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
Cashed-up foreign buyers still seek Australian property, but are they really to blame for price rises?
Michael Luu ABC (No paywall)While COVID border closures hamper Australian property sales to international buyers, many Australians still struggle to break into the market because of rising house prices. Is this proof that overseas buyers are not to blame for the inflated dwelling costs in Australia? It might come as a surprise to some, but the Foreign Investment Review Board's latest survey shows that overseas buyers' purchasing activity has hit record lows, with residential real estate approvals for foreigners falling from 40,141 in 2015-16 to 7,056 this year. And CoreLogic's research director Tim Lawless says foreign buyers have comprised a consistently smaller portion of residential housing demand in Australia over the past five or six years.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-26/international-buyers-role…
# Australia, Housing market, International.Vested interest: How the home-ownership game is rigged
Ross Gittens The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The poor relation in all our worries – about the pandemic, the economy, climate change – has been housing affordability. While everything else in the economy has been weak, house prices have been rocketing. ... The rules of the home-ownership game are rigged in favour of existing home owners. That’s because they far outnumber aspiring home owners. And they’re not willing to give up their tax and other privileges to help the younger generation. Except, of course, their own kids. The Bank of Mum and Dad has played a big part in making seemingly unaffordable house prices able to be afforded – by some. The ever-rising proportion of Australians who’ll never own their homes are mainly those who failed to pick the right parents. Want proof of the widening gap between the rich and the rest? Look no further than home ownership.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/vested-interest-how-…
# Australia, Families, Home ownership, Housing affordability.Where did I find the rudest jogger ever? In a new development for the super-rich
Zoe Williams The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Battersea power station has become a plastic playground, and it has all kinds of ways – architectural and personal – to make someone feel small. I read something once about property developers and how they can privatise the public realm with architecture. It was so insightful and profound ...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/25/battersea-…
# International, Planning and development.Housing affordability collapses despite record low interest rates
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Housing affordability across Sydney has collapsed to its lowest level in at least a decade and is on track for the same point in Melbourne as the benefits of record low interest rates are overwhelmed by soaring property prices and stagnant wages growth.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/housing-affordability-co…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Rethinking Affordability - SMALL FOOTPRINT
Luke Clark and Elizabeth Price (No paywall)Small footprint design presents an opportunity to radically change our approach to affordable housing. Not only on the scale of individual apartments but also in the planning of our city blocks and existing buildings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wdl0-F00IU&ab_channel=NEVERTOOS…
# Video Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development.New proposal would pave way for tenant associations in San Francisco
(Paywall)Legislation introduced Tuesday would require residential landlords in San Francisco to recognize tenant associations formed in their buildings and to meet with them upon request — up to four times a year. (San Francisco Business Times)
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2021/10/19/tenants…
# International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.Government announces £65m to support vulnerable households with rent arrears
Tim Clark Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United KIngdom ... The government has committed £65m to support vulnerable renters and low-income households who may have fallen behind on paying their rent. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said that the new funding comes on top of a £500m household support fund to help vulnerable families over the coming winter. The DLUHC said that the funding will be given to councils in England to support low-income earners in rent arrears, “helping to prevent homelessness and support families to get back on their feet”. The £500m fund will provide £421m to help vulnerable people in England, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80m.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/government-announces-65m-to…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.Facebook push to find Gold Coast's homeless Princess permanent accommodation
Tom Forbes, Nicole Dyer and Kirsten Webster ABC (No paywall)Dressed in a bikini, David "Princess" Buncombe has been turning heads in Surfers Paradise for more than 20 years. Now, the 61-year-old homeless "child of God" has become the focus of an online campaign, as friends try to find the local identity a permanent place to call home. ... The local St John's Crisis Centre provided more than 33,000 meals to homeless and vulnerable people in the past financial year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-28/push-to-find-homeless-sur…
# Australia, Homelessness, Housing market, Personal stories.