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
Home ownership a fading dream for many Sydneysiders
Matt Wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A falling rate of home ownership threatens to trigger a surge in demand for social housing and drag on the state’s finances in coming decades, the NSW government has warned. The NSW intergenerational report, which forecasts how the state will change over the next 40 years, says the home ownership rate in NSW has now declined for each generation since the Baby Boomers. ... Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, who released the intergenerational report on Monday, said housing affordability was becoming a more important challenge for state governments.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/home-ownership-a-fading-drea…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability.Public Interest Debate on Housing Affordability
(No paywall)Recently there was a Public Interest Debate on Housing Affordability in the Legislative Assembly of the NSW Parliament. You may read here what some of our MPs said in the Hansard record.
http://www.gregpiper1.com/index.cfm?module=news&pagemode=indiv&p…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.First-home buyers face stiff competition as investors return to the property market
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)First-home buyers are beginning to be squeezed out of the housing market by investors who are driving stiff competition at auctions, agents report. The change is trickling through on auction floors with more investors registering to bid on properties, sending prices higher. Some are determined to buy bricks and mortar rather than leaving money in the bank, where it largely collects dust due to the low-interest rate environment.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/first-home-buyers-face-stiff-comp…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Questions to ask yourself before house-sitting
Meg Watson ABC (No paywall)Have you ever done the maths on how much money you pay in rent? ... But this itinerant life isn't for everyone. Here are a few important questions you should ask yourself before you tear up your lease. [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/questions-to-ask-yourself-before…
# Australia, Rent, Share houses.There has been a spike in snap auctions and it's pushing property prices higher
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)The fear of never owning a home is producing a spike in so-called "snap" or "on-the-spot" auctions. It is where property sales are rushed through prior to auction day. Research shows the number of pre-auction sales have surged over the past few years.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-08/covid-pandemic-revolution…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Telling the local story of migration in the COVID era
Glenn - The Census Expert (No paywall)With international migration on hold, population pundits are paying close attention to internal migration around Australia. Glenn takes a look at the trends in the latest data and showcases how to tell this story using your Community Profile. There's a link here to his earlier blog where he explores the figures from the December 2020 quarter and discusses the emerging trends for people moving around Australia. (.id informed decisions)
https://blog.id.com.au/2021/population/demographic-trends/tellin…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Planning and development.Totonto neighbourhood just bought a building to save it from greedy landlords
Karen Longwell (No paywall)From Canada ... A Toronto community group just bought a mixed residential and commercial building to save it from a possible ghost hotel renovation and to preserve the affordability of their neighbourhood. ... Known as the Mona Lisa building (for a mural on one side), it is one of Kensington Market's anchoring properties with 12 affordable residential units and five business units including a beloved variety store. (blogTO)
https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2021/06/54-56-kensing…
# International, Eviction, Affordable housing, Housing market.Aged care: How do we honour our obligations to the elderly?
ABC (Paywall)Victoria finds itself in the middle of its fourth lockdown since the COVID-19 pandemic began fourteen months ago. Once again — and in an ominous symmetry — it is aged care facilities that are at the centre of the outbreak, and therefore at the centre of public and political attention. ... This is all the more bewildering in light of the release, earlier this year, of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which highlighted the dangers of permitting aged-care staff to work across multiple facilities, and the inadequacy of training requirements — not least when it comes to infectious disease control.
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/theminefield/aged-…
# Audio Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Older people.