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
How the housing boom is impacting families in regional Victoria
Patrick Wright ABC (No paywall)Jarred Holt is one of the many Australians who decided to flee the city for the country during the pandemic. The 35-year-old father of two left Melbourne with his family earlier this year. They moved to Castlemaine, a bustling small city in Victoria's Goldfields region. The plan was to buy a house. But as Jarred quickly found out, he wasn't the only one looking for a treechange. "We're looking for a place on a block with at least some backyard and three bedrooms, because we've got two kids. Rarely does anything come up in the $500,000 range," he says. Jarred and his family have ended up renting instead. ... While the boom is great for homeowners, rental prices are soaring and residents are worried locals will be pushed out of town. "Now the average rental price is about $400 per week for an average house. A couple of years ago that could have been $280," ... And [for Jarrad] while his family loves life outside the city, they never thought it would be so hard to find an affordable home.
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/housing-boom-impacting-families-…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Regional NSW.Perth’s carbon neutral certified apartment building
Duncan Murray The Fifth Estate (No paywall)A build-to-rent development in Perth has been certified carbon neutral under the government’s Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard for Buildings, with claims it could be the first nationally.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/rating-tools/australias…
# Australia, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Housing market.Grey nomads stuck in cramped caravan back lockdowns, say it's vital to protect community
Sandra Morello ABC (No paywall)Grey nomads Adrian and Janet Saw are among 13 million people across Australia who are in lockdown, except their home is on wheels. The New South Wales couple, who reside in caravan, have been caught up in South Australia's snap seven-day lockdown, which aims to stop the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of coronavirus. While it may be daunting for many people living in cramped conditions, they take it in their stride — given it is not their first lockdown during their travels across Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-22/lockdown-in-a-caravan-for…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Older people, Short-term holiday letting.Fit for a king: Prince Charles’ experimental city is proving critics wrong
Bevan Shields The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)After a three-hour drive through the English countryside, I arrive in the town of Poundbury and climb out of the car to examine my strange new surroundings. To the right stands the imposing Duchess of Cornwall Inn, which borrows its rich architectural detail from Palladio’s Convento della Carità in Venice. Next door, the neoclassical-style Strathmore House is bright yellow like some sort of St Petersburg palace and boasts fourteen giant Corinthian pilasters topped by a pediment bearing the Queen Mother’s coat of arms. In front of me the sprawling Royal Pavilion combines Greek Revival details with Roman arcaded architecture. These are not centuries-old buildings, though. They’re not even five years old. They are, in fact, a fascinating experiment in urban design championed by heir-to-the-throne and architecture critic-in-chief Prince Charles.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/fit-for-a-king-prince-charle…
# International, Housing market, Planning and development.South Coast villages brace for development influx amid city exodus
Peter Hannan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Some of the state’s most idyllic coastal villages are bracing for a flood of housing development as Sydneysiders seeking to escape the pandemic push up prices and awaken long-dormant projects. Developers have their eyes on towns such as Dalmeny, Tuross Head and Manyana on the NSW South Coast, and councils due to face elections in December have come under pressure to open up more land for housing as properties become scarce for renters and buyers alike.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/south-coast-vill…
# NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, Regional NSW.I don't mind being a renter, except for this one thing
Matilda Dixon-Smith SBS (No paywall)I’ve heard the jokes about lawyers, and used-car salesmen. I know what people think of taxidermists. But, seriously, what is it with real estate agents? (SBS Voices)
https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2018/02/22/…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.Home dreams shattered as Perth families gagged by builders’ silence culture
Marta Pascual Juanola The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)West Australian families who are unhappy with their home builder say they are being silenced with threatening legal letters and non-disparagement agreements, leaving them with little recourse to get out of their contract.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/home-dreams-sh…
# Australia, Home ownership.Why WA is missing its chance to stop Perth’s urban sprawl
Hamish Hastie The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The McGowan government’s home building bonus “directly conflicted” with its own infill targets, an independent infrastructure advisory body says. Infrastructure WA’s draft State Infrastructure Strategy released on Wednesday made 88 recommendations to the government, including planning several major projects such as a third airport, the second phase of Metronet projects and the expansion of Perth’s Convention and Exhibition Centre. But the majority of those recommendations were not for bricks and mortar projects, but policy changes aimed at improving the delivery, maintenance and assessment of infrastructure until 2042.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/western-australia/why-wa-is-miss…
# Australia, Housing market, Planning and development.