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
Welsh Budget: government to spend more than £1bn on new social homes over next three years
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)In its draft Budget published today, the Welsh government said it will spend £310m in Social Housing Grant in 2022-23, up from £250m this year. The Budget also confirmed plans to spend £330m on Social Housing Grant in 2023-24 and £325m in 2024-25. A further £35m will be spent over the next three years on the Welsh government’s Land for Housing scheme, which helps housing associations buy land. Together, this makes up a capital investment of more than £1bn over the next three years to support the government’s target of building 20,000 low-carbon social homes by the end of this parliament.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/welsh-budget-government-to-…
# International, Public and community housing, Housing market.Indigenous grandmother gets secure housing in Coffs Harbour — just in time for Christmas
Claudia Jambor ABC (No paywall)A three-bedroom, one bathroom home might seem like an average home for some, but for Aunty Donna "it feels like a castle". Walking through the door into her new home in a quiet suburban street in Coffs Harbour, on the NSW Mid North Coast, late last month was a life-changing moment for the Anaiwan woman. ... Aunty Donna said she was grateful to be in a home after eight years on the Coffs Harbour social housing waitlist, which has now blown out to a 10-year wait for people desperate for secure housing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-22/aunty-donna-gets-secure-h…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Personal stories.Impacts of new and emerging assistive technologies for ageing and disabled housing
Catherine Bridge, Fredrick Zmudzki, Tracy Huang, Ceridwen Owen and Debbie Faulkner AHURI (No paywall)AHURI Report: This research looks at how smart home assistive technologies (AT) may be best used in both the aged care and disability sectors to reduce the need for support services. It includes an assessment of ease of use, quality-of-life and cost benefit analysis, and contributes to the development of policy options that could facilitate effective adoption of smart home AT in Australia. Here, you also will find a link to the report.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#inbox/WhctKKXHHcrhXgqfpf…
# Research alert Australia, Disability, Home, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, Older people.Gavel-lanche: The year Sydney’s auction market went crazy
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)‘Staggering’. ‘FOMO’. ‘Extreme’: Observers and experts reached for the superlatives to describe the gavel-lanche of auction action across Sydney during the year. Sydney’s auction market soared to new heights, with a shortage of homes going under the hammer and strong competition among buyers fuelling a bumper year of results - the likes of which had never been seen by many in the industry. Amid all the health concerns and lockdown uncertainty of 2021, there has been one constant: the stand-out prices people have been prepared to pay for in demand homes.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/gavel-lanche-the-year-sydne…
# NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Five climate-related factors to consider before buying a home
Chris Medland The Conversation (No paywall)In the UK, where house prices have reached historic highs and there is a shortage of homes available, the pressure on the property market is stark. And as with any market these days, there are environmental factors to consider. So for those who can afford to buy their own home, it is worth remembering that within the lifetime of a mortgage (typically around 30 years) the climate will be very different from today – with a significant impact on property prices.
https://theconversation.com/five-climate-related-factors-to-cons…
# International, Climate change, Home ownership.Clearance rates plunge but home sharing fence with prison snatches $2.5 million
Sarah Webb Domain (No paywall)Fear and uncertainty have driven thousands to make a desperate December dash to cash in on the still-simmering property market before 2022, with Sydney and Melbourne seeing a huge spike in the number of Saturday auctions compared to this time last year. ... At 36 Austral Street, Malabar, a home sharing a fence with the Long Bay Correctional Complex fetched $500,000 above its reserve in a remarkable auction that proved if the property’s hot enough, it doesn’t matter who your neighbours are.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/clearance-rates-plunge-but-…
# Australia, Housing market, Neighbours.Australia’s most searched property locations in 2021
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)A deep dive into Domain search data shows that ... a more traditional approach to real estate was still at the top of buyers’ minds ... [and] the most searched regions on Domain in almost every state and territory were inner-city enclaves, partly because populous areas remain desirable.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/australia-s-most-searched-p…
# Australia, Housing market.The market that finished 2021 in first place with ‘extraordinary’ growth
Ellen Lutton Domain (No paywall)Brisbane has finished the year as Australia’s fastest-growing property market, with property prices continuing to rise while Sydney and Melbourne’s markets are slowing down.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-market-that-finished-20…
# Australia, Housing market.