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
What the sector can learn from the tenants’ climate jury
Eve Livingston Inside Housing (Paywall)30 social housing tenants from across the North of England ... were brought together over the course of three months for the climate jury, the first of its kind in social housing. Commissioned by the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) and delivered in partnership with five housing associations ... the jury published its final report this month, including 10 recommendations on how tenants, social landlords and others might work together to tackle climate change in their homes and neighbourhoods.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/what-the-sector-…
# International, Public and community housing, Climate change.Alex, 84, is being evicted from his home after the collapse of Sterling Group's housing scheme
Michael Atkin ABC (No paywall)Alex Tufekcic, 84, is packing a lifetime of memories into boxes as he prepares to be evicted. Mr Tufekcic and his wife Leonie are being forced to move out in just over a week, on her birthday. ... The stress of trying to find an affordable rental where they live in Mandurah, Western Australia, is immense. ... Mr Tufekcic never imagined he was at risk of becoming homeless when he paid more than $200,000 to secure a long-term lease on a house. He is one of more than 100 mainly elderly people across the country who signed up, paying more than $18.7 million in total. But in June 2019 Sterling Group collapsed, leaving those customers facing eviction and the loss of their life savings.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-01/alex-84-evicted-after-col…
# Australia, Eviction, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Landlords and agents, Older people.Obeid-backed development at Hawks Nest to face legal challenge from traditional owners
Angus Grigg, Jeanavive McGregor and Lucy Carter ABC (No paywall)Plans for a controversial apartment development in the beachside town of Hawks Nest, secretly backed by the family of corrupt NSW politician Eddie Obeid, are set to be challenged in court by traditional owners. Shai Richardson, the interim chief executive of the Karuah Local Aboriginal Land Council, said her community wanted to regain ownership of the two beachside plots sold for $1.5 million in 2018.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-02/obeid-backed-development-…
# NSW, Landlords and agents, Planning and development.‘Bugging out’: The new property investment trend for 2022
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Investors in residential property will increasingly buy rental homes and opt to live there for periods over 2022 themselves, many experts believe. The new phenomenon of having a “bug-out” place – somewhere to retreat to in the case of emergencies, like COVID lockdowns – are likely to be uppermost in most investors’ minds over the next year.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/bugging-out-what-is-the-new-prope…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Young homeless people avoid 'unwelcoming' Perth CBD, putting strain on suburban services
James Carmody ABC (No paywall)The challenge of supporting vulnerable people on Perth's streets is becoming more complex, as one care agency reports an exodus of younger homeless people out of the CBD. Social services provider Anglicare WA said vulnerable young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness have reportedly been relocating to Perth's outer suburbs like Midland and Armadale.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-30/youth-homelessness-suppor…
# Australia, Homelessness.When official interest rates rise, how much will your mortgage payments go up?
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The potential for higher interest rates is one of the hottest topics in financial markets. Ultra-cheap debt has inflated the prices of assets from houses to shares, so any sign that borrowing money might become more expensive earlier than expected is big news.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/when-official-rates-rise-…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Tel Aviv overtakes Hong Kong, Paris and Zurich as most expensive city to live in
Martin Farrer The Guardian (No paywall)Tel Aviv has been ranked the world’s most expensive city to live in thanks to the rapid rise in inflation that has pushed up the cost of a whole range of goods and services across the world in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. ... with Sydney up one to 14, and Melbourne up two to 16.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/01/tel-aviv-overtakes…
# International, Housing market.Social housing is ‘springboard into homeownership’, says housing minister
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The housing minister [Christopher Pincher] has said social housing is “not just a safety net, but also a springboard into homeownership and future prosperity” ... Speaking at the Homes UK conference, Christopher Pincher discussed the government’s latest £11.5bn Affordable Homes Programme, which is set to deliver 120,000 homes over a five-year period. Roughly half of the homes will be for social and affordable rent, with the rest being affordable homeownership tenures – the majority of which will be for shared ownership. The shared ownership homes must conform to the government’s new shared ownership model, which allows people to buy an initial share in their home as little as 10%, which can be increased in 1% increments. “That ensures that social housing provides not just a safety net, but also a springboard into homeownership and future prosperity for those that want it. And I think that is levelling-up in action,” he said with reference to the new model.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/social-housing-is-spri…
# International, Public and community housing, Home ownership.