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
Where are the highest rental yields in Australia?
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Sharply rising prices and record low yields in half of our capital cities can make it tough for residential property investors to find reliable returns, but there is hope. ... At the moment, Sydney generally is offering only a 2.6 per cent yield on houses, according to the latest Domain Rent Report, with Melbourne 2.92 per cent, Canberra 3.7 per cent and Hobart 4.15 per cent – all record-breaking lows. Perth has the best on offer at 5.2 per cent, and Darwin is only slightly lower at 5.17 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/where-are-the-highest-renta…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Uncertain outlook for property before international border reopens
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)The property market is back in full swing after slowing down over the final months of 2021.
More homes are going under the hammer than this time last year and about three-quarters of them are finding buyers. House prices are following suit – rising 1.1 per cent nationally in January to end the month 22.4 per cent higher than January 2021. But the future outlook of the property market is clouded by uncertainty.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/02/14/property-…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.House-sitting nomads happy without a home to call their own
Brad Marsellos ABC (No paywall)Relaxing in a spa in the leafy backyard of a coastal timber house near Bundaberg, Keith Murfet looks very at home. The retired truck driver believes he has discovered his personal slice of paradise in Moore Park in what seems like a rolling beach vacation. And the best part of living in paradise is the cost of his accommodation — free. Mr Murfet is a house-sitter and lives rent and mortgage-free looking after homes while their owners travel.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-16/house-sitting-nomads-happ…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Older people.‘It’s not sneaky’: Geelong caravan park offers new homes
Benjamin Preiss The Age (Paywall)Dennis More admits he got carried away when he began widening a canal with an excavator without first obtaining a council permit on his Geelong property in 2005. The property developer said he wanted to create a marina on the 43-hectare site on the shores of Corio Bay, that would eventually form part of a low-scale residential village. ... Now, Mr More is putting new homes up for sale on the site. But don’t call it a residential development. It is officially a caravan park. Because the site is zoned for farming, which permits caravan parks, Mr More is prohibited from subdividing. Instead, he is allowing buyers to purchase dwellings that will have up to three bedrooms and they will then lease the land on which the homes sit. He insists this caravan park arrangement is an innovative use of the land that provides affordable homes, but critics say it’s a blatant attempt to exploit planning law loopholes.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/it-s-not-sneaky-geel…
# Australia, Land lease communities, Planning and development.Strata reform talks ask: Should bodies corporate be able to issue fines for bad behaviour?
Tara Cassidy ABC (No paywall)From Queensland ... A strata reform roundtable is discussing whether bodies corporate should have the power to issue fines to people breaching by-laws in buildings.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-17/strata-reform-looks-into-…
# Australia, Strata.Nursing home residents are paying $800 a week for services they are barely getting
Anna Howe The Conversation (No paywall)Nursing home residents confined to their rooms during COVID are like hypothetical tenants locked in their bedrooms by landlords – unable to take showers, able only to make only sandwiches for meals and cut off from visitors and socialising with fellow residents. If it happened to tenants they would be entitled to stop paying rent, go to an appeals tribunal, or move out. But aged care residents have to keep paying. The Commonwealth has instigated an investigation focusing on death among residents during COVID, but this narrow focus ignores the broader impacts of the pandemic on residents’ quality of life.
https://theconversation.com/nursing-home-residents-are-paying-80…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market, Older people.Wave of expiring fixed-rate loans to inflict homeowner pain
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Large numbers of bank customers who locked in ultra-cheap fixed-interest rate mortgages during the pandemic could face a hefty increase in their repayments next year. The Commonwealth Bank last week provided a rare insight into the bulge of fixed-rate loans that will expire in years ahead, after a bonanza in this type of lending during the past two years.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/wave-of-expiring-fixed-ra…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Home affairs department paid $16,000 to rent senior official’s ACT home through Airbnb
PaulKarp The Guardian (No paywall)The home affairs department paid $16,000 to a senior official to rent his house through Airbnb for staff who needed to quarantine after returning from overseas. The deal was part of a $522,000 program to accommodate returning staff and comply with Australian Capital Territory Covid quarantine requirements.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/14/home-affa…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Short-term holiday letting.