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
House rental yields fall as property prices soar across the country: Domain Rent Report
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Rental yields have dropped in most Australian capitals, new data shows, with booming house prices clipping rent profits and forcing investors to rethink where they will buy. Though many have traditionally looked to invest close to their own capital cities, some are now looking further afield, experts say, investing regionally or in other states to get better returns.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/house-rental-yields-fall-as-prope…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents, Regional NSW.What documents do you need to apply for a rental property?
(No paywall)Ready to apply for a rental property? An agent may ask you to provide additional documents to help with the application process. (rent.com.au)
# Australia, Rent, Starting a tenancy.Building more houses quickly is harder than it looks. Australia hasn’t done it in decades
Ehsan Gharaie and Ali Zolghadr The Conversation (No paywall)Thanks to HomeBuilder and the housing price boom, house building is experiencing its hottest year on the record. Over the space of a year the number of houses (not apartments) under construction has jumped from 56,060 in the June quarter 2020 to 88,445 in the June quarter 2021 — the biggest peak of all time. It would be entirely reasonable to expect the record number under construction to be converted to record completions. That’s the point of construction. But bizarrely, the same set of Bureau of Statistics figures show no such thing. Even after an enormous jump in construction, and all through previous jumps in construction, the number of houses completed each quarter has changed little.
https://theconversation.com/building-more-houses-quickly-is-hard…
# Australia, Housing market.'World's greenest residential building' reduced to 20 storeys after Brisbane City Council questions size
Lucy Stone ABC (No paywall)A planned 32-storey apartment tower touted as the "world's greenest residential building" has been significantly scaled back after Brisbane City Council expressed concerns about its size.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-27/urban-forest-building-dow…
# Australia, Climate change, Local Government, Planning and development.A new rent-to-own scheme presents a big gamble on the housing market
Zac Crellin The New Daily (No paywall)A new rent-to-buy scheme aims to make buying a first home more accessible, but financial commentators say buyers need to be wary of pitfalls before jumping at a deal.
The first customers of Sydney-based service OwnHome moved into their new house last week, and clients have also settled on two more properties. Unlike other rent-to-buy services, OwnHome allows prospective buyers to choose any freestanding home or terrace of their liking.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/10/26/ownhome-r…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Toowoomba property prices to explode by 15 % in three years
David Iliffe ABC (No paywall)It's official - Toowoomba's median house price has jumped 9 percent in the last 12 months. But a national report just released predicts a further rise of 15 percent by the middle of 2024. The report by BIS Oxford Economics attempts to map the next three years of property prices across the country. Toowoomba real estate agent of 36 years David Snow told the ABC's David Iliffe and Belinda Sanders the figures were backed up by what he's seeing on the ground. (On Breakfast)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/southqld/programs/breakfast/toowoom…
# Audio Australia, Housing market.Report uncovers harassment and choking death at NT Regis Tiwi aged care home
Housnia Shams ABC (No paywall)[A] report by the federal government's Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) found national aged care provider Regis Aged Care breached eight quality standards at its Regis Tiwi facility in Darwin's northern suburbs, including not meeting the personal and clinical care needs of residents. ... In one instance, a resident ... choked to death after being given food that wasn't in accordance with their prescribed diet.The report also states that [another] resident's wound was "infested with maggots" on several occasions over a four-month period.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-24/nt-regis-tiwi-aged-care-r…
# Australia, Health, Housing market, Older people.Turning 11 acres of a NSW ‘dumping site’ into a world-class farm
Harriet Alexander The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The land had little going for it when Wollongong not-for-profit group Green Connect selected it as the site of their new urban farm. ... A decade later, it has become one of the largest urban permaculture farms in the world and attracted international attention, with Green Connect winning the 2021 Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Award. ... It has also extended employment opportunities to young people who face barriers to employment such as mental illness, drugs or violence at home or insecure living conditions. The farm arose from a gap in employment prospects for refugees living in Wollongong, which is one of the largest settlement areas for refugees in Australia. The refugees, who arrive mostly from Central Africa and the border region between Thailand and Myanmar, already had farming skills. But they could not get jobs. Green Connect stepped in with a project that would use their skills, provide employment and supply fresh fruit and vegetables to the community. ... “They work so beautifully together. There’s this magic where young people bring English language and Australian culture and share that with our refugee staff, and the refugee staff bring a very hard work ethic and stories of hardship that make young people sit up and think, ‘maybe my life is not so bad after all’.” ... In the last 12 months, the farm has sold 35,000 kilograms of food, provided seven permanent jobs and 30 casual jobs and run tours and workshops for more than 1900 individuals.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/wollongong-wasteland-wins-in…
# NSW, Gardens, yards, lawns, Work, employment, Young people.