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
Apartment buildings race to retrofit electric vehicle chargers
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Strata committees of many apartment buildings across Australia are racing to install electric vehicle-charging systems in their garages even though many still have no electric car-owners – or, at most, just one. “We know electric vehicles are coming and we can’t ignore that ...”
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/apartments-racing-to-retrof…
# Australia, Strata, Climate change.Up on a roof: why New Zealand’s move towards greater urban density should see a rooftop revolution
Kate Pickles The Conversation (No paywall)New Zealand has historically been a suburban land. Famously characterised as a “quarter-acre pavlova paradise”, the domestic ideal has long been a single dwelling on a full section. But that is changing fast. With soaring house prices and homes in short supply, medium-density development is set to fill urban and suburban horizons. Combined with a growing awareness of ecological sustainability, it seems Kiwis may soon be looking up to those green spaces they once looked at through backyard windows.
https://theconversation.com/up-on-a-roof-why-new-zealands-move-t…
# International, International, Planning and development.How to save on your home energy bills in 2022
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Australians are still spending thousands of dollars a year on electricity and gas despite lower energy prices and greater efforts to reduce power consumption at home. Australians spent an average of $335 per quarter on electricity and $234 per quarter on gas in 2021, according to Canstar’s latest Consumer Pulse Report, which was based on a survey of more than 2000 Australians. While bills were down in previous years – as a fall in wholesale costs continues to drive energy prices down – it’s still a hefty sum, with about a third of people feeling they were not getting a good deal and almost 90 per cent actively trying to use less electricity and gas wherever possible. So, how can you save on your energy bills in 2022?
https://www.smh.com.au/property/living/how-to-save-on-your-home-…
# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.The Premier versus the pandemic: Omicron tests the incurable optimist
Deborah Snow and Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)In this article you find the following quote: '[Perrottet] ... nominates housing affordability as a key challenge – “Australia can’t be a country where we can’t house our children” ...'
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-premier-versus-the-pande…
# NSW, Housing affordability, State Government.How to end a fixed-term lease early
Lisa Calautti The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Terminating a fixed-term lease can be a costly decision but, whatever your reasons for doing so, experts say the No.1 rule is to give plenty of notice of your intention to vacate. ... 'In almost every Australian state other than NSW, the typical penalty for tenants breaking a lease is to reimburse their landlord for any [should read 'reasonable'] expenses incurred as a result of the break lease, including any loss of rent ... It’s pretty much that way in every state apart from NSW. They’re the only state where the determination of the amount of money you pay is fixed.'
https://www.smh.com.au/property/living/how-to-end-a-fixed-term-l…
# Australia, You want to leave, Break fees.U.S. Housing Crisis Only Gets Worse as Population Shrinks
Conor Sen (No paywall)News that the U.S. population barely grew this year, together with ever-falling birthrates and the decline in immigration, raises the possibility that the nation will be shrinking in the not-so-distant future. So fewer people should make housing more affordable for those looking for it, right? Well, don't get your hopes up. People tend not to want to live in shrinking places, and if the U.S. population starts to decline, it might lead to even less housing demand in stagnant metro areas, and an even worse housing affordability crisis in the smaller number of places that continue to attract new residents.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-31/u-s-housin…
# International, Housing affordability, Housing market.Sydney’s most contested swamp inches closer to sale
Harriet Alexander The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)What did the Inner West Council give the Defence Department for Christmas? A key approval that will advance the department’s plans to sell off 19,000 square metres of land in sought-after Haberfield that has been growing weeds since the army stopped using it more than 20 years ago. Situated below sea level and prone to flash flooding, the former council had lobbied Defence to donate the land for open space, but the department said it had to be sold at market value. On Christmas Eve — between the local government elections and the swearing-in of new councillors — council staff approved the construction of drainage works that will pave the way for it to be subdivided into 22 lots. Real estate agents have valued the land at $50 million.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-s-most-contested-swam…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development.End of the Sydney and Melbourne property boom? Experts tip slow growth in 2022
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Sydney property market slowed dramatically in December while Melbourne values fell, prompting experts to call the end of the housing boom in the nation’s most expensive capital cities.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/end-of-the-sydney-and-me…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.