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
What will happen to house prices after the election?
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)House prices may have risen after the 2019 election, but this time around a post-vote downturn is expected as mortgage holders face the first of many interest rises after they go to the ballot box on May 21. Not all areas of the country are expected to see price corrections, though, with more affordable regional centres and the Brisbane and Adelaide markets likely to hold steady, experts say.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/what-will-happen-to-house-p…
# Australia, Housing market.New research commences as part of the 2022 National Housing Research Program
AHURI (No paywall)AHURI is very pleased to announce a suite of research projects funded through the 2022 National Housing Research Program (NHRP). In all, this year’s program has funded one Inquiry (with four supporting research projects); 12 stand-alone research projects, and one Priority project – a fast-tracked research project focussed on housing policy responses during the pandemic. [Read on]
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/news/New-research-commences-as…
# Research alert Australia, Aboriginal renters, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Disability, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Planning and development, Women.Lack of housing options leaves flood-affected Northern Rivers residents in limbo
Leah White ABC (No paywall)Northern Rivers residents whose homes were destroyed by record-breaking floods say a lack of funding for long-term housing options has left many in limbo without a way to move forward. ... Of the more than 14,000 buildings assessed so far across the seven Northern Rivers local government areas since February 28, state government disaster recovery body Resilience NSW said 8,359 are damaged, 3,585 are uninhabitable and 754 had water above the ceiling. ... [Lismore Labor MP Janelle Saffin] has been calling for a Reconstruction Commission to oversee the flood recovery with one chain of command that included all levels of government. "It's still agency by agency, department by department and no cohesive body driving it and making sure that no-one's left behind," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-14/flood-affected-northern-r…
# NSW, Federal Government, Housing market, Regional NSW, State Government.Gazumping, lenders mortgage insurance and all the other things I learned the hard way in buying my first home
Amelia Bernasconi ABC (No paywall)It's no secret that buying a house is a real challenge in 2022. For me, saving the deposit may have been the least stressful step in the whole process — although it obviously took plenty of time. My hometown of Scone, in the beautiful Hunter Valley, New South Wales, hasn't escaped the property boom taking hold in regional Australia. So, as a 24-year-old who'd lived independently for five or more years, I moved back into my childhood bedroom for about five months as I went on a house hunt at the market's all-time high. (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/first-home-buying-in-scone-gazum…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market, Regional NSW.Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic housing policy responses
Chris Leishman, Fatemeh Aminpour, Emma Baker, Andrew Beer, Adam Crowe, Zoë Goodall, Ella Horton, Keith Jacobs, Laurence Lester, Sofia Torchia, Duncan Maclennan, Chris Martin, Meredith Nash, Hal Pawson, Steven Rowley, Wendy Stone and Rachel Ong ViforJ AHURI (No paywall)This research reviewed Australia’s COVID-19 housing policy responses to better understand their intervention approach, underlying logic, short and long term goals, target groups and level of success. It considered literature and policy from Australia and a small number of international comparator policies; conducted online surveys of landlords and of economists; and consulted key stake holders. [Read on ... Click the link to 'Executive Summary'.]
# Research alert Australia, Eviction, Rent, Tribunal NCAT, Landlords and agents.Peter's renting story
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Last week was #MyRentedHome social media week of action! Here's Peter's renting story.
You can read Kaye's renting story at: [https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/kayes-renting-story].
You can read Sarah's renting story at: [https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/sarahs-renting-story].
You can read Catherine's renting story at: [https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/catherines-renting-story].
You can read Greer's renting story at: [https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/greers-renting-story]
Landlords easily evaded COVID eviction bans, housing study reveals
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Pandemic-era private rental assistance measures had only modest outcomes, new research has found, after some landlords decided government help was not worthwhile. Eviction moratoriums were easily evaded by landlords, meaning tenants moved out if they could not pay rent. There was also significant underspending in most rent-relief schemes, a report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, released on Friday, uncovered. You can read about the full report at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/376]
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/landlords-easily-evaded-cov…
# Research alert Australia, Eviction, Rent, Tribunal NCAT, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents.Salvation Army's National Social Justice Stocktake Report says housing affordability the highest concern for Hunter region electorates
Sage Swinton Newcastle Herald (Paywall)Housing affordability is a concern for almost two thirds of residents in the Hunter electorate who were surveyed for a new social justice report. The Salvation Army's National Social Justice Stocktake Report says that while mental health was the number one concern Australia-wide, housing affordability topped the result for the local electorates of Hunter, Newcastle, Paterson and Shortland. ... Alcohol and drug misuse was the next most concerning issue for the four communities, with residents in Hunter the most concerned about this issue (46.4 per cent) out of the local electorates, while domestic violence and homelessness were other concerns mentioned. ... Hunter Tenants and Advocacy service Nicole Grgas said the concern about housing in particular was no surprise. "We're not seeing any reduction in housing stress," she said. "The situation is becoming really desperate. Not only for people on low incomes - rent is taking up more and more of people's incomes." She said the widespread housing stress was "a symptom of a failure to plan for changes in demographics". "We've known for a long time we need more affordable housing and social housing where there is growth in population," she said. "There just seems to be small pots of funding to fix the problem." If you hit a paywall, try you will catch part of this article at: [https://www.singletonargus.com.au/story/7689211/housing-cost-regions-biggest-issue-survey/] You can download the National Report and reports by State/Territory and Electorates at: [https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/socialjusticestocktake/]
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/7687113/housing-cost-re…
# NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Regional NSW.