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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
Tackling Energy Poverty
Marlene Even (No paywall)Energy poverty is a complex socioeconomic issue. Many people are experiencing the health, social, and economic disadvantages of living in energy inefficient homes. In this episode, we discuss minimum energy efficiency standards for renters and access to renewable energy. (Whooshkaa)
# TUNSW in the media, Audio NSW, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Housing market.My best 12 tips and tricks for first-home buyers
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)... if you have decided your goal is to own a home, here are my top tricks and tips to help you. It won’t get everyone a home, but I hope it provides you some food for thought during what can be a stressful experience.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/my-best-12-tips-and-trick…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Campsie residents feel the pain over their locked-down suburb’s density push
Angus Thompson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A COVID-19-struck community with severely limited open space has been asked to review a plan to increase the number of homes by more than 70 per cent while enduring the strictest lockdown the city has seen. The residents of Campsie, a suburb struggling through punitive restrictions in Sydney’s south-west, are set to see more than 6000 new homes and high-rises but only a fragmentary increase in public space in their area under a masterplan that will be put to a planning panel in a week’s time. ... However, residents, who say the area is already “bursting at the seams”, were livid they were given just days’ notice for the opportunity to provide feedback on the revised draft before the plans were assessed by a panel on September 10.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/campsie-residents-feel-the-p…
# NSW, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Planning and development.The housing rocket ride set to splutter
Michael Pascoe The New Daily (No paywall)With the usual caveat that forecasting is a mug’s game, the housing price crystal ball is turning darkly cloudy.
Not today and not tomorrow but within an imaginable period, the fundamentals of weak population growth and affordability concerns are getting set to overcome the effects of cheap money, FOMO (fear of missing out) and TINA (there is no alternative). That’s the lesson to be drawn from combining two lots of housing data published this week – CoreLogic’s home value index and SQM Research’s national property listings.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/09/02/michael-p…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing affordability, Housing market.Vacancy rates in Melbourne rise as lockdown bites, while Sydney stays stable
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)It’s a tale of two cities forged by the latest COVID-19 lockdowns, with the vacancy rate in the rental property market jumping abruptly in Melbourne but remaining stable in Sydney.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/vacancy-rates-1085115/?utm_campai…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.No Cookies
(Paywall)Take it or leave it for picky tenants in housing overhaul. Public housing will move to a “first in, best dressed” system that’s been shown to cut-down on fussy tenants, after 1 in three SA properties were knocked back. (The Advertiser)
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/new-first-in…
# Australia, Public and community housing.To solve home-ownership struggles, friends Kate and Emily bought a property together
Kate Reid ABC (No paywall)When Kate and Emily realised they were working towards the same goal, the pair started discussing how they could make joint-property ownership work for them.
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/home-ownership-struggles-solved-…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market.Children under 10 being placed in residential care with traumatic outcomes, experts warn
Elizabeth Cramsie ABC (No paywall)When Millie was 11 she was homeless and living at a bus stop. ... Millie said her own experiences in residential care had added to her trauma but it was better than being homeless.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-06/qld-residential-care-chil…
# Australia, Families, Homelessness, Young people.