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
I’m a single mum living in a sharehouse with other mums
Wilhelmina Ford SBS (No paywall)Welcome to ‘mummunes’ - communities of mothers deciding to live together for support and friendship. ... I am a naturally outgoing and independent woman. I owned my own house on the Central Coast, NSW, from where I ran a successful dog training and boarding business. Leaving an unhappy relationship had far-reaching consequences for me because all in one go I no longer had my house and my business and I was on my own with two small children under two years of age. I decided to initially rent a home while I considered where to buy. Was I in for a shock!
https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/family/article/2020/01/07/i…
# NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Women.Northern Territory government failing to inform prospective buyers about cyclone risks in Bellamack homes
Jesse Thompson and Jano Gibson ABC (No paywall)With an asking price of about $400,000, it looked to Kevin Pattemore like a worthy investment for what would be his first home. ... But unbeknownst to Mr Pattemore, it was one of 18 homes whose owners had been warned by the government to evacuate in the event of a cyclone just six months earlier. All of the homes had been built by the same builder, using the same design and as part of the same government-backed affordable housing scheme in the Palmerston suburb of Bellamack. However, instead of experiencing the great Australian dream, many of those who moved into the homes watched anxiously as their properties became increasingly riddled with problems. What started as cracked tiles, rusting fittings and water infiltration later became so serious that the government began demolishing some of the homes late last year. The drastic action was taken after a government-commissioned engineering report — obtained by the ABC — warned that some of the properties could be at risk of collapse during extreme weather.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-08/nt-home-buyers-potentiall…
# Australia, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Planning restrictions, not investors pushing up prices: housing affordability chair
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Planning restrictions and developer levies imposed by state and local governments that push up the cost of new homes have drawn criticism from the chair of a federal inquiry into housing affordability as he defended the role of investors in the property market. Liberal MP Jason Falinski says some of the biggest factors pricing young and low-income people out of the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets tend to relate to supply rather than high demand.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/planning-restrictions-no…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Young people.No one is buying the new Great Australian Dream, which is precisely the point
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Owning your home has always been the Great Australian Dream, but the newfound popularity of apartment and townhouse complexes built specifically to rent is creating new generations of people happy to live in properties they’re not buying. With an increasing volume of build-to-rent (B2R) homes and projects coming onto the market, the new tenants range from young people starting out to downsizers relinquishing big houses to either release equity or try the apartment lifestyle. Developers building blocks of apartments specifically to rent out, and managing them themselves, is nothing new in the US, Europe and the UK, but they’re a comparatively recent arrival in Australia. Although rents are usually slightly higher than the suburb medians, they’re often in big demand because they offer tenants long contracts and security of tenure, dedicated managers to foster the sense of community and a much wider-than-usual range of amenities. These can include gyms, pools, co-working spaces, kids’ playrooms, communal dining rooms, gardens and cinemas, while tenants can make minor alterations to suit themselves and keep pets.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/no-one-is-buying-the-new-gr…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.$20m trial helps more than 1000 temporary visa holders escape domestic violence
Katina Curtis The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A $20 million trial program has helped more than 1000 women and men on temporary visas in Australia escape violent homes in its first 10 months of operation. The federal government pilot, run by the Red Cross, offers up to $3000 to people on temporary visas for accommodation, medical or other support they need to leave an abusive relationship. ... Encouraged by its early success, the government extended the trial by a year in the May budget and set up a similar scheme for all domestic violence victims in October. The broader program, via UnitingCare, offers escaping-violence payments of up to $1500 in cash and a further $3500 to cover things like rental bonds or school fees to help anyone leaving a violent relationship.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/20m-trial-helps-more-tha…
# Australia, Bond, Domestic violence, Federal Government, Housing market.Millennial Finally Surrenders To The Housing Crisis And Channels Her Energy Into The Rental Crisis
Effie Bateman (No paywall)A millennial who long ago gave up hopes of ever owning a property has now had to contend with something she never thought she’d experience in her lifetime– a rental crisis. ... The Gold Coast local blames the sudden influx of people fleeing from Sydney and Melbourne for her struggles, which has even the shittest properties netting a premium rent. (The Betoota Advocate)
https://www.betootaadvocate.com/uncategorized/millennial-finally…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.'I must dig’: Meet Zhang Wang, Christchurch’s persistent gardener
Oliver Lewis (No paywall)Wang was away when the digger arrived. She had a hospital appointment that morning to get her hearing aids and ears checked, then she went shopping. When she got back, large parts of her creation had been turned to dirt. ... After [Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (ŌCHT)], her landlord dug up her prized garden, Zhang Wang was despondent. Then the help started pouring in. It may take years to restore what she lost, but out of a garden's destruction came something special.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/05-01-2022/i-must-dig-meet-zhan…
# International, Privacy and access, Public and community housing, Personal stories.Some loved it, others hated it. Either way, the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant was 'life-changing'
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)It was one of the biggest stimulus injections the housing industry had ever seen. The Morrison government's HomeBuilder program enabled eligible owner-occupiers substantially renovating or building a new home to apply for grants. ... The scheme – together with record low interest rates that enabled more Australians to borrow money — saved the housing industry during the pandemic. ... For many first-time buyers the grant was an avenue towards owning their dream home. [But] for others, the lure of grants, which they never succeeded in getting, sent them into a world of misery and debt.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-07/homebuilder-grant-housing…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.