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
Tribunal rubber stamps illegal extension
Jimmy Thomson (No paywall)Take Flatchatter Anne-X whose two top-floor neighbours took advantage of work in the loft space on roof repairs to install additional rooms with ensuite bathrooms, all without so much as a “by your leave”. Did they compensate the owners corporations for taking over common property? Nope – because they reckoned the roof space was of no use to anyone therefore it had no value. ... So the matter went to NCAT where the Member recognised the egregious nature of the land grab but declined to order the miscreants to reinstate common property.
# NSW, Strata, Tribunal NCAT.Martin Place ‘mayor’ and homelessness activist dies
Daniella White The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Lanz Priestley, a social activist known as the “mayor of Martin Place”, has died after suffering a brain bleed last month. He was known as the leader of the “tent city” in Sydney’s Martin Place in 2017, when he and dozens of other homeless people were evicted from the site.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/martin-place-mayor-and-homel…
# NSW, Homelessness, Personal stories.Nigerian high-rise building collapse in Lagos leaves three dead and dozens missing
ABC (No paywall)A 21-storey luxury apartment building under construction in an upscale area of Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, has collapsed, killing at least three people and leaving dozens more missing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-02/nigeria-building-collapse…
# International, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.‘It’s endemic’: Nearly two-thirds of audited real estate agents underquote
Henrietta Cook The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Almost 60 per cent of real estate agents recently audited by the state’s consumer watchdog have been hit with fines for underquoting, with the industry put on notice as property sales ramp up following lockdown.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/it-s-endemic-nearly-two…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Reserve Bank poised to ease debt-buying as economy rebounds
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Reserve Bank is poised to turn off a key element of its quantitative easing program and signal a step towards higher interest rates as evidence grows investors are pushing first time buyers out of a nationwide property market where house values have soared 24 per cent in a year.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sydney-house-values-surg…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Sustainable Indigenous housing in regional and remote Australia
Tess Lea, Liam Grealy, Megan Moskos, Arianna Brambilla, Stephanie King, Daphne Habibis, Richard Benedict, Peter Phibbs, Chao Sun and Paul Torzillo AHURI (No paywall)This research explores what is required for sustainable Indigenous housing in regional and remote Australia to deliver positive health and wellbeing outcomes for householders, so that housing stock is maintained at high levels over time and is designed with climate change challenges in mind.
# Research alert Australia, Aboriginal renters, Climate change, Health, Housing market, Regional NSW.There are still tree-change options for less than half a mil
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)The number of tree-changers moving from cities to regional towns shows no signs of slowing down, as people look for more space and a bigger backyard. A coronavirus-related exodus of those living in the city has seen house prices in some regional areas soar by more than 30 per cent over the year to September, Domain’s latest house price report shows.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-tree-changer-houses-for-sale-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Potential home-buyers warned fixed interest rates to rise as Reserve Bank winds back stimulus
Elizabeth REdman Domain (No paywall)Potential home-buyers are being warned that mortgage rates could get more expensive quickly, even if the Reserve Bank leaves official interest rates on hold for some time.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/potential-home-buyers-warned-fixe…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.