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
Owners of flats near Tate Modern take privacy case to supreme court
Rachel Hall The Guardian (No paywall)On one side is Tate Modern. On the other are the owners of nearby luxury apartments objecting to what they regard as the prying eyes of visitors enjoying a viewing platform at Britain’s most visited gallery. ... Donal Nolan, a professor of private law at the University of Oxford, said it would be a difficult case for the supreme court, but ultimately it boils down to two key questions: “Can you bring a claim of this kind, and if you can, is the interference in this particular case unreasonable?” Nolan added that ordinarily questions of proximity and privacy would be solved through planning rules rather than litigation. “The question is whether you need this planning law backstop if the planning system doesn’t work as it perhaps should do,” he said.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/06/owners-of-f…
# Legal significance International, Privacy and access, Strata, Planning and development.Crisis housing boost for women in Walgett
Department of Communities & Justice (No paywall)Attorney General and Minister for Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence Mark Speakman said the $2.7 million refuge re-development will provide a safe and secure haven for up to 120 women and children each year, who’ve fled domestic abuse. “Women and children in crisis who are fleeing violent homes, often with very little, shouldn’t have to resort to sleeping in a car or couch surfing,” Mr Speakman said. “These new units in Walgett will not only provide safe, modern accommodation but, importantly, help connect individuals with local support services as well.”
https://www.dcj.nsw.gov.au/news-and-media/media-releases/crisis-…
# NSW, Domestic violence, Families, Homelessness, State Government.Airbnb slams proposed new rules for WA holiday houses as strictest in the nation
Georgia Loney and Laura Birch ABC (No paywall)People who let out holiday homes in Western Australia might have to list their properties on a statewide register, and apply for permission to rent them out for more than 60 nights a year, under a draft government planning policy. Short-stay accommodation booking sites Airbnb and Stayz have criticised the WA government's move to regulate the sector, describing the draft proposals as among the strictest in the nation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-07/wa-airbnb-short-stay-acco…
# Australia, Rent, Short-term holiday letting, State Government.‘Goalposts have changed’: Lending clampdown cuts home buyers’ budgets
Elizabeth Redman The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Potential home buyers are trimming their expectations as a new lending clampdown leaves many with smaller budgets, cutting borrowing capacity by as much as 15 per cent. The maximum amount of money buyers can borrow was reduced last month as the bank regulator tries to ensure homeowners only take on manageable debts.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/goalposts-have-changed-lending-c…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.The China Evergrande crisis is coming to a head
Stephen Bartholomeusz The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The crisis at the teetering giant Chinese property developer, China Evergrande, appears to be reaching a decisive moment, with the world’s most indebted property company conceding that it may be unable to meet the demand for repayment of a $US260 million ($A371 million) debt.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-china-evergrande-c…
# International, Housing market, International, Minimum habitability standards.Green spaces, roller-disco to go in plan for new homes on public estate
Cara Waters The Age (Paywall)Residents of the Collingwood public housing estate are worried they will lose parks and community and cultural spaces to a new housing development planned for the land. The Victorian government plans to build two apartment blocks over communal open space on the estate and take back an underground, resident-led cultural space to use for car parking. ... The development of 152 apartments is being fast-tracked under special rules that bypass the council permit process and waive the community’s right to formally object. ... The development is part of the Andrews government’s “Big Build” program, which is promising the construction of 12,000 social and affordable homes by 2024, at a cost of $5.3 billion.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/green-spaces-roller-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Estate renewal, Planning and development.Afghan families resettling in Perth facing new crisis
Sarah Brookes The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A fghan families evacuated from Kabul airport after it fell to the Taliban in August are facing a new crisis with a critical shortage of affordable housing in Perth. The Red Cross is urgently appealing to landlords, real estate agents, and property developers in Perth to consider leasing their property to recently arrived families from Afghanistan.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/afghan-familie…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market, Race and ethnicity.Deposit-free loans to help ease 'utterly crippling' housing issues in remote Queensland
Zara Margolis and Larissa Waterson ABC (No paywall)In Queensland's gulf region, it has been virtually impossible for locals to buy their own home. Burketown's housing crisis has lasted more than a decade, but finally local leaders have come up with a plan to fix it. And for First Nations sisters Maddy and Jordan Marshall, it's a dream come true. ... An agreement between the Burke Shire Council, Westpac, and social services organisation Headstart Homes is finally opening doors. The deal will see nine council-owned properties sold to council staff, deposit-free, without the need for mortgage insurance and at a 40 per cent discount. Of the 200 people who live in Burketown, 48 are council staff who are deemed low-risk buyers in the agreement. The profits made by the council will then be invested into building more houses.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-01/deposit-free-loans-in-rem…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.