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
Stamp duty v land tax: the pros and cons explained
Noel Whittaker The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Housing affordability continues to be a hot topic and the often-raised suggestion of replacing stamp duty on the sale of a property with a universal land tax is back on the table again. The idea has been around for more than a decade after former Treasury secretary Ken Henry claimed that stamp duty not only is a disincentive for people to move, but also gives state governments erratic income ... [Read on]
https://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/stamp-duty-v-land-tax-the-pros-…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Tax.Homeowners on alert as fixed-rate mortgages rise
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Lenders are increasing their interest rates on 4 and 5-year fixed-rate mortgages as they prepare for the end of central-bank sponsored cheap funding designed to lubricate the economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/homeowners-on-alert-as-fi…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Airbnb linked to falling rents in pandemic: study
Jimmy Thomson (Paywall)Rentals have gone down most during the pandemic in areas where short-term holiday lets had the biggest foothold, says report. (The Australian Financial Review) You can read the report at: [https://findingspress.org/article/23720-airbnb-during-covid-19-and-what-this-tells-us-about-airbnb-s-impact-on-rental-prices]
https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/airbnb-linked-to-fal…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.NSW to spend $250 million building and upgrading Aboriginal housing
Linda Morris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)More than $259 million will be spent to build 250 new homes and renovate a further 7000 for Indigenous families as part of commitments to be made in the upcoming NSW budget. Indigenous community housing groups have been pushing for more social and affordable housing for Aboriginal people, particularly in inner Sydney, and warning that development and rising property prices are aggravating a shortage of affordable housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-to-spend-250-million-bui…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Repairs, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.NSW to offer $25,000 grant for first home buyers in stamp duty overhaul
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)First home buyers would get a $25,000 grant to help them enter the market as the NSW government moves to overhaul property tax at the same time as home ownership for people under 40 plummets. A grant would replace existing stamp duty concessions for first home buyers under the property tax reforms, which would initially allow buyers to choose paying stamp duty or an annual levy.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-to-offer-25-000-first-ho…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government, Tax, Young people.Medical van treats acute and chronic illnesses in hundreds of rough sleepers across Sydney
Lydia Feng ABC (No paywall)... But when a red medical van pulls up to the curb in Woolloomooloo on a Tuesday night she’s eager to meet the medical staff inside. Within minutes, Julie is seated beside a doctor and getting a health check-up for the first time in years. ... Julie is one of many rough sleepers benefiting from a new initiative called Street Side Medics.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-13/new-medical-van-treats-ro…
# NSW, Health, Homelessness.Badgered boomers bite back over big homes
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Check out this and other letters to 'The Sydney Morning Herald': 'If Betty and John Citizen can’t take Flossie or Fido with them then they are forced to either stay where they are or have their beloved animals re-homed or worse.' See the article in Housing News Digest (7 June 2021) at: [https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/grandparents-need-the-backyard-boomers-deepen-housing-crisis-by-staying-in-empty-nests-20210605-p57ydf.html]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/badgered-boomers-bite-back-o…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market, Planning and development.Sydney tourism slump a boon for renters in former Airbnb hotspots
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Sydney renters in the inner city, eastern suburbs and northern beaches have reaped the benefits of a slump in the holiday rental market during the pandemic, as Airbnb landlords converted their properties to traditional long-term lettings. Researchers at the City Futures Research Centre at the University of NSW found the suburbs in Sydney with the greatest Airbnb activity before the COVID-19 pandemic also experienced the biggest drops in typical weekly rents during 2020. ... In April, NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes introduced a State Environmental Planning Policy for short-term rentals such as Airbnb or Stayz, which overturns any blanket bans on short-term rentals at council level. ... Alex Greenwich, the state MP for Sydney, which includes suburbs such as Paddington and Surry Hills, said he would work with apartment communities and tenancy advocates to push for stronger laws to prevent residential homes being turned into short-term holiday accommodation.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-tourism-slump-a-boon-…
# NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Planning and development, Short-term holiday letting, State Government.