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
‘Inadequate’ support for aged care as COVID crisis continues
Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The surge workforce organised by the federal government to support Omicron-stricken aged care homes has been labelled “inadequate” and is covering only a fraction of the weekly staffing shortfall, prompting the sector to renew its calls for urgent support from the defence forces.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/inadequate-support-for-a…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Housing market, Older people, Work, employment.Why Falinski is wrong on housing – we’ve got far more supply than we need
Karl Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Minter The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Coalition MP Jason Falinski, chair of the federal government’s Housing Supply and Affordability Inquiry, talks the talk when it comes to housing. “We have created some of the least-affordable housing in the world… it is akin to intergenerational theft.” The government touted the inquiry as a genuine investigation into the cause of Australia’s housing woes. However, Falinski had already decided what the solution was even before the inquiry began. A neutral inquiry would not have included the word “Supply” in the title. Instead it would have focused on affordability – the key issue. ... But here’s some facts that are inconvenient for Falinski’s s narrative. [Read on]
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/why-falin…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Tax.Australia is an over-borrowed building society
Alan Kohler The New Daily (No paywall)Permanent building societies were heavily geared financial outfits, owned by members, that specialised in residential real estate. They were all the rage in the 1980s, until suddenly they weren’t, when interest rates went up. The leader of the pack, Pyramid Building Society, borrowed too much for expensive properties, and when the music stopped in 1989, it couldn’t find a chair and went bust. Then the species went extinct. Oh dear. That’s what Australia is now: A permanent building society that has borrowed too much for expensive properties, is now facing higher interest rates and, as it happens, is about to have an AGM to elect directors.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2022/02/07/real-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.How to build wildfire-resistant communities on the wildland fringe
Jeanne Homer The Conversation (No paywall)From the United States ... Across the West, thousands of people are deciding what to do about homes that have been destroyed by wildfires in recent months. Those planning to rebuild will be looking for ways to make their new homes and neighborhoods as fire-resistant as possible.
https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-wildfire-resistant-comm…
# International, Minimum habitability standards.Australian power prices now 'among lowest in the world' as renewable energy drives costs down
Daniel Mercer ABC (No paywall)A flood of renewable energy has helped drive down household power prices to their lowest levels in almost a decade, according to a report which suggests Australia has some of the cheapest electricity in the world. ... According to the Australian Energy Council, Australian households were paying the 10th lowest rate among the world's advanced economies for every unit of electricity they used.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-03/renewables-make-power-pri…
# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change.Advancing housing justice protects public safety too
Gustavo Rivera and Jessica González-Rojas (Paywall)From New York ... We represent Queens and the Bronx in the Legislature. In our home districts, immigrants, people of color, and New York’s essential workers struggle to cover their housing costs while gentrification and eviction run rampant. Earlier this month, New York’s eviction moratorium lapsed. Across New York City, more than 200,000 eviction cases will begin to move forward — 35% of them in the Bronx and 18% of them in Queens. We have helped countless constituents apply for our state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, but ERAP has run dry. Despite a multi-billion-dollar backlog in rent, last month the federal government awarded New York State just $27 million to address this crisis. Gov. Hochul has written to leaders of Congress and the president, calling on them to send $1.7 billion more in necessary rental relief to New York. We urge President Biden to heed this call. ... There are two bills before the Legislature that, together, will ensure a just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by helping tenants stay housed and providing necessary relief to low-income New Yorkers who cannot pay the rent. Good cause eviction legislation would require landlords to have a good reason (such as non-payment of rent) to pursue eviction and prohibits raising the rent by an unreasonable amount. This bill will provide due process for renters as eviction cases begin to move forward. It would protect tenants from real estate speculation and discriminatory evictions. As landlords are seeking double-digit rent increases, it would give tenants a tool to fight back. We are eager to see it become law.
(NY Daily News)
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-housing-justice-publ…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, No-grounds evictions, Race and ethnicity.Crowded in and squeezed out
Maani Truu ABC (No paywall)The Central Coast, according to some, is quickly becoming part of Sydney’s outer suburbs. But as skyrocketing house prices push Sydneysiders north, who’s being priced out? ... Recently one topic of concern has surpassed all others: skyrocketing property prices. In Umina Beach, one of the closest beachside suburbs to Sydney, the median property price for a standalone house has jumped from $415,000 in 2013 to $1.04 million in 2021, according to property website realestate.com.au. Similar booms are taking place across the region. Much of this growth has happened over the past few years, with increasing prices in Sydney, proximity to the city and the pandemic push to working from home making the Central Coast an attractive option for Sydneysiders.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-07/sydney-migration-central-…
# NSW, Families, Home ownership, Housing market, Regional NSW.Why are soaring property prices left out of inflation figures?
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)What is inflation? What does it have to do with the cost of living? And how come soaring property prices aren't included in the official inflation figure? ... the CPI tracks the prices of more than 100,000 goods and services in the economy every year. However, it only tracks the prices of things households buy from other sectors. It doesn't track the prices of things households sell to each other. ... if someone buys an already-existing home from someone else, that won't be included in inflation calculations.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-06/why-are-soaring-property-…
# Australia, Housing market.