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
More disabled people live in social housing than any other tenure. So why are home adaptations given a low priority?
Paul Smith Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Social housing, more than any other tenure, is where disabled people live. Some 54% of housing association tenants have a long-term illness or impairment and 18% of new lettings are to someone with a defined disability. Yet 56% of those needing adaptations do not have them.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/more-disabled-pe…
# International, Public and community housing, Disability.FOI documents show NT government previously forecast it would not meet target to build 650 remote houses in five years
Kate Ashton ABC (No paywall)Internal documents have revealed the Northern Territory government last year predicted it would miss its deadline to build hundreds of homes aimed at reducing overcrowding in remote Indigenous communities. The Commonwealth in 2019 agreed to provide the NT with more than half a billion dollars over five years to construct 1,950 bedrooms – or the equivalent of 650 homes — in a so-called "milestone" schedule. But letters and other documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) show that, as recently as June last year, the NT government was forecasting it would miss the June 2023 deadline.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-05/remote-housing-nt-governm…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Federal Government, Housing market, State Government.Waterloo South – for the local community?
Andrew Collis (No paywall)WATERLOO: Last month, the NSW government’s redevelopment proposal for Waterloo South was placed on exhibition (until April 29). Since the redevelopment was first announced in December 2015 the process has been slow and frequently disrupted, leaving tenants hurt, confused, sceptical and exhausted. Despite “relocations” being a priority concern for tenants there is still no Waterloo-specific relocation policy. Community Development Project Officer with Counterpoint Community Services, Adam Antonelli, finds this “very disappointing”.
https://southsydneyherald.com.au/waterloo-south-for-the-local-co…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Estate renewal, Planning and development, State Government.‘Time bomb’: Housing problem costing Australia hundreds of millions every year
Sam Clench news.com.au (No paywall)A neglected problem at the core of Australia’s property market is causing increasingly disastrous consequences, new research shows. A dearth of social and affordable housing in Australia is costing communities tens of millions of dollars per year, and placing a “time bomb” at the heart of our economy. That is according to new analysis from Dr Andy Nygaard, an Associate Professor at Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for Urban Transitions. Dr Nygaard’s research suggests insufficient investment in social and affordable housing is now costing the national economy a whopping $676.5 million in foregone social and economic benefits each year. And that cost is set to keep growing, to as much as $1.286 billion by 2036. ... [Kate Colvin, national spokeswoman for Everybody’s Home] said Dr Nygaard’s research showed a lack of investment in affordable housing was “pushing Australians into acute stress and dysfunction.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/time-bomb-hou…
# Research alert Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Families, Federal Government, Housing market.Are Baugruppen the Answer to the Housing Affordability Crisis?
Lloyd Alter (No paywall)From United States ... Housing affordability is a widespread problem and it has only managed to grow during the pandemic. ... But there are alternatives to traditional homeownership, such as Baugruppen—the German word for “building groups” that refers to a principle of collective housing. (Treehugger)
https://www.treehugger.com/baugruppen-housing-affordability-cris…
# International, Share houses, Housing affordability, Housing market.Housing affordability for young people is beyond a crisis — so what do we do now?
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)We've hit a crisis moment for younger Australians on housing affordability. Record property prices forced many into choosing between committing to saving for a home, trying their hand in the stock market or just giving up on home ownership altogether. The whole point of labelling something a "crisis" is to set up a decision-making framework so we can effectively navigate an extraordinary moment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-05/house-prices-affordabilit…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Young people.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.