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
Adam Bandt says house prices are rising by $1,200 a day. Is he correct?
RMIT ABC Fact Check ABC (No paywall)The seemingly inexorable rise in house prices has been the subject of political debate for decades, with many blaming Australia's tax rules for favouring investors at the expense of first home buyers. In a July 30 tweet, Greens leader Adam Bandt claimed house prices are rising by $1,200 a day, warning that younger workers have been locked out. "House prices are going up $1200 a day," Mr Bandt said. "Great for property investors, a disaster for every casual worker with smashed savings." Is it correct that house prices are rising by $1,200 a day? RMIT ABC Fact Check investigates. ... While his claim accords with the average daily increase in the median house price in Sydney, the situation in the rest of the country is different.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-26/fact-check-are-house-pric…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Tax, Young people.Australia’s homebuilder scheme may have just been a sugar hit in the pandemic recovery
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)A key aspect of the Morrison government’s economic recovery plan was the homebuilder program designed to spur the building of houses. It worked as intended but the latest construction data suggests it might have been a sugar hit that has now gone, while the impact of the pandemic on the economy continues. ... And so we find ourselves in the next stage of the pandemic – not just one where we are rolling out the vaccine, but where the need for government incentives and stimulus remains at a time the Morrison government was planning for it to be over.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/aug/26/aus…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market.Bushfire survivors win landmark climate change case against NSW EPA
Michael Condon and David Claughton ABC (No paywall)In a landmark ruling and a win for a bushfire survivors group, the Land and Environment Court has ordered the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to take steps to safeguard against climate change. Bushfire Survivors For Climate Action (BSCA) took the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to court over its climate change policy, arguing the that the EPA had not done enough to stop the pollution of the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. Lisa Cox writes about the same decision in the Guardian at: [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/26/nsw-bushfire-survivors-win-legal-battle-ordering-epa-to-take-action-on-climate-crisis]. Preston CJ of the NSW Land & Environment Court found that the Environment Protection Authority is to develop environmental quality objectives, guidelines and policies to ensure environment protection from climate change. You can read the decision at: [https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/17b7569b9b3625518b58fd99]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-26/bushfire-survivors-win-ca…
# Legal significance NSW, Climate change, Planning and development.‘Most risky’ certifiers of NSW apartment buildings in watchdog’s sights
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Almost a dozen certifiers considered the “most risky” in NSW will be put under intense scrutiny by the state’s construction watchdog as it attempts to instil public confidence in apartment buildings following the Opal and Mascot towers sagas two years ago. Vowing to “shake the tree”, NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler said the regulator had begun audits of 11 of the “most risky certifiers” linked to 59 building projects suffering the most number of defects in Sydney and centres such as Wollongong, Newcastle and Tweed Heads.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/most-risky-certifiers-of-nsw…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Covid homeless scheme not leading to permanent accommodation, warns charity
Jonathan Blake & Brian Wheeler & Jennifer Scott BBC (No paywall)Fewer than one in four homeless people housed by the government's Everyone In scheme have moved into permanent accommodation, according to figures seen by the BBC. The initiative provided over 37,000 rough sleepers with a place to stay during the pandemic. But housing charity Shelter warned many were still in temporary homes or may even be back on the streets. ... [Freedom of Information requests to every local authority in England] showed more than three quarters of those initially accommodated, around 29,000 people, were in emergency or temporary accommodation, had reconnected with friends or family, or were likely to have returned to the streets. The charity warned the gains from the "watershed" scheme were at risk of being "squandered" if the government - which has pledged to end rough sleeping by the next general election - does not ensure accommodation becomes permanent.
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Local Government.Sadiq Khan to expand Right to Buy-back fund to house Afghan refugees
Jack Simpson Inside Housing (Paywall)The mayor of London has set out plans to extend his Right to Buy-back fund to secure properties for families resettling in the capital after fleeing Afghanistan. ... Mr Khan also said housing associations should apply for funding for new homes that can be delivered at pace. London, as well as a number of local authorities, have agreed to house those fleeing Afghanistan after the Taliban retook the country two weeks ago. The UK has agreed to take 20,000 refugees as part of a five-year settlement plan, with 5,000 expected to arrive this year.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/sadiq-khan-to-expand-right-…
# International, Public and community housing, Homelessness, International, Local Government, Race and ethnicity.What if housing never becomes affordable?
ABC (No paywall)Everyone knows Australian house prices are completely bananas, but understanding why stumps even the experts. So will the current trends continue? And if so, where does that leave renters? Today on The Signal, we ask why our housing market is so weird, and explore one counterintuitive idea about how to improve it. Featured: Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Business and Economy Editor, The Conversation; and Co-Presenter, 'The Economists', ABC Radio National
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9…
# Audio Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Big shake-up to state's rental law explained
Effie Zahos 9 News (No paywall)Today finance expert Effie Zahos broke down the new rules around pets in apartments.
https://9now.nine.com.au/today/videos/latest/big-shake-up-to-sta…
# Video NSW, Rent, Strata, Pets.