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
‘What have I done?’: How buying a mouldy house gave Linda a fresh start
Brigid Blackney Domain (No paywall)Although she insists there’s still work to be done, Linda Christall’s charming cottage in the Sunshine Coast hinterland has undergone an impressive transformation over the past decade. It was an unloved, mouldy “removal house” from Ipswich when Christall bought it and had it brought to her one-hectare block near Pomona (a small town about 40 minutes from Noosa), before embarking on a “hugely mind-blowing” overhaul – most of which she did with her own hands.
https://www.domain.com.au/living/how-buying-a-mouldy-house-gave-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Mould.‘Historic’ drop in supply of new Sydney homes prompts shortage warning
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Sydney is in the grip of a historic drop in new housing supply, driven by a collapse in apartment developments, which could exacerbate the city’s shortage and push up prices just as population growth is poised to increase post-pandemic. ... Planning Department records show fewer than 30,000 homes were completed in Greater Sydney in 2020-21, down from more than 42,000 in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and well below the Greater Sydney Commission’s rough target of 36,000 a year. ... The Planning Department said it had approved 31 of 33 local housing strategies in metropolitan Sydney, but councils themselves were responsible for monitoring their progress against targets. “We recognise that housing affordability is at the forefront of everyone’s mind and the NSW government is exploring ways to help alleviate this pressure as a priority,” a spokeswoman said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/historic-drop-in-supply-of-n…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.February 2022 News
Shelter NSW (No paywall)In this month's edition:
Shelter NSW priorities for the NSW Budget 2022-2023
Sydney Alliance Solidarity Seminars: Housing Presentation
Australia’s National Housing and Homelessness Agreement under review
Old school advocacy – Shelter’s Regional Housing report mailout
Shelter NSW submission - Draft Pyrmont Peninsula sub-precinct master plans
20 Year Vision for the Central Coast and Hunter – get involved
New Research! International Students Housing Survey
Tenants’ Union report – eviction, hardship and the housing crisis
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/shelter-nsw-february-2022-ebulleti…
# NSW, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, Federal Government, Planning and development, Regional NSW, State Government, Students.Khan to fund council officer training to tackle rogue landlords
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)The mayor of London is funding a new qualification to train council housing enforcement officers in how to clamp down on rogue landlords in the private rented sector (PRS). The course, Advanced Professional Certificate in Private Sector Housing, is a foundation-degree level qualification to train officers with little or no relevant experience up to the standard needed to carry out the duties of a PRS enforcement officer. The qualification, which will be delivered by Middlesex University, forms part of the mayor’s Better Renting programme, which aims to build skills and capacity across the capital’s PRS enforcement teams. ... Learners spend time both in the classroom and working in council enforcement teams as environmental health officers. They also develop tenancy sustainment skills to allow them to mediate and resolve issues between landlords and tenants and better support tenants facing evictions and potential homelessness. Sadiq Khan said: “This new qualification will give councils across London the workforce and expertise to mediate disputes, enforce standards and crack down on the rogues who give the many honest operators in the sector a bad name.”
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/khan-to-fund-council-o…
# International, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Local Government.Victoria to impose $800m levy on property developers to fund social housing
Benita Kolovos The Guardian (No paywall)Developers will be forced to help fund the construction of social housing in Victoria through a new levy that has been described as “fantastic” by advocates for homeless people but which the property industry says will worsen housing affordability. From 1 July 2024, new Victorian developments of three or more dwellings and lot subdivisions of three or more must contribute 1.75% of the as-if-complete market value to a social housing growth fund.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/18/victoria-…
# New policy announcement Australia, Public and community housing, Housing affordability, State Government.Tenants struggling to find homes while houses sit empty
Benedict Bartl (No paywall)Every week it seems like there is another media story of someone crying out for a roof over their head or worried about unsustainable rent increases. Over the last five years, rents across Greater Hobart have increased by 45 per cent and the number of people waiting on our social housing waiting list has blown out by 50 per cent. In response, the Government went to the State Election promising record investment in social housing including building 3500 new social housing properties by 2027. But, there are currently 4388 social housing applicants meaning that most will be waiting at least two years for their home to be built and even if the Government was to meet its election commitment there would still be almost one thousand people in need of housing. ... Another reform that the State Government must act on is empty homes. Amid a housing crisis, empty homes cannot be allowed to gather dust. We must encourage owners with empty homes to return them to the long-term rental market. (Tenants Union of Tasmania) You can read ABC News's Fiona Blackwood's article entitled: 'Thousands of homes left empty in Tasmania despite critical rental shortage' at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-18/taswater-data-shows-thousands-of-homes-left-empty-/100840790]
http://tutas.org.au/tenants-struggling-to-find-home-while-homes-…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Homelessness, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Short-term holiday letting, Tax.Could governments do more to help people buy a home without pumping or sinking house prices?
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)They say desperate times call for desperate measures, and perhaps that's the situation Australian home ownership finds itself in. Once a dream, fulfilled by most, it's become a nightmare, unattainable for many. In 1981, more than 60 per cent of young Australians aged between 25-34 owned a home. The latest census figures from 2016 show that had dropped to just 45 per cent. The figures are far worse for the poorest 40 per cent of that age group, where ownership rates once barely lagged the general population, at 57 per cent, but have since more than halved to 28 per cent. In fact, ownership rates have declined for every income quintile in all age groups under 65, but the biggest declines have been amongst those who are younger and poorer, especially those who can't draw on the bank of mum and dad. ... Brendan Coates is proposing a somewhat radical solution. Instead of just giving grants or stamp duty concessions to first home buyers, which generally get soaked up in even higher prices, he wants the federal government to step in as a co-owner for lower-income Australians. ... [Grattan Institute's economic policy program director Brendan] Coates is proposing that the government's National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) would co-purchase up to 30 per cent of the home value. In return, NHFIC would get an equivalent share of the home's equity. Read Brendan Coates's opinion piece in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/federal-government-should-run-a-national-shared-equity-scheme-20220219-p59xvw.html] Read his blog at: [https://grattan.edu.au/news/levelling-the-playing-field-its-time-for-a-national-shared-equity-scheme/]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-21/could-governments-do-more…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Young people.Unfortunately another landlord reference update ...
Tom Cashman (No paywall)Very unfortunate! Was this because of the reference request, or something unrelated? With our unregulated and untransparent system of tenancy applications, you just never know why you're unsuccessful in finding a home. We can do better!
https://www.tiktok.com/@tom.cashman/video/7065517898814491905?is…
# Video NSW, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Personal stories.