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
Inner West rents rise as prices across Sydney record steep increase
Daniel Lo Surdo (No paywall)House rents across Sydney increased by over $20 in the final quarter of 2021, according to a new report confirming the steepest annual increase since 2009. Data from Domain’s December 2021 rental report has revealed that house rents in Sydney jumped a record 9.1 per cent last year, hitting a record high of $600 a week. This increase was also felt in the Inner West (though not as strongly), with annual house rents in the area rising by only 2.7 per cent since the end of 2020. A select few suburbs experienced a more significant increase, with rents in Balmain East and Haberfield jumping by 11.7 and 12.2 per cent respectively. Unit rents also saw an increase, albeit by only one per cent, marking the first annual increase for units in almost four years. The report noted that although rents are rising, the pace of quarterly growth had eased for both houses and units. ... While speaking to City Hub in June, Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the Tenants’ Union of NSW, expressed doubts of the sustainability of a perceived shift in the market, saying that landlords were not offering tenants better maintenance, “longer leases [or] pets by default” in their agreements, adding that “people were being offered basically the same deal, just a little bit less expensive”. (City Hub)
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2022/01/inner-west-rents-rise-as-pr…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market.Rate hike warning makes home owners nervous
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Home owners who have already switched from variable interest-rate mortgages to fixed rates appear to have made the right call. That is particularly so for those who fixed for a term of three years between the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 and September of last year, just before fixed rates started to rise.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/rate-hike-warning-makes-h…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.3 ways to reinvent affordable housing in a post-pandemic world
Jonathon T.M. Reckford (No paywall)When more than 90 countries issued stay-at-home orders during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 1 billion people across the globe sheltered in slums and informal settlements. Yet, these necessary public health measures offer scant defence against this potentially deadly virus if housing conditions are unsafe. The urgency of the pandemic response spotlighted an inescapable truth: chronic lack of safe and affordable housing in both advanced economies and developing nations is one of the biggest drivers of health and wealth disparities in our world. As we grapple with how to adapt to ongoing waves of the virus and move towards rebuilding healthier, more equitable societies, we must expand the global supply of affordable housing by focusing on innovations that champion public health, sustainability and scalability. These three inextricably linked pillars can drive a new global housing framework that creates more equitable access to affordable housing and, as a result, improves health outcomes, fortifies disaster resilience and mitigates environmental impact. (World Economic Forum)
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/reinvent-affordable-housi…
# Must read International, Affordable housing, Climate change, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Health, Housing market, Human rights.Rental ‘tragedy’ pricing out the essential workers who are keeping cities running
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Rents have reached record highs in our biggest cities and many regional areas, leaving lower income earners and essential workers – many of whom are keeping the country going amid surging coronavirus case numbers – struggling to find affordable rental properties. A comparison of Domain rental data and the latest employee earnings data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released on Wednesday, shows not one suburb in NSW or Victoria would be considered affordable for essential workers such as checkout operators, pharmacy sales assistants or kitchen hands. ... Rising rental prices across much of the country - which saw house rents in most capital cities hit record highs in the December quarter - were pushing essential workers further away from workplaces and into poorer quality accommodation, said National Shelter executive officer Adrian Pisarski. ... Nicole Gurran, a professor of urban planning at the University of Sydney, said poor housing affordability meant a not insignificant proportion of key workers were living in overcrowded conditions, which had become a significant risk factor during the pandemic, as it made it more difficult for key workers - who typically cannot work from home - to isolate if they caught COVID-19. ... Farah Farouque, director of community engagement at Tenants Victoria, said there was a real mismatch between where affordable homes were located and where the bulk of jobs were. In addition to concerns about overcrowding, she noted there were reports of priced-out hospitality workers camping along the state’s surf coast, unable to keep up with rapidly climbing demand and rents during the pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/rental-tragedy-pricing-out-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Work, employment.Rain and floods spark black mould warning as victims beg for national standard
Laura Mayers and Rosanne Maloney ABC (No paywall)A family's "nightmare" run of illnesses linked to black mould are part of a wider problem that experts say is adding to fears for the vulnerable during the pandemic. ... Mr Smith, the director of environmental and occupational hygiene company SCAADA Environmental Consultant Services, was determined to find the cause of his family's illnesses. "I opened the re-investigation into the house myself … there was 8,000 times the international standard of mould spores located within our ducted-heating vents. And underneath our sub-floor we had around 40,000 times greater than what the international standard for mould should be. I moved my family out of the house and we never returned." ... "We see so regularly … it's an issue for renters," Mr Smith said. "Real estate agents sometimes just paint over the top of the mould, or they scrub it, so you can't see it." A 2018 Tenants Victoria Biotoxin Inquiry report notes that mould "is an extremely common issue faced by tenants, be it in private or public housing" — however, there are no laws to address the problem. Tenants Victoria has long argued that legislated minimum health, safety and energy efficiency standards for rental properties in the state's Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA) would address many of the issues faced by tenants.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-20/black-mould-warning-after…
# Australia, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, Mould.Build-to-Rent-to-Buy Initiative Launched for At-Risk Women
Phil Bartsch (No paywall)A breakthrough social housing initiative to explore pathways to home ownership for at-risk and vulnerable women has been unveiled. The innovative concept is aimed at developing a build-to-rent-to-buy model to provide women with the ability to transition from renting to ownership. It will involve the identification of potential sites in the Australian Capital Territory and investigate an appropriate funding model. If the pilot proceeds, construction could begin later this year and eventually lead to creating a potentially generational impact for vulnerable and at-risk women and their families throughout Australia. (The Urban Developer)
https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/build-to-rent-to-buy-…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Women."For four days my bedroom didn't drop below 30 degrees": Rosa rents in Perth, she says tenants should have the right to a 'healthy home'
Geoff Hutchinson ABC (No paywall)Rosa Hicks rents in South Fremantle and over the course of the summer she has been tracking the temperature in her bedroom. During Christmas, she told Geoff Hutchison her bedroom didn't not drop below 30 degrees for four days. One in three Australians are renters and Rosa argues it's time for minimum standards to ensure tenants have healthy housing - keeping them warm in winter and cool in summer. (ABC Radio Perth Drive) You also can read Rosa's story in an article by Kate Leaver entitled: 'Should landlords be responsible for keeping tenants cool as Perth swelters through record heat?' at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-22/perth-heatwave-leaves-renters-sweltering/100773520]
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/perth/programs/drive/hot-rentals-ne…
# Audio Australia, Rent, Health, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards.No Name Lane mural transforms crime hotspot in Port Macquarie neighbourhood
Alexandra Jones ABC (No paywall)A community is tackling neighbourhood crime with art in Port Macquarie, or Guruk, as it's known in the Gathang language of the local Birpai people. No Name Lane connects two cul-de-sacs in Guruk's west and used to be a dark, overgrown alley that had become a hotspot for vandalism, violence and drug use. It's now been transformed with a colourful, spray-painted mural celebrating Birpai culture. "People didn't feel safe walking through here, and the alternative was going quite a lengthy way around," said Community Housing Ltd's Steve Neale, who spearheaded the project. ... After consultation with Aboriginal elders, the local council, community groups and residents, the laneway has been cleaned up and the fencing decorated with a design incorporating the seven totems of the Birpai people: an eagle, kangaroo, crab, stingray, three bass, two dolphins and a shark.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-23/birpai-laneway-mural-no-n…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Neighbours, Regional NSW.