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
Cheaper petrol, arts cuts, housing affordability and the PM slammed in the Senate
ABC (No paywall)Will cheaper petrol do the trick for Scott Morrison on polling day? Patricia Karvelas and Fran Kelly analyse federal budget week including arts funding cuts, whether the PM is doing enough for renters and that scathing character assessment of the PM by Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/partyroom/cheaper-…
# Audio Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing affordability.New female voices set to shake up Clover Moore’s hold on Sydney city council
Gary Nunn The Guardian (No paywall)When Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, was returned for a historic fifth term in December, not everything went her party’s way. ... The Greens return to the council after a term away. They join a new party (Unite for Sydney, represented by Yvonne Weldon), and two new candidates for a major party (Shauna Jarrett and Lyndon Gannon of the Liberals). ... As deputy chair of the new Housing for All committee, Ellsmore wants the city of Sydney – one of Australia’s wealthiest councils – to do “much more” on affordable housing. “Protecting and growing affordable housing will now be discussed monthly by all councillors.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/03/new-femal…
# NSW, Affordable housing, Local Government.New Zealand Housing Inequality Grinds On
(No paywall)A large number of New Zealanders are facing a perfect storm at retirement, with minimal savings and no house, raising the risk that thousands will enter old age in poverty. ... New Zealanders have traditionally relied on owning a home to support themselves during their retirement years. But many of the New Zealanders now aged between 50 and 65 – a cohort of almost half a million people – will go into retirement as renters after skyrocketing house prices over the last three decades put home ownership out of reach. (Digital Finance Analytics Blog)
https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/new-zealand-housing-ine…
# Video International, Rent, Home ownership, Older people.Australian house prices rise despite stalling values in Sydney and Melbourne
The Guardian (No paywall)A lift in house values in the smallest cities has driven growth across the country, despite stalling values in Sydney and Melbourne. CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index, released on Friday, was up 0.7% in March, driven by stronger conditions in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and the ACT, along with several regional areas. Read the article by Emilia Terzon and Samuel Yang entitled: 'Property boom over in Sydney and Melbourne — but prices still rising elsewhere' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-01/sydney-and-melbourne-house-prices-fall-despite-a-national-growth/100955638]. Also, read Paul Osborne's article entitled: 'Smaller cities lead growth in home values' in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/04/01/smaller-cities-lead-growth-home-values/]
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/01/australia…
# Australia, Housing market.Low deposit scheme expanded, but first-home buyers risk more pain than gain
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Morrison government has significantly expanded the low deposit scheme in the federal budget - a program under which first-home buyers and others can buy new or existing dwellings with a deposit of only 5 per cent (or 2.5 per cent for single parents). But if the forecasts of falling house prices turn out to be correct, first-home buyers who put down a small deposit could soon find themselves in “negative equity”, where the mortgage is larger than the market value of their dwelling.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/low-deposit-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Tenant News
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Tenants' rights after a disaster – new podcast, and lots more ... Our thoughts are with all those suffering in the wake of the devastating floods and storms along the east coast. It has been a heartbreaking disaster. Together with Legal Aid NSW, the Tenants' Union has just published a special episode of our podcast: Tenants' rights and obligations after a disaster. It covers the most common issues faced by renters after a disaster. Read also about a community pulling together; when disaster hits a housing system in crisis; the fire and tragic loss of life at Vajda boarding house in Newtown; and, the Disability Royal Commission.
https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?u=29c79d2825cb376b3f0b06385&id…
# NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Disability.Response to Federal Budget 2022-2023
Shelter NSW (No paywall)A missed opportunity to invest in the security of low-income Australians. Shelter NSW stands with National Shelter in its assessment that that the 2022/23 federal budget continues to ignore the needs of low-income and vulnerable Australians and again fails to invest in social and affordable housing. Ms Emma Greenhalgh, Chief Executive Officer, said that ‘at a time of a national housing emergency, there is nothing on offer from the federal government to address the housing circumstances of households in greatest need’. [Click link to media statement]
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/special-members-bulletin-national-…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.Captured on camera: Shining a light on the hidden lives of social housing residents
SBS (No paywall)More than 800,000 Australians live in social housing, and many are survivors of hardship and loss. A professional photographer is documenting some of their stories, for a book that aims to raise funds and awareness of this little understood community.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/small-business-secrets/article/captu…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Personal stories.