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
State government windfall tax stalls plans for new suburb
Damien Ractliffe, Patrick Elligett and Michael Fowler The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A plan to turn Sandown Racecourse into a suburb the size of Wangaratta has stalled as a result of a new state government tax that would cost the site’s owners hundreds of millions of dollars.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/state-government-windfa…
# Australia, Housing market, Tax.Soaring house prices: an economic threat eating away the future
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)On 'Einstein’s test of madness' ... Australia’s runaway house prices are making the national economy less stable and lowering productivity, according to research which warns home ownership is now out of reach for anyone under the age of 35 as governments repeat failed policy fixes. Special research led by UNSW finds the property market is now a “triple threat” to the nation’s economic future with the ongoing surge in prices creating economic instability, diverting money away from more productive pursuits and affecting the lending policies of the nation’s major banks. ... Governments have pumped money into various policies aimed at first-home buyers including the NSW which plans to offer a $25,000 grant, replacing existing stamp duty concessions. ... [The UNSW research] suggests such an approach would do nothing to make homes more affordable. ... ”In responding to housing economics evidence, Australian housing policy actions seem to perfectly meet Einstein’s test of madness, in repeating the same actions and expecting different results,” the researchers said. A federal royal commission into Australia’s housing future was required, they recommended, given how few “coherent policies” were in place across the country to deal with all the factors behind the surge in house prices. For an article on the same report by Jack Derwin of Business Insider Australia, go to: [https://www.businessinsider.com.au/australia-property-prices-royal-commission-risks-intervention-2021-6]. Check out the City Futures Research Centre webpage at: [https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/housing-and-economy-scenarios-australia-2025-and-2045/]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/soaring-house-prices-an-…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.Sirius penthouse sold for $35 million to Point Piper buyer
Lucy Macken Domain (No paywall)Just three years after the last of the housing commission residents moved out of the landmark Sirius building at The Rocks, one of the penthouses has sold for $35 million to a buyer from Point Piper. ... Architect and Save Our Sirius spokesman, Ben Peake, [said] “To think, just 40 years ago this is where we placed our most vulnerable and our low-income workers, and in just 40 years our attitude to housing has changed so much that people have been forced out of their homes; a community destroyed so that private interests could make a quick buck out of Sydney’s hotly inflated real estate market.”
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sirius-penthouse-sold-for-35-mill…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Housing market, State Government.Private landlords are losing billions. Should we keep picking up the tab?
David Hayward The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)What is top of mind when you hear that landlords are losing squillions? I suspect a goodly share of you will think of that old favourite, public housing. It’s where all the no-hopers end up, isn’t it, and it is run by public servants, so it’s got to run at a whopping loss? ... [But] Australian Taxation Office data released last week had some eye-catching numbers on the private rental sector that points to a different conclusion. In 2018-19, the private rental stock ran at a loss amounting to over $3 billion. Yes, loss. If we exclude those that at least break even, the losses climb to a humungous $12.8 billion. ... Those rental losses bring with them a giant cost to federal tax revenues, mainly due to negative gearing, which allows landlords to deduct losses from their rental properties from taxable income derived elsewhere. The biggest single landlord cost is interest on debt, which amounted to an incredible $24 billion last year. Then there’s the $4.5 billion the federal government spends each year on rent assistance for 1.3 million low-income private tenants. Added to this is the 50 per cent discount on capital gains, which is worth a lot in these days of rapid house price growth. When you tot it all up, we taxpayers are paying buckets to private landlords ...
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/private-landlords-ar…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Federal Government, Tax.'We want another homeless hotel - and we can make it work'
Simon Maybin BBC (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Thousands of rough sleepers were given rooms in hotels as part of the UK's emergency response to coronavirus during the first lockdown. The unprecedented effort was described by some as a silver lining to the dark clouds of Covid-19. This is the story of the highs and lows in one of those hotels, which has just closed its doors to homeless people after 14 months.
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.How much money do you need to retire? The answer depends on one big thing
Rhiana Whitson ABC (No paywall)Yumi Lee is 56 and should be looking forward to retiring in the next decade. But after years out of the workforce and time working overseas, she has less than $10,000 in superannuation. ... Yumi's not alone in worrying about her retirement. ... And if you're a woman, you're more likely to be worried about having a comfortable retirement than a man would. ... So why are we all so worried about not having enough? Well, it could have something to do with the super companies' messaging, but it also might have something to do with whether or not you're a homeowner. Let's dive into that a little deeper. ... The retirement income estimates used by Treasury and super funds are based on a retiree owning their own home and retiring at the average age of 65. In other words, if you're renting in the private market or retire involuntarily before the age of 65, you're more likely to end up in poverty. You read that correctly. [Read the full article]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-15/retirement-superannuation…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Older people, Women.The San Francisco homes that prove why NSW stamp duty changes won’t work
Benjamin Ward The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)With Sydney house prices soaring, attention has returned to NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet’s proposed stamp duty reform. The Treasurer used recent price rises as evidence that we “need a fairer and equitable system in place” and last Friday released a progress paper that predicted the reform could lead to a 6 per cent jump in homeownership. The Treasurer should be commended for pursuing the state’s biggest tax reform in decades. But to achieve the fairness and equity that the Treasurer describes, we should be wary of the path proposed to transition to the new land tax.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-san-francisco-homes-that-pro…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market, Tax.Liberal MPs suggest radical plans to tackle housing affordability crisis
Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Liberal MPs are demanding the federal government consider radical plans to bring the runaway housing market under control after new figures showed the value of the nation’s homes soared by a record $450 billion in three months. ... Sydney MP John Alexander said some of his own government’s policies were feeding into dysfunctional property market
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/liberal-mps-suggest-radi…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Tax.