has about 100 units.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/developer-hit-with-fresh-ord…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Could public housing solve the housing affordability problem?
The Drum ABC (No paywall)In many Australian cities and towns, it's becoming harder and harder for young Australians to purchase a new home. On an average income, it would take over 10 years to save the 20 per cent deposit you need for a typical home. Could public housing provide a solution? Excellent discussion ... runs for just under 20 minute, but it is well worth the time. And, as a bonus, Ellen Fanning, host of the current affairs ABC program, The Drum, writes article entitled: 'Thinking big helped Australia solve a housing crisis in the 1940s. We can do it again' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/24/thinking-big-helped-australia-solve-a-housing-crisis-in-the-1940s-we-can-do-it-again]. She writes: 'Recently on ABC TV’s The Drum, we explored a notion that for decades has preoccupied housing researchers like Chris Martin, senior research fellow in the City Futures Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Martin is convinced by the idea of a massively expanded public housing sector, which could at once wipe out the waiting list and expand the eligibility criteria. “What if you could provide for a range of tenants, from the neediest Australians to essential workers who couldn’t otherwise afford to live close to where they work, right through to middle income earners, unable to afford their own home but able to pay more substantial rents, which would help subsidise the whole system?” he wonders. Expanding the eligibility in this way would help end the problem of a marginalised, shrunken public housing system, wasting away on what Martin calls “starvation rations”.' [Read her full story]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvyOjr6Zy_c&ab_channel=ABCNews%2…
# Must read, Hot topic, Video Australia, Aboriginal renters, Domestic violence, Public and community housing, Rent, Repairs, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Older people, Pets, Regional NSW, Short-term holiday letting, Women.A New Effort in San Francisco Aims To Debate Rent at the Bargaining Table
(No paywall)On April 11, tenant representatives from the Veritas Tenants Association gathered at the mailbox at 150 Larkin St. across the lawn from San Francisco City Hall. They dropped 15 letters to their landlord, Veritas Investments, the largest landlord in San Francisco and the subject of lawsuits alleging tenant harassment, into the mailbox. “We will show what it means to unionize the biggest private landlord in S.F.,” tenant Madelyn McMillian said. “We will be bargaining on a full range of issues affecting our lives.” ... The letters presented majority approval of tenant associations in 15 Veritas buildings and asked that Veritas formally acknowledge the unions under a new San Francisco “Right to Organize” ordinance, which went into effect April 11. It requires landlords to recognize tenant associations in their buildings, attend meetings on request at least four times a year and bargain with tenant unions in good faith. Failing to comply with the ordinance will result in rent deductions. The ordinance was approved unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on March 1 and signed into law by Mayor London Breed in March. (Portside)
https://portside.org/2022-04-20/new-effort-san-francisco-aims-de…
# Must read International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Housing market.