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
COVID in Wilcannia: a national disgrace we all saw coming
Susan Green The Conversation (No paywall)The COVID-19 crisis in Wilcannia demonstrates how entrenched neglect, combined with a global pandemic, have created a perfect storm impacting the most marginalised people in society. The treatment of the Barkindji people of Wilcannia is appalling by anyone’s standards and should be unacceptable to every Australian. The stories flooding out of Wilcannia of mistreatment of Aboriginal people should make every person stand up and demand immediate action. ... Overcrowded and poor-quality housing already results in poor health outcomes. The effects of overcrowded and poor quality housing during a viral pandemic cannot be overstated. Aboriginal people have been isolating in tents during cold desert nights to try to protect their families. They do not choose to live in overcrowded and poor-quality housing; that is all that is available.
https://theconversation.com/covid-in-wilcannia-a-national-disgra…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Health, Housing market, Race and ethnicity.Community Lawyer of the Year
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Check out post for 16 September 2021 ... 2021 NSW Women Lawyers Achievement Awards, Community Lawyer of the Year Winner: Lehana De Silva, Solicitor - Aboriginal Support, Tenants' Union of New South Wales ... Lehana is a solicitor at the Tenants’ Union of NSW. She acts for individual tenants in public interest litigation, and provides advice, assistance and training to the state’s four Aboriginal Tenancy Advice and Advocacy Services. Lehana also advises solicitors and other caseworkers in community legal centres and organisations throughout NSW in the specialist areas of housing and residential tenancy law. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic she has produced up-to-date legal information and resources for impacted renters across NSW. Before joining the Tenants’ Union, Lehana worked for Supply Nation certified law firm, Chalk & Behrendt, and the Cancer Council Pro Bono Program.
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Aboriginal renters, Community Legal Centres, Coronavirus COVID-19.Oakland landlord hit with $3.9 million penalty for hazardous housing conditions
Natalie Orenstein (No paywall)From the United States ... A prominent Oakland landlord must pay the city of Oakland nearly $4 million after repeatedly renting illegal and hazardous units to tenants at several East Oakland properties, an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled this month. (The Oaklandside)
https://oaklandside.org/2021/09/13/oakland-landlord-hit-with-3-9…
# International, Repairs, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards.Mortgage stress soars as RBA says tax system pushes up house prices
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Mortgage stress is spiking across key suburban electorates in Sydney and Melbourne despite record low interest rates as spiralling property prices leave two in five households struggling to make ends meet. ... Research by the University of NSW shows the proportion of households in stress has climbed to 42 per cent. [Meanwhile] The Reserve Bank says the way negative gearing interacts with the rest of the tax system is contributing to high house prices. ... [Also] it said the nation’s tax and transfer system encouraged investment in property and discouraged people from selling and moving, which then put upward pressure on prices. The capital gains tax concession, the exclusion of the family home from the age pension means test, the concession tax treatment on inherited family homes all encouraged people to hold on to property even as they got older, putting pressure on the market.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/mortgage-stress-soars-as…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Tax.‘It's dire’: Covid fears for inner-city communities as Redfern Towers struck
Dijana Damjanovic and Nadine Silva SBS (No paywall)Redfern residents are deeply concerned for the safety and wellbeing of their community as NSW authorities confirm an emerging COVID-19 cluster across three public housing towers in the inner-city Sydney suburb.
https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2021/09/16/its-dire-fears-in…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, State Government.Why the Reserve Bank and government are in no mood to rein in property prices in booming market
Ian Verrender ABC (No paywall)[As we gear up for a federal election] housing suddenly becomes a red-hot political issue. We will, no doubt, hear promises from both sides — to help first home buyers via grants, handouts, and other subsidies. The problem is, generally, that tends to make affordability worse. Throwing money at first home buyers only adds to prices and, instead, becomes a grant to those selling their property. ... Housing problems were largely caused by factors other than monetary policy and need to be addressed elsewhere. "The factors include: the design of our taxation and social security systems; planning and zoning restrictions; the type of dwellings that are built; and the nature of our transport networks," [RBA governor]Dr Lowe said. In case you missed it, he was talking about government. ... The last federal election dealt a fatal blow to any chance of property market tax reform. With so many Australians so exposed to real estate — ATO figures suggest more than 2 million Australians own investment properties — the Opposition's policy to wind back the tax incentives became an easy target for a government desperate for an edge. Having been trounced at the election, the ALP has since dumped its real estate tax reforms, never to be resumed. That means the tax incentives are here to stay. And that means investors will continue to pour cash into residential property, driving prices higher.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-20/reserve-bank-government-n…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Tax.‘It’s a win-win’: Home sharing scheme helps the elderly and young
Josh Dye The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Cristina Andrei has no family members in Australia. But the 33-year-old from Romania has found a new grandfather thanks to a home-sharing scheme that pairs elderly homeowners who live alone with younger people struggling with housing affordability. ... The program is facilitated by non-government organisation Holdsworth which matches the owners and sharers to find suitable home-sharing arrangements. Ms Andrei pays about $125 a week to share Mr Dubourdieu’s home, with the cost comprising $100 to cover the costs of running the program and $25 for utilities. The NSW government has recently tipped in $200,000 to the pilot program to enable more young people to have their fees waived.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/it-s-a-win-win-home-sharing-…
# NSW, Affordable housing, State Government.Collapse of China property giant to impact Australia's biggest export
ABC (No paywall)There are fears the collapse of one of China's biggest property companies could spark wider turmoil in the world's second largest economy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTVxMyGBW48&ab_channel=ABCNews%2…
# International, Housing market, International, Landlords and agents.