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
Once social housing, these are now some of Sydney's most expensive units – at up to $15 million
Alison Rodericks Time Out (No paywall)Each time you travel across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you see the Sirius building. Nestled in The Rocks and peeking up at the Bridge, "Sirius" has always stood out – thanks to its brutalist-style architecture, unusual repetitive geometric patterns – and the sign, in the window of Unit 74, that loudly proclaimed "One Way! Jesus" to all commuters driving by. It was also a talking point, because it was well-situated public housing – until recently. The apartment block captured the headlines when it was sold in 2019 by the Gladys Berejiklian-led NSW government for $150 million. And while there were promises to reinvest in social housing, the sale of Sirius displaced many long-time residents, most of whom were elderly, underprivileged and had lived in this pocket of Sydney for generations.
https://www.timeout.com/sydney/news/once-social-housing-these-ar…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Public and community housing.It’s the only place Rod could afford to live in Sydney. He may have to leave
Sue Williams The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)When Rod Boynton’s relationship with his partner broke down, his world fell apart. Unable to afford the rent on their home by himself, he ended up sleeping rough for three weeks, on the streets, on park benches and in shop doorways, which also made keeping his storeman and driver job impossible. Finally, beaten but unbroken, he took refuge in a Salvation Army hostel in Surry Hills, where eager to earn his keep, he volunteered to help around the place. “They liked me there and offered me a permanent job but told me I’d have to live elsewhere to take it,” said Boynton, now 63. “So that’s when I was shown this boarding house.”
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/it-s-the-only-place-rod-cou…
# Must read NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Community languages, Eviction, Rent.Sydney’s largest public housing estate is being redeveloped, but not all these homes need to be demolished
Rebecca McLaughlan, Alistair Sisson, Michael Zanardo & Cameron Logan The Conversation (No paywall)The New South Wales government is forging ahead with renewal of the state’s largest public housing estate. Developer Stockland and three community housing providers are contracted to deliver the first stage nearly a decade after it was announced. Some 749 homes are to be demolished and replaced with more than 3,000 new apartments. Following the Minns government’s changes in 2023, Waterloo South will comprise 30% social housing, 20% affordable housing and 50% market-rate housing. Plans for the 1,200-plus homes
https://theconversation.com/sydneys-largest-public-housing-estat…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, Rent.Aussie tenant that recently moved spends less rent on a Melbourne house than a Sydney apartment
Sarah Petty realestate.com.au (No paywall)Tenant Lorna Wang is getting more bang for her buck leasing a three-bedroom house in Kew after renting an apartment in Sydney, and the catch is, she’s paying less rent. Ms Wang said there was “really good affordability” in Melbourne compared to other markets. “I think Melbourne hasn’t really had the run that a lot of other capital cities are seeing,” she said. As a rentvestor, or someone who is a property investor but chooses to rent, the 33-year-old said she moved to Victoria for a change of scenery, but has been able to get a lot more for her money in terms of where she’s living.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/aussie-tenant-that-recently-m…
# Must read NSW, Rent.The metro will transform this Sydney suburb but not everyone’s on board
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s approaching noon as Sonny Morgan smokes a cigarette, and his mate swigs a beer, while they perch on an outdoor table in the grounds of Waterloo’s public housing estate, metres from the dazzling station which opened as part of Sydney’s new $21.6 billion metro rail line hours earlier. “I’ve been on it already this morning,” Morgan says of the rail line. “It cost me nearly $5 to get to Central. That’s $10 here and back. It’s good, it’s just the price is too high.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-metro-will-transform-thi…
# Hot topic NSW, .State can’t afford to let market decide on workers’ housing
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When the state government announced its plan for transport-oriented development (TOD) around key Metro and train stations last year, it came with a promise of up to 15 per cent affordable housing. That would have been about one in seven apartments in each six-storey building, constructed to help working families take advantage of the city’s best suburban transport links. But, as Andrew Taylor reports, the reality will likely be far fewer new homes within the financial means of someone on a below-average income than were initially promised.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/state-can-t-afford-to-let-ma…
# Hot topic NSW, .Government faces anger over affordable housing target shortfalls
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Affordable housing in new residential developments around Sydney train stations could fall far short of the Minns government’s promised 15 per cent target, with some areas likely to include fewer than one in 30 homes built for lower-income earners. The NSW transport-oriented development (TOD) program aims to build tens of thousands of new homes around rail and metro stations. Planning Department data shows as little as 3 per cent of new dwellings in Bankstown, in the city’s south-west, and Kellyville and Bella Vista, in the north-west, must be affordable housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/government-faces-anger-over-…
# Hot topic NSW, .The shocking figure that reveals the depth of Sydney’s housing crisis
Matt Wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The number of building company failures in NSW has almost trebled over the past three years, hampering the sector’s capacity to meet ambitious targets to lift housing supply. Despite record house prices and soaring rents, 1408 NSW construction firms called in administrators during the year to June as inflation and higher interest disrupted the sector.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-shocking-figure-that-rev…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.