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
Caravan park opens only to homeless as pandemic drives Perth’s housing crisis deeper
Holly Thompson (No paywall)A caravan park in the Perth Hills will now only allow long-term residents to stay, in the hopes of helping to combat the city’s “through the roof” housing crisis. Perth Hills Caravan Park announced the plan to stop accepting tourists this week, stating they would be focusing on providing a place for those having trouble finding a house. Owner Shorrelle Watkins said the caravan park had always allocated about 50 per cent of spots to those needing a place to stay, but demand had risen drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/caravan-pa…
# Australia, Land lease communities, Homelessness, Housing market.I Already Took My Landlord to Court Over Heat Problems. What Now?
Rhonda Kaysen The New York Times (Paywall)New York City has a legal ‘heat season.’ If your landlord ignores it, you and your neighbors can work together on a strategy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/30/realestate/nyc-heat-landlord…
# International, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Minimum habitability standards.Up to 277 applicants for every social rent home in London, study reveals
Tim Clark Inside Housing (Paywall)From London ... [A] report by the not-for-profit body Home Connections, which provides a platform that advertises council homes for those on waiting lists, analysed details of up to 26,000 properties. It found that demand increased to 277 applications per home, up from 254 people for every home prior to the pandemic.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/up-to-277-applicants-f…
# International, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.‘Era of low interest rates is over’: Rate rises expected ahead of federal election
Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Official interest rates could rise before Prime Minister Scott Morrison goes to the next election, with clear signs the Reserve Bank’s hand may be forced much earlier than expected to head off inflationary pressures that are set to drive up the cost of Christmas presents.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/era-of-low-interest-rate…
# Australia, Housing market.Will interest rates start rising with inflation and sink house prices and indebted home owners?
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)There are warnings the cost of borrowing and rents are on the march up, and much faster than many experts had been forecasting. ... But with property ownership now out of reach for many younger Australians, is it better to rent? CoreLogic's latest quarterly Rental Review showed national rental rates were rising at their fastest annual pace since 2008.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-28/will-interest-rates-start…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.Council, state propose housing investment
(Paywall)City of Newcastle to consider MoU with NSW government to fund more social and affordable housing (Newcastle Herald)
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/7481405/council-state-p…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Local Government, State Government.‘Woollahra is full’: The battle to stop more homes in one of Sydney’s wealthiest areas
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Councillors in one of Sydney’s wealthiest areas say they will campaign against their colleagues’ decision to sign up to state government housing targets, accusing them of currying favour with Macquarie Street and arguing “Woollahra is full”.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/woollahra-is-full-the-battle…
# NSW, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.Hobart becomes Tasmania's first million-dollar median house price city
Kate Ainsworth ABC (No paywall)he median house price of Hobart's innermost suburbs has surpassed $1 million for the first time, data from the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania shows.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-28/hobart-becomes-tasmanias-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.