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
Reserve Bank holds interest rates for now but home owners brace for mortgage shock
Michael Janda and Emilia Terzon ABC (No paywall)The Reserve Bank has left the official cash rate on hold near zero, but borrowers are already bracing for what life may look like with higher mortgage interest rates. ... The Reserve Bank's benchmark interest rate has been at 0.1 per cent since November 2020 ... However, most analysts expect an interest rate rise by August, with some expecting the first rate increase in June, and a few even suggesting it could happen next month.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-05/reserve-bank-holds-intere…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Thousands of properties are at risk from rising sea levels and tides. Here's how to protect yourself against coastal erosion and inundation
Maani Truu ABC (No paywall)Wild swells have battered the NSW coast over the weekend, with Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach disappearing beneath raging ocean. ... And it's not just in NSW. Rising sea levels are posing a risk for properties all across Australia — now and many decades into the future. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — the most comprehensive report on climate change ever released — estimates a sea level rise of up to 55 centimetres by the end of the century, while not ruling out a two-metre increase in the same period.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-06/how-to-avoid-damage-sea-l…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market.Australia’s first-home buyers urged to ‘go in with eyes wide open’ about future rate rises
Jodyn Beazley The Guardian (No paywall)The Reserve Bank governor, Philip Lowe, in February urged people to be prudent with their borrowing and to build a buffer to withstand an increase in mortgage repayments, given interest rate rises this year are “plausible”. Financial experts are also warning people entering the home guarantee scheme to “go in with their eyes wide open”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/06/australia…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Airbnb slams Christchurch's new house sharing rules as 'most restrictive in Australasia'
Tina Law (No paywall)New Zealand is impeding some consent requirements and up front processing fees to enable local councils to get back some degree of control and management of whole unhosted homes used for tourist letting. Predictably the big platforms are complaining about complexity and cost, it couldn’t be any simpler. ... New rules governing Airbnb-style accommodation in Christchurch are being described as “the most restrictive and outdated” home-sharing laws in Australasia, but others say the rules do not go far enough. People who rent out properties as unhosted visitor accommodation in residential areas will now have to obtain a resource consent, which will cost at least $1000 but will not expire. Christchurch City Council made the decision last week following a lengthy process to change the District Plan. ... Auckland Council and Queenstown Lakes District Council have also passed legislation to introduce higher rates and tighter regulations on short-term accommodation.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128264975/airbnb-slams-christch…
# International, Rent, Housing market, Local Government, Short-term holiday letting.When will interest rates rise and how high will they go?
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)It's the key question for several million mortgage borrowers: When will the Reserve Bank start raising interest rates and how high will they go? Unfortunately, there's no clear answer. It was only months ago that the Reserve Bank was still hinting that rates probably wouldn't rise until 2024. That's long since been blown out of the water, and now it's considered a near certainty that rates will rise this year, the only doubt being exactly when.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-06/when-will-interest-rates-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.‘Buy a house’: is Scott Morrison living in the same country as the rest of us?
Benjamin Clark Crikey (No paywall)The prime minister's comments, and his government's lack of rental legislation, show a disconnect with the Australian public. ... But Morrison’s comments, and his government’s lack of rental relief policies, illustrate a specific prejudice shared by many federal politicians: they look down upon renters. They routinely treat renting as a brief waystation on the road to home ownership, instead of a long-term way of life for millions of Aussies that ought to be improved. This is despite an increasing proportion (more than a third) of Australians renting their homes, for longer periods, due to skyrocketing house prices.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/04/01/renters-go-buy-a-house-scot…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.One tenant’s view on the Social Housing Regulation Bill
Steve Southwell Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... One of the key factors mentioned in the bill is that of empowerment and of holding landlords to account, and the strengthening of consumer standards to ensure that the challenges are met. We will have the support of the regulator and it, along side the Housing Ombudsman, will play a vital role in the support provided to residents when things don’t quite go to plan.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/one-tenants-view…
# International, Public and community housing.Reserve bank rate hike will hit recent home buyers, hospitality industry
Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Higher interest rates are a certainty for Australian homeowners but economists say most will be able to weather the rise ... Grattan Institute economist Brendan Coates said people who bought recently will be hit hardest by interest rate rises.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/reserve-bank-rate-hike-w…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.