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
‘We need to be alarmed’: food banks in overdrive as politicians allow Australians to go hungry
Stephanie Convery and Luke Henriques-Gomes The Guardian (No paywall)Food banks in Australia were overwhelmed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whole industries shut down, shedding jobs, and vulnerable people were suddenly more numerous and visible than ever. The demand for food relief exploded, and the charity sector went into overdrive. But the unique circumstances of the pandemic obscure a much more insidious problem. Guardian Australia has collated data from the past decade from the three major food relief providers nationally – Foodbank, OzHarvest and SecondBite – and spoken to organisations working in or connected to the food relief sector, as well as people directly using these services. The evidence is overwhelming: demand for food relief was rising before the pandemic hit, even before the black summer bushfires that preceded it. Food relief organisations all say the same thing: they are helping more people than ever before. But this is not a good news story. Something is terribly wrong.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/21/we-need-t…
# Australia, Families, Homelessness.Homeowners will need to dig deep to keep a roof over their head
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)... But while there is rampant debate among economists about exactly when the Reserve Bank is likely to make its next moves, and no one knows for certain exactly when a change will happen, there is widespread agreement that the next step is upwards. Homeowners with a mortgage and those with plans to take one on in the next few years would be wise to take a bit of time to consider what this means for them.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/homeowners-will-need-to-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.House prices to hit skids as rates rise
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The pace of property price hikes in Sydney and Melbourne are likely to slow from the strong gains made over the past 12 months. Property experts are tipping that prices will rise another 5 per cent or 6 per cent during 2022. However, the market might then crack under the weight of higher interest rates, with some market watchers predicting a price slump of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent during 2023.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/house-prices-to-hit-skids…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Darwin's Salvos hostel is home to dozens of men and women, and a few chickens and budgies
Conor Byrne ABC (No paywall)As Darwin city has grown, a little hostel for the homeless in the CBD has been dwarfed by towering office blocks and apartment buildings. But its heart is bigger than ever. House 49 has just been renovated using entirely donated funds, giving renewed pride to the former Red Shield Hostel which has been on prime Darwin land since the 1950s.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-24/darwin-salvos-house-49-ho…
# Australia, Homelessness.How to end a lease early: state by state rules for breaking a fixed-term lease
Lisa Calautti Domain (No paywall)Terminating a fixed-term lease can be a costly decision, but whatever your reasons for doing so, experts say the number one rule is to give plenty of notice of your intention to vacate. ... In almost every Australian state other than New South Wales, the typical penalty for tenants breaking a lease was to reimburse their landlord for any expenses incurred as a result of the break lease, including any loss of rent, Raine and Horne property management national manager Maria Milillo said. “It’s pretty much that way in every state apart from New South Wales,” she said. “They’re the only state where the determination of the amount of money you pay is fixed. "
https://www.domain.com.au/advice/state-by-state-rules-for-breaki…
# Australia, Rent, Break fees.Australian housing market set to peak in early 2022 before prices fall
James Robinson Domain (No paywall)Australia’s white-hot property market is set to reach its zenith by early 2022, according to a new report. SQM Research’s Christopher’s Housing Boom and Bust Report 2022, released on Thursday, forecasts that dwelling prices across the nation will then drop in the second half of next year, most likely as a result of further intervention by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) banking regulator, which could happen as soon as December this year.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/report-australian-housing-market-…
# Australia, Housing market.House price predictions bring no joy to first-home buyers
Rod Myer The New Daily (No paywall)The big banks are tipping the housing market will take a breather in 2023, with Commonwealth Bank expecting a price fall of 10 per cent that year and the ANZ expecting a more modest fall of 4 per cent.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/11/23/house-pri…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Inside a green builder’s dream home
Poppy Johnston The Fifth Estate (No paywall)As a builder with a fondness for super high-performance homes, Jesse Glascott jumped at the opportunity to go big on sustainability when building his own place in the outer-Melbourne suburb of Warrandyte, about 30 kilometres east of the city.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/inside-a-…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market.