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
Does your house make more money than you?
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Homeowners across NSW are making more wealth from their property than from going to work each day as new figures show rapid house price gains have outstripped incomes in most suburbs. House price growth exceeded incomes in more than four in five NSW suburbs last year, new modelling from Domain shows, with price rises in half a dozen pockets surpassing household incomes by more than $1 million.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/does-your-house-make-more-m…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market, Work, employment.Rental struggle deepens for released prisoners as Albany housing dries up
Tim Wong-See ABC (No paywall)It is hard enough to find a rental property in Western Australia's tight market right now, let alone if you're an ex-prisoner. Justine Williams is one of the many people searching for a rental property in Western Australia — but she faces a roadblock. {Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-17/homes-for-released-prison…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing market, Personal stories, Women.Brisbane suburbs forever changed by 'revolutionary' Mater Foundation lottery prize homes
Hailey Renault and Kate O'Toole ABC (No paywall)f you lived in Brisbane a few decades ago, finding home renovation inspiration required little more than a lottery ticket and a weekend road trip. Queuing up to catch a glimpse inside a Mater Prize Home was a popular way to see how the other half lived and discover new design and architecture trends in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. Beyond the front door of each new home was a world of uber-modern architecture, expensive furniture, and perfectly appointed rooms protected from the public by little white chains. Historian Marianne Taylor, who goes by the name The House Detective, said the Mater Sisters of Mercy raffled its first home in 1954 — a modest two-bedroom, fibro "shack" at Surfers Paradise valued at $7,800. Not only was the lottery system a hugely successful fundraiser, Ms Taylor said its homes brought "revolutionary" new ideas about architecture and suburban living to Brisbane.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-20/brisbane-suburbs-revoluti…
# Australia, History, Housing market, Planning and development.Fremantle’s ‘lady who lives in the port’ dies age 89
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Eileen Carmel Mullally, a North Fremantle character who became renowned for her battles to keep living in her cottage as her neighbourhood was swallowed up by industry expansion, has died aged 89. ... Carmel told ABC Perth in 2019 she never really did anything, ‘just refused to sell’.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/fremantle-s-la…
# Australia, Housing market, Personal stories.Where house prices could be in two years if economists are right
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Where would property prices be if they rise a little further and then fall slightly over the next couple of years, as economists expect? Home prices could end up close to current levels or back at the same level as last year, but with the kicker that mortgage repayments will be more expensive. Once the Reserve Bank lifts the cash rate – perhaps as early as June or as late as 2023 – home buyers will be able to borrow less, which could constrain how much they can bid at auction and push prices down. The forecasts come after home values soared in the pandemic, as locked-down buyers armed with crisis-era interest rates chased more spacious accommodation to work from home.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/where-house-prices-could-be…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market.Space Invaders’ Peter Walsh draws the line on serious clutter
Bridget McManus The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The distinction between cluttering and hoarding, [Peter Walsh] says, is that clutterers ... might not be able to eat at their dining room table, so piled is it with domestic detritus, but they still do the washing up and put out the rubbish.
https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/space-invaders-peter…
# Australia, Health, Home.Eviction, hardship, and the housing crisis: Building a more crisis-resilient renting system
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)All people deserve to live with stability and peace of mind, including people who rent their homes. The Tenants’ Union of NSW today published a Special Report entitled: 'Eviction, hardship and the housing crisis: Building a crisis-resilient renting system'. In it, we take a new look at eviction. Moving house is generally considered one of life’s most stressful events: the financial costs, and the stress and anxiety associated with moving are substantial, and these are exacerbated when a household is forced to move – when a household is evicted. Our current renting system relies too heavily on eviction. In many ways we have become complacent about the costs associated with eviction – intervening after the fact, rather than looking to see what a better model or approach might look like. You will find the full report at: [https://www.tenants.org.au/news/tenants-union-nsw-publishes-special-report-eviction-hardship-and-housing-crisis]
https://mailchi.mp/tenants.org.au/special-report-eviction-hardsh…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, No-grounds evictions.Calls for end to ‘no-grounds’ evictions in NSW as lockdown moratorium lifts
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)Eviction costs the average renter more than $4,000 and up to 30% of renters in New South Wales will experience it – often through no fault of their own – according to a new report from the NSW Tenants’ Union. The report, titled Eviction, Hardship, and the Housing Crisis, calculated the costs of eviction to the renter, the landlord and the public more broadly. It found that the average cost of a move ranges from $3,215 for a single-person household in greater Sydney through to $5,400 for a family household in regional NSW. The Tenants’ Union is calling for the NSW state government to abolish “no-grounds” eviction, bolster hardship provisions for renters, and provide landlord insurance, compensation or similar schemes to prevent the need for unnecessary eviction.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/14/calls-for…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, No-grounds evictions.