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
Population, house prices spike as Victorians run to the regions
Benjamin Preiss The Age (Paywall)Most people who move to the regions love it. New research indicates internal migration has become a long-term trend. Most people who move from Melbourne revel in the lifestyle benefits, including being closer to nature.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/population-house-pri…
# Australia, Housing market, Regional NSW.Perth’s troubled building boom: Pay more to finish, even more to get out
Peter Milne The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Some Perth builders are asking customers to absorb enormous cost increases and charging even more to terminate a contract, as demand for materials and labour skyrockets and causes chaos for builders and buyers alike. The situation is crushing some budding homeowners who have already gone to their financial limits with the initial contract.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-s-troubl…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Pleas for NSW flood survivors with disability to be prioritised for urgent housing, care
Bruce MacKenzie and Samantha Turnbull ABC (No paywall)Toynera Macgregor and her 16-year-old son Annan are homeless after floods swamped their Lismore rental. They expect to have a tougher time than most finding a suitable place to live in northern NSW. Annan lives with autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, an intellectual disability, and uses a wheelchair. "It took a year to find this [now flooded] place because there's a serious problem with affordable, wheelchair-accessible social housing," Ms Macgregor said. Disability service providers and advocates are joining her in calling on governments to urgently prioritise the needs of flood survivors living with disability. ... Ms Macgregor said the trauma of evacuating from a flooded home was exacerbated by being unable to live in accommodation such as an evacuation centre. ... NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet fronted media in Lismore on Thursday to outline details of a $551 million housing strategy for the region. He said the needs of people living with disabilities were covered by the plan.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-11/flood-survivors-with-disa…
# NSW, Affordable housing, Disability, Homelessness, State Government.‘We must separate the idea of house from home’: the case for drastic action on shelter
Tone Wheeler The Guardian (No paywall)How does Australia change from an investment-property-owning gerontocracy to a home-for-all loving nation? It’s time for radical reform. Inequality is the greatest threat to our society, and nowhere is that inequality more evident than in housing. The rich get richer with ever more houses; the poor get rent stress or homelessness. And inequality will only grow with the rising incidence of housing crises resulting from natural disasters like fire and flood.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/13/we-must-s…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Home, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Tax.2022 National Housing Conference shines post-COVID
AHURI News AHURI (No paywall)The 2022 National Housing Conference (NHC), delayed by six months and moved 1600 kilometres from its planned location in Brisbane due to the COVID-19 pandemic, made a triumphant return in Melbourne last week. From Wednesday 2 to Friday 4 March, close to 1300 delegates (over 800 in the room and almost 500 online) from a broad range of sectors came together to learn the lessons for the housing sector from the pandemic and other external challenges, and importantly, to re-connect with friends and colleagues, old and new. {Read the full report]
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/news/2022-National-Housing-Con…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Climate change, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Race and ethnicity, Women.Pressure grows on Airbnb to permit long-term rentals as NSW floods worsen housing crisis
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Airbnb has announced plans to provide free short-term accommodation for flood-affected residents in the northern rivers, as pressure mounts on the company to switch its model and offer long-term rentals at market prices for homeless people. Before the floods, the area was already suffering a housing crisis, with 2,300 homes needed to take the heat out of the market and create what would be considered a healthy vacancy rate. Now it will be felt acutely, with early calculations showing more than 2,195 houses have been rendered uninhabitable because of the floods. More than 6,260 Airbnbs are operating in the area, according to the open source data tool Inside Airbnb. Of those, 4,006 (64%) had a high availability rate, meaning they were available to tourists most of the year and unlikely to be an owner-occupier renting out their home occasionally.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/10/pressure-…
# NSW, Rent, Short-term holiday letting.NSW pledges $551 million in flood support
Farid Farid (No paywall)People whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by the unprecedented flood crisis in NSW will benefit from a half a billion dollar support package. (The Macleay Argus) Also, check out the link at: [https://www.nsw.gov.au/floods/financial-support].
https://www.macleayargus.com.au/story/7652351/nsw-pledges-551-mi…
# NSW, Housing market, State Government.Flood damage bill will be 'extraordinary' as extra cash flows for clean-up
ABC (No paywall)More than $550 million in extra funding from federal and state government's has been announced for flood affected communities. The funds are targeting temporary housing, and local government areas will receive money for removal of flood and storm related damage, debris and green waste. ... About 20 motor homes will leave Sydney today to be used as temporary accommodation for flooded affected residents in northern NSW. They are part of a temporary housing package announced by the federal and state governments yesterday. Other key elements include a 16-week rental support program and money for temporary pods so people can stay on their land while rebuilding.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-11/extra-cash-flows-in-for-n…
# NSW, Homelessness, State Government.