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
Single mortgage rate rise would put one in 20 home owners into financial hardship, survey shows
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)A single mortgage rate rise would be enough to push one in 20 home owners into financial hardship, a new survey [by Finder] shows, as ongoing lockdowns hit the savings buffers of those who have lost work during the pandemic. ... [Ms Julia Davis of the Financial Rights Legal Centre] said 'So far, foreclosures have not been an issue' but she felt a rate rise would push more than 5 per cent of borrowers into hardship, given the levels of existing financial stress. She noted that about 40 per cent of NSW households were in mortgage stress last month ... 'It’s pretty tragic, plenty of people who have called us were finally back on their feet in early 2021, and back to regular payments … now they’re back to having no income and can’t afford anything, and the banks are sending them to us.'
https://www.domain.com.au/news/single-mortgage-rate-rise-would-p…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership.‘Blistering temperatures’: Dark roofing banned on Sydney’s urban fringe
Angus Thompson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Dark roofing will be banned in Sydney’s south-west growth area in an attempt by the NSW government to dial back the heat island effect while providing sorely needed new homes. Lighter coloured roofs will be a mandatory part of the planning controls for the Wilton area, busting the march of Colorbond Ironstone that has long been synonymous with Australian urban sprawl. Residential lots must also be big enough for a tree in every backyard under a new set of rules applauded by urban-heat scientists as a step towards addressing rising temperatures following the grim picture painted by the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/blistering-temperatures-dark…
# Hot topic NSW, Climate change, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.Stressed parents fear kids will never afford a home of their own
Nina Hendy The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Parents are losing hope that their children will ever be able to afford the great Australian dream of home ownership. The property market is moving further out of reach with every passing month, rising by about $1200 a day in the second quarter and $445 a day in Melbourne in the three months ended in June.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/saving/stressed-parents-fear-kids-w…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Home ownership, Housing market.Australian housing market entering ‘tricky territory’ as affordability starts to bite
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Australia’s housing market is heading into “tricky territory” as coronavirus-related lockdowns intersect with the issue of soaring house prices and affordability, a new report reveals. ... Westpac’s Quarterly Housing Pulse showed the “time to buy a dwelling index” was at its second-lowest point since 2010. ... Affordability has become a major concern in Melbourne and Sydney. Both cities are in lockdown but have also had house prices soar to record levels over the past 12 months.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-housing-market-enterin…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing market.Government launches £4m Community Housing Fund
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United KIngdom ... A £4m grant programme has been launched by the government to fund community-led schemes for affordable housing. The money is intended to help meet costs associated with pre-development such as legal advice, design work and planning applications. Ministers have not said how many new homes they hope to be supported through the fund. The government previously ran a £163m Community Housing Fund, but it closed at the end of 2019 with only a fraction allocated following long delays in opening the bidding.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/government-launches-4m…
# International, Affordable housing, Housing market.Lockdowns push house prices even higher as new listings fall
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Prolonged lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria are pushing up house prices by discouraging vendors from listing their homes at a time of sky-high demand. Data from property analytics firm CoreLogic shows the number of new listings in Melbourne last week was down 35 per cent on the week ending July 18, while new listings in Sydney were down 29 per cent on the week ending June 27. Overall sales activity, however, has remained relatively stable as record-low interest rates and higher household savings lure more people into buying property.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/08/25/lockdowns…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Australia’s preliminary clearance rates drops to lowest level since July 2020: CoreLogic
Tawar Razaghi The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australia’s preliminary auction clearance rate has dropped to its lowest level since late July 2020, with Melbourne’s ban on inspections weighing down auction results, CoreLogic figures reveal. ... The investor market was likely to have been harder hit in Sydney, Mr McGlynn said, as investment properties were more likely to be tenanted, making it difficult to access even for one-on-one inspections.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australias-preliminary-clearance-…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Forum: Scooter boost, plant ban and free reno
Jimmy Thomson (No paywall)There are two major movements in strata, regarding electric vehicles. One is related to the population getting older, the other is our belated rush to embrace electric vehicles. Both of these require strata schemes to address the needs of residents to be able to charge their mobility scooters or electric cars, either where they park them, or nearby. (Flat Chat)
# NSW, Strata, Utilities electricity water gas, Older people.