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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
The planning loopholes blocking residents’ city views
Tony Moore The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s all about that Brisbane city skyline view. Whether a property is in Hamilton, Highgate Hill, Paddington, Balmoral, Mt Gravatt or Holland Park West, that view makes even an average suburban home highly sought after. Until those views are built out.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/the-planning-loophole…
# Australia, Housing market, Planning and development.Alexandria terrace fetches $2.25m in drawn-out sale on record auction day
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)An Alexandria terrace fetched $2.25 million in a drawn-out auction on Saturday, as a sharp rise in homes for sale and a record-breaking volume of auctions allowed Sydney buyers the luxury of less competition. ... In nearby Redfern, a 10-bedroom Victorian terrace – operating as a boarding house – passed in after a single bid of $2.5 million, made by a developer, after the only other registered bidder, an investor, refrained from making an offer.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/alexandria-terrace-fetches-…
# NSW, Housing market.Grenfell survivors slam ‘disingenuous’ and ‘deeply offensive’ government inquiry statement
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)Grenfell United, which represents people who lived in and around the tower as well as those who lost loved ones in the fire, said “no one should be exempt from accountability” as the inquiry began to look at government’s actions. In opening statements, the government was accused of a “prolonged period of concealment” of the dangers of combustible cladding, driven by an “unbridled passion for deregulation”. Stephanie Barwise QC, appearing for one group of the bereaved and survivors, said it was “one of the greatest scandals of our time”. In its opening statement on Tuesday, the government said it was “deeply sorry” for “past failures in relation to the oversight of the system that regulated safety in… high-rise buildings”. However, Jason Beer QC, on behalf of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, did not admit there were flaws with government guidance or regulation.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/grenfell-survivors-sla…
# International, Public and community housing, Minimum habitability standards.Michael Sheen turns himself into a 'not-for-profit' actor
BBC (No paywall)The Welsh actor and activist sold his houses to ensure the 2019 Homeless World Cup went ahead in Cardiff. Now the Hollywood star has pledged to carry on using the money he earns from acting to fund more projects. ... Speaking to 'The Big Issue', Sheen described how he stepped in to bankroll the Homeless World Cup when funding for the £2m project fell through at the last moment. ... "I had a house in America and a house here and I put those up and just did whatever it took. ..."
# International, Homelessness, Landlords and agents, Personal stories.Rental prices tipped to rise as vacancies hit multi-year low
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Renters are facing fewer options when it comes to choosing their next home, with vacancies at their lowest level in years and expected to drop further as international borders reopen. Competition for rentals – which held the national vacancy rate at a multi-year low of 1.5 per cent in November – is expected to increase, along with prices, as international students and migrants return to Australia, experts say. It is already a landlord’s market in most cities ...
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/rental-prices-tipped-to-ris…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, International.Booming house prices drive fourfold increase in size of inheritances to $120bn a year
Paul Karp The Guardian (No paywall)Booming housing wealth, unspent superannuation and lower fertility are increasing the size of Australians’ inheritances, according to the Productivity Commission. Despite helping the rich get richer, inheritances are nevertheless shrinking relative inequality by giving a bigger boost to poorer households’ wealth, the government thinktank found in a report released on Tuesday. You will find a link to this report at: [https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/wealth-transfers]
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/07/australia…
# Australia, Families, Home ownership.The Guardian view on homelessness: don’t cast everyone out again
Editorial (No paywall)When the elements turn hostile, we are more than ever dependent on the roofs over our heads. ... [And, indeed] for those without a safe place to shelter, extreme weather is an ordeal to be endured. Last week, the Liverpool Echo reported on complaints about a local McDonald’s that refused to sell hot food to a woman who wanted it for a homeless man she met outside in pouring rain. Starting in March last year, the Everyone In scheme saw 37,000 rough sleepers offered emergency accommodation, much of it in hotels. But since the initial instruction to councils to take people off the streets, the guidance has been diluted. ...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/05/the-guardi…
# International, Homelessness, Housing market.Outasite Lite
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Land Lease Communities Act Review Recommendations Report ... In this issue of Outasite Lite we take you through some of the key recommendations from the report.
https://mailchi.mp/tenants.org.au/land-lease-communities-act-rev…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Campaigns and law reform.