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
Homeowners on notice higher rates on cards as economy mends
Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Homebuyers who have used low interest rates to drive house prices to all-time highs and take on record levels of debt are being warned they face a steep increase in repayments, with the Reserve Bank signalling it wants the official cash rate to eventually climb to 2.5 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/still-plausible-first-ra…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Housing affordability won't be greatly improved just by less regulation, more supply, RBA argues
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)Are houses like mandarins? Or, to translate the analogy, do the usual economic rules of supply and demand apply to housing, or are there other factors explaining price movements that don't exist for most everyday goods? ... "Houses are not mandarins. The land underneath them is very important." ... Fundamentally, Dr Ellis [assistant governor (economic) at the Reserve Bank] explained, there is an inherent shortage of desirable land and people will pay whatever they can afford — generally how much they can borrow — to get the most suitable property in the best location. "All land is not created equal," she argued.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-16/housing-affordability-inq…
# Australia, Housing market, Tax.‘I have to move my bike to get to the fridge’ – the UK boom in microflats
Julia Kollewe The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... From rentals the size of a tiny hotel room to Barratt’s pocket-sized new-builds, the market is expanding. For Rioch Fitzpatrick, a 39-year-old dubbing mixer for television, home is a tiny studio flat smaller than a standard Premier Inn hotel bedroom. At just 19 sq metres (204 sq ft), his north London “microflat” has a shower and lavatory separated from the main room by a partition, without even a separate wash basin. ... The government has recommended a minimum space standard of 37 sq m since 2015, although it is not mandatory – local authorities have discretion to apply it or not.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/15/uk-boom-microfl…
# International, Rent, Affordable housing, Home ownership, Housing market, Planning and development.Landlord possessions increase by 207% following end of eviction ban
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)The number of renters being evicted via the courts increased by 207% after the pandemic-related ban on bailiff-enforced evictions was lifted, official figures show. Statistics released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) showed there were 4,853 landlord possessions across England and Wales between July and September this year, up 207% from the previous quarter when there were 1,582 possessions. [I read this as an increase of 307%!] ... Jon Sparkes, chief executive at Crisis, said the latest MoJ figures “make clear how damaging it was for the UK government to end the eviction ban without providing sufficient support for renters who had built up arrears in the pandemic”.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/landlord-possessions-i…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19.Annual Report 2020-2021
Edinburgh Tenants Federation (No paywall)Check out what's happening in Edinburgh, Scotland ... Edinburgh Tenants Federation (ETF), the umbrella organisation of tenants’ and residents’ groups throughout Edinburgh is delighted to welcome you to our 2020 / 2021 Annual Report. ETF’s overall aim is to represent tenants throughout Edinburgh, ensuring tenant influence in housing policy and service
decisions with the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) and Scottish Government.
https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/uploads/ETF%20Annual%20Repor…
# International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.Homebuyers allege underquoting is rife in real estate industry, but agents say it's just a hot market
Elias Clure ABC (No paywall)"There's an old adage: 'Quote them low, watch 'em go. Quote em high, watch them die.' A leopard never changes its spots." ... Consumer Affairs Victoria recently audited 29 real estate agencies after a tip-off from the public. It found that 17 of them were underquoting. ... [Buyer's advocate David Morrell believed] underquoting was part of the cultural fabric of realtors across the country and recent legislative changes attempting to crack down on the practice had failed.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-15/alannah-attempted-to-beat…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Closing the divide: essential workers, Australian cities and COVID-19
Alison Holloway, Julian Szafraniec, Merry Hoang and Marcia Keegan (No paywall)Essential workers have been keeping Australia’s cities moving during the COVID-19 pandemic – and the structure of our cities has put many in harm's way. Urban policy needs to adapt quickly to address the underlying inequalities across Australia’s spatial geographies. The COVID-19 pandemic has not affected Australians equally. Data clearly shows the pandemic has exacerbated underlying social and spatial inequalities throughout Australia; essential workers, in particular, have been hit hard by the pandemic. Urban policy needs to address pressing social and spatial inequalities before the divide becomes too wide to close.
https://www.sgsep.com.au/publications/insights/closing-the-divid…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Housing market.Rents up, listings down as inner-city suburbs continue COVID-19 recovery
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Australia’s capital city unit rents are continuing to recover, new data shows, thanks – in part – to new locally-based tenants entering the market for the first time attracted by cheaper rents. Property managers say the type of tenant is changing in inner Melbourne and Sydney after the two cities, whose apartment rental markets have traditionally relied heavily on international students and overseas professionals, took the brunt of the pandemic rental falls. These new tenants, including professionals returning to the office and looking to rent an affordable inner-city pad rather than commute more than 10 hours a week from outer suburbs or regional areas, have helped see a drop in the number of available rentals.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/rents-up-and-the-number-of-listin…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.