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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
US buyers lead a 15.5 per cent surge in foreign investment in Aussie houses
Lucy Macken Domain (No paywall)It seems not even a global pandemic will dampen foreign buyer interest in Australian real estate. The latest Foreign Investment Review Board annual report shows a surge in foreign buyer investment of 15.5 per cent, taking it to the highest level in three years. The United States leads international buyer demand for property with $13 billion worth of investment, trailed by Singapore with $9.5 billion and mainland China in third place with $7.1 billion. However, China’s overall value rose to just shy of Singapore’s when combined with that of Hong Kong.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/foreign-investment-in-australian-…
# Australia, Housing market, International, Landlords and agents.Could 3D-printed homes solve the housing affordability issue?
Jane Hone Domain (No paywall)For many of us, the concept that a printer is capable of producing three-dimensional objects – let alone entire buildings – is still fairly remote and difficult to grasp. Yet it would appear that we’re drawing ever closer to a world in which 3D printers build our homes, in as little as three days. There have already been 3D-printed houses constructed in places such as Italy, the Netherlands and the United States, and industry experts say it’s only a matter of time before they become more mainstream.
https://www.domain.com.au/living/could-3d-printed-homes-solve-th…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.‘Pancaked’: Florida’s condo collapse
Mark Doman, Stephen Hutcheon and Alex Palmer ABC (No paywall)Authorities are at a loss to explain how one wing of a 40-year-old apartment block on the Florida coast suddenly collapsed in the early hours of Thursday morning, resulting in deaths, injuries and leaving scores of residents still missing. But theories are emerging.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-26/miami-building-collapse-s…
# International, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, two years in, on the bouquets and brickbats
Wendy Frew The Fifth Estate (No paywall)NSW doesn’t need a separate Building Commission, says the man appointed as the state’s Building Commissioner. But it does need a “reformed and modernised” regulator with sufficient powers and technology to implement the government’s reform agenda, David Chandler tells The Fifth Estate.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/nsw-build…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.COVID has disrupted our big cities, and regional planning has to catch up fast
Jason Byrne The Conversation (No paywall)Since the 1950s, the world has experienced a sixfold increase in the number of people living in cities. City dwellers now outnumber rural residents globally and in many individual countries. But the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to disrupt the trajectory, scale and form of urbanisation. ... The pandemic is refocusing planners’ attention on the vulnerability of cities to natural hazards and other threats. Securing food, water and energy, sustaining health services and maintaining critical supply chains are seen as more important than ever. Planners are also concerned about rising social inequality. The pandemic has fast-tracked some trends ...
https://theconversation.com/covid-has-disrupted-our-big-cities-a…
# Australia, Housing market, Planning and development.Australians have become $518 billion richer in just three months
Matthew Elmas The New Daily (No paywall)Australians became $518 billion richer in the March quarter as household wealth soared 4.3 per cent – breaking yet another record. ... But only those who own homes or shares are much better off, because 86 per cent of the March quarter growth came from property and stock prices. That means inequality actually worsened over the quarter as those who don’t own property fell even further behind those that do.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2021/06/24/wealt…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership.Government lifts efforts to get young Australians out of residential aged care
Rob Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The federal government will increase its efforts to find alternative arrangements for Australians under 45 who are living in residential aged care under several ambitious targets to address the issue. About 6500 young Australians with disability occupy 5 per cent of residential aged care beds because the existing disability service system cannot provide the supports and services they need.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/government-lifts-efforts…
# Australia, Disability, Federal Government, Housing market, Young people.Homeowners allowed to rebuild after natural disaster using original planning rules
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Homes destroyed or damaged by fires, floods and other natural disasters in NSW will be able to be rebuilt or repaired under previous planning rules, ensuring property owners are not blocked by onerous restrictions in new standards.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/homeowners-allowed-to-rebuil…
# NSW, Home ownership, Planning and development, State Government.