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
Australia’s property market is still running hot and it’s not just in the big cities
Sinead Mangan ABC (No paywall)Australia's property market continues to boom, with Core Logic reporting values of houses lifting another 2.2% nationally in May. This growth is not just confined to the big cities with massive gains in regional Australia as well some of our regional capitals. It's cold comfort if you're currently looking to buy or rent a place in most parts of Australia with ongoing housing shortages continuing to be an issue across the nation. (ABC Australia Wide)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/australia-wide/australia-w…
# Audio Australia, Housing market, Regional NSW.Fears a wave of evictions will see a spike in homelessness as property boom rolls on
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)Renters are increasingly finding themselves facing eviction, and in a mad search for somewhere to live, researchers say. The latest check on the property market shows the boom's rolling on and, for the first since the pandemic struck, apartment prices are now rising after a long lull. It's pushing rental prices up higher than many can afford, but landlords are also selling-up, and evicting tenants in an effort to get top-dollar for their properties. While some will be able to find another place to rent, there are big fears a wave of renters are now facing homelessness. (ABC PM)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/sydney/programs/pm/fears-a-wave-of-…
# Audio Australia, Eviction, Rent, Landlords and agents.First-time buyers in England offered new homes at up to 50% off
Rupert Jones The Guardian (No paywall)First-time buyers in England will be able to apply for a discount of up to 50% on a new-build home under a government scheme. The First Homes initiative could save buyers £100,000 or more. But some experts say that with demand for these cut-price homes likely to exceed supply, it could spark a scramble for properties and add more fuel to the house price boom.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jun/04/first-time-buyers-…
# International, Home ownership, Housing market.Evictions by private landlords outstrip social housing sector for first time during pandemic
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Evictions by private landlords have outstripped those in the social housing sector across England and Wales for the first time during the pandemic, official statistics show.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/evictions-by-private-l…
# International, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.At last, Aussie property hunters value energy efficient homes
Duncan Murray The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Australian property-hunters are increasingly valuing energy efficient homes, with close to three quarters of recent buyers saying an energy rating was important to them, according to a report by REA Group.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/at-last-a…
# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas, Housing market.What’s wrong with 1000 new apartments in the heart of Burwood?
Ned Cutcher The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Under the cover of meeting its state government-imposed housing targets, Burwood Council in Sydney, recently approved a spot rezoning and site-specific Development Control Plan for a small chunk of its town centre. A development application has now been lodged and this once garden suburb, roughly midway between the Sydney and Parramatta business districts, is being asked to embrace the promise of a glamourous new shopping precinct and residential apartment complex with four new towers up to 42 storeys high.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/whats-wro…
# NSW, Planning and development.Owners told to foot the bill for combustible cladding repairs
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)From Victoria ... Home owners who have been told their building is unsafe will need to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove combustible cladding from their homes after being led to believe an agency run by the state government would foot the bill.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/06/03/owners-to…
# Australia, Strata, Asbestos, lead, hazardous materials, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Light-touch regulation keeps on failing homebuyers in faulty towers
Mike Steketee The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It is all too familiar: another developer of apartment towers facing questions over alleged defects in one of its buildings and the structural integrity of another. ... there have been numerous announcements and pieces of legislation but the fondness of successive governments for light-touch regulation has left fundamental problems untouched.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/light-touch-regulation-keeps…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.