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
Aboriginal elders warned of Wilcannia COVID-19 dangers a year ago, inquiry told
Sarah Gerathy ABC (No paywall)Aboriginal elders in Wilcannia say they warned authorities a year ago that overcrowding in the town would be disastrous if COVID-19 ever hit the community, an inquiry is told. More than one-in-six residents in the remote, predominantly Aboriginal far west NSW town have now been infected after the virus spread rapidly in overcrowded homes that house large families.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-13/parliamentary-inquiry-cov…
# NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Health, Race and ethnicity.More Australians are retiring with a big mortgage. Should they use superannuation to pay it off?
Catherine Taylor ABC (No paywall)While rising house prices are pushing home ownership out of reach for younger generations, paying down a mortgage is a growing problem for those at the other end of the property ladder: retirees are increasingly leaving the workforce with mortgage debt which was far from the norm among middle income Aussies even a decade ago. ... [Rachel Ong ViforJ, Professor of Economics at Curtin University] says. "The pension, super and voluntary savings are the three pillars of the retirement income system but home ownership has become a fourth pillar. That's because of how important it is in supporting people's well-being in retirement." Yet as more and more Australians retire with healthy superannuation balances, the allure of using that money to pay down a mortgage is strong. But is it a good idea? ... Ong ViforJ says. "The appropriate policy response is to deal with high house prices but in order to do that you have to bring in measures that will bring prices down."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-14/retirement-mortgage-use-s…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Older people.Government brands squalid housing conditions ‘unacceptable’ after ITV documentary
Tim Clark Inside Housing (Paywall)The documentary 'Surviving Squalor: Britain’s Housing Shame' ... revealed the disturbing conditions some social housing tenants have been exposed to, and showed homes owned and managed by a number of councils, as well as housing associations including L&Q and Clarion. The conditions included leaks which led to near-fatal ceiling collapses, rodent infestations, persistent and chronic mould and fungus – in some cases within the homes of tenants who have breathing difficulties. [A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government]spokesperson said: “It is completely unacceptable for people to be living in the unsafe homes we have seen in this investigation and we are committed to doing all we can to support tenants. You can view the documentary at: [https://www.itv.com/hub/surviving-squalor-britains-housing-shame/10a1795a0001]
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/government-brands-squa…
# Video International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Mould.Changes to notice periods in England from 1 October
(No paywall)The UK Government has confirmed to Propertymark that notice periods will return to their pre-COVID lengths. ... Moving forward, the UK Government intend to retain the power to implement any similar measures again in the future should the public health situation worsen. To this end, legislation has been tabled that retains the ability for the UK Government to reapply longer notice periods until 25 March 2022 as a backstop. (Propertymark)
https://www.propertymark.co.uk/resource/changes-to-notice-period…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Landlords and agents.Open Letter on the Lockdown of Common Ground Sydney Residents
(No paywall)Legal and human rights groups condemn the inappropriate policing and unlawful searches imposed on residents of Common Ground in Camperdown. We stand in solidarity with the residents in lockdown. (Legal Observers NSW)
https://legalobserversnsw.org/2021/09/10/open-letter-on-the-lock…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Human rights.House price to income ratio continues to climb amid property boom and low wage growth
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)The growing gap between incomes and property prices is likely to worsen before it gets better, experts say, making it harder than ever for first-home buyers to save a deposit. Property prices across Australia are now more than five times household disposable incomes and set to climb higher still, as the property market booms while wage growth remains sluggish. Houses are now making more money than some of Australia’s top-paid professionals.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/house-price-to-income-ratio-conti…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.'All of us are struggling’: regional Australia’s aged care homes strain to stay viable
MadeleineMiller The Guardian (No paywall)Wayne Prosser remembers the day the closure of his father’s nursing home was announced in the small town of Harden on the south-west slopes of New South Wales. “It was horrendous,” he says. “They called a meeting…and said we’re closing within six weeks.” Prosser, a lifetime farmer like his father, Rusty, says the distress around the room at the St Lawrence Residential Aged Care nursing home quickly spilled into the community. ... [The chief executive of Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT), Helen Emmerson said] “Inadequate funding, staff shortages, occupancy challenges, limited allied health services and a lack of after-hours support services, including pharmacy and GP access, made it challenging to maintain the quality of care, safety and support necessary at St Lawrence. “This was not sustainable in the long term and did not meet stringent standards of care.” The closure of St Lawrence highlights a crisis in country nursing homes ..
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/16/all-of-us…
# Australia, Housing market, Older people.Construction giant Lendlease registers as for-profit social landlord
Tim Clark Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... LTYD Homes Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lendlease’s European business, was added to the register of social landlords on 18 August, according to an updated list the Regulator of Social Housing published yesterday. ... A spokesperson for Lendlease, which is ultimately headquartered in Australia, said: “With a pipeline of over 25,000 homes to deliver in the UK over the next 25 years and with many of these being affordable homes, we have decided to register as a provider of social housing.”
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/construction-giant-len…
# International, Affordable housing, International.