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 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.‘They don’t treat you like a problem child’: Foyers a fix for youth homelessness
Jewel Topsfield The Age (Paywall)At the end of 2019, Sam Jelley was couch-surfing, moving between friends’ homes. He had a lot going on in his life. He was 19, medically transitioning to a trans man, his relationship with his parents was strained and he was trying to study for a psychology degree at Deakin University. The following year, Mr Jelley moved into the Holmesglen TAFE Education First Youth Foyer, one of three foyers operating at TAFE campuses in Glen Waverley, Broadmeadows and Shepparton.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/they-don-t-treat-you…
# Australia, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Homelessness, LGBTIQ+, Personal stories, Young people.Do house prices really double every 10 years?
Elizabth Redman Domain (No paywall)Property prices double every 10 years, the old saying goes, but new research shows the cities where prices have risen even higher – and where they’ve fallen far short.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/do-house-prices-really-doub…
# Australia, Housing market.The most popular suburbs for home buyers in 2021
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)A string of Sydney suburbs have dominated a list of the most in-demand areas for Australian home buyers in 2021, but it was a Melbourne suburb that took out the top spot.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-most-popular-suburbs-fo…
# Australia, Housing market.Private landlords urged to lease homes to councils as part of Welsh government’s homelessness action plan
James Wilmor Inside Housing (Paywall)From Wales ... Under the ‘private rented sector (PRS) leasing scheme’, first announced in March as a pilot, Welsh local authorities offer private landlords a rent guarantee and funding to improve the condition of their properties. Councils then use the homes to accommodate people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, with landlords receiving guaranteed rent. The move by the Welsh government is part of an Ending Homelessness Action Plan announced today, which will include a new £30m funding pot over five years for local authorities.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/private-landlords-urge…
# International, Homelessness, Landlords and agents.