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
'We're homeless after being rejected from 227 rental properties'
Madeline Cox (No paywall)Outside the bedroom where Hayden’s kids slept, water ran down the outside of the house. Inside, thick layers of black mould grew inside the walls – which was so sodden that they could be pulled apart by hand. The humidity inside the room in the Adelaide home was unbearable – with his six-year-old daughter, Carlea-Jane, often sick as a result. But despite the nightmare conditions, it was still better than having nowhere to live, which is the situation that Hayden, his partner Aimee and three kids (who are 9, and six-year-old twins) have now found themselves in. ... With over a month to find somewhere else to live, you might assume that Hayden would have found a new house in time. But sadly, the dad was rejected from an astounding 227 rental properties that he'd applied for. “When we’ve asked for feedback on applications that have been declined, it’s often been, ‘there’s nothing wrong with your application, the landlord just went with someone else’,” he explains. (kidspot,news.com.au)
https://www.kidspot.com.au/news/were-homeless-after-being-reject…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Mould, Personal stories.Kimberley leaders frustrated over Housing Minister meeting amid concerns over 'Third World' conditions
Ted O'Connor and Vanessa Mills ABC (No paywall)Shire presidents from northern WA have expressed frustration and disappointment over a meeting with the state's Housing Minister, saying he did not appreciate the need to urgently address rife overcrowding. Representatives from the Kimberley Regional Group, an alliance of shire councils, met with Housing Minister John Carey earlier this month to lobby for a comprehensive response to widespread concerns over social housing. Throughout the region many Indigenous people live in severely overcrowded conditions in government housing, fuelling social problems and high rates of youth crime. The demand for social and affordable housing far outstrips supply in the Kimberley, and shire presidents stressed to the minister that large-scale investment was needed in the immediate and long term.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-25/kimberley-leaders-frustra…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Housing market.Middle income first-home buyers unable to afford 70 per cent of homes
Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australia’s property price boom has pushed 70 per cent of homes out of reach of first home buyers on middle incomes despite record low interest rates, with those able to buy forced to save for an extra year to have a big enough deposit. A report from the federal government’s National Housing Finance and Investment Corp (NHFIC) also reveals a looming demographic shift that will change the property market, with a surge in the number of single-person and couple-only households. Check out Alex Mitchell's article in 'The New Daily' entitled: 'New housing shortfall "may persist for decade"' which draws on the same report. Go to: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/02/25/new-housing-shortfall-report/] Check Sophie Foster's article in the 'Courier Mail' entitled: 'Housing crisis: 60pc of workers can’t afford 90pc of properties' which also draws on th same report'. Go to' [https://www.realestate.com.au/news/housing-crisis-60pc-of-workers-cant-afford-90pc-of-properties/]. You may read NHFIC's report at: [https://www.nhfic.gov.au/media-resources/media-releases/nhfic-releases-flagship-state-of-the-nations-housing-2021-22-research-report/]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/middle-income-first-home…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Home ownership, Housing market.Fresh approach to Sydney’s industrial land will open up space for homes
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Greater Sydney Commission is preparing to allow more of Sydney’s industrial land to be opened up for housing and other purposes, after conceding its policy of “safeguarding” those sites from redevelopment was too strict.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fresh-approach-to-sydney-s-i…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development.John Barilaro takes executive director role with Sydney property developer
Anne Davies The Guardian (No paywall)Former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro has started working with Sydney property developer Coronation Property, just weeks after leaving parliament. The company, which said it had $1.4bn worth of projects under way, and a further $5bn in the pipeline, will employ Barilaro as its executive director.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/24/john-bari…
# NSW, Housing market, Landlords and agents.The battle for Figtree Hill and the koala corridor
Roe Mary Petrass The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Lendlease must be wary of its next move if it is to maintain its reputation as one of the most sustainable housing companies in the world, environmentalists warn. At Figtree Hill, Gilead, in NSW’s Macarthur region near Campbelltown, south west of Sydney property developer Lendlease began clearing trees after Campbelltown Council gave the green light to begin work on a 1700-home estate early last year. The development is planned to be 100 per cent renewable and all-electric, with a community facility, bike paths, and walking trails. Environmentalists have tried to block the problematic development because the location is the only koala habitat listed in New South Wales as expanding. It also straddles the shortest route between two breeding populations. Koalas were early month finally listed as endangered after a long decline in numbers due to land clearing, catastrophic bushfires and a pervasive chlamydia epidemic. Since 2001 62 per cent of the NSW koala population has been lost.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/building-construction/t…
# NSW, Utilities electricity water gas, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Planning and development.New affordable housing levy in Victoria is limited to multiple dwellings but still developers are not happy
Rose Mary Petrass The Fifth Estate (No paywall)The Victorian government’s plans for a long term funding mechanism to support social and affordable housing has been slammed from the predictable quarters. The plans, under proposed amendments to the Planning and Environment Act 1987 are for some new developments to make a of 1.75 per cent of the market value of: new developments of three or more dwellings; or the subdivision of land that results in three or more new residential lots. The proposed legislative reform will contribute to new social and affordable housing development across Metropolitan Melbourne, Greater Geelong, Ballarat and Greater Bendigo, the government said. ... The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) welcomed the reform. “This a momentous moment for housing policy in Victoria, which will create a sustainable funding mechanism to help house people on very low to moderate incomes across the state”, said PIA Victoria president Gabby McMillan. Social and affordable housing will ensure that people are housed, but also fuels the construction industry and therefore increases access to work and the labour pool.... However, the levy is being criticised by the building and property sectors.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/new-affor…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Anti-social behaviour, Landlords and agents, Tax.Real estate agents caught voting for foreign landlords
Judy Skatssoon (No paywall)Twenty real estate agents have been slapped on the wrist after Victoria’s local government watchdog found they illegally voted in a Melbourne City Council election on behalf of overseas property owners. ... The Local Government Inspectorate looked at 216 ballot papers completed by representatives from 21 real estate agencies and submitted during the 2020 Melbourne City Council election. “During our investigation, 20 agents from 18 of the agencies admitted completing the ballot papers on behalf of landlords whose properties they manage,” the inspectorate said in a statement. This was despite the inspectorate working with Council to contact real estate agencies before the 2020 election to inform them they couldn’t vote on behalf of an owner.
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/real-estate-agents-voted-illeg…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.