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
What the budget (and budget reply) tells us about where the major parties stand on issues important to you
Jade Macmillan ABC (No paywall)he centrepiece of Labor's budget reply was a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund to build 20,000 new social housing properties over five years.
Labor says 4,000 of those homes would be set aside for women and children escaping domestic and family violence and for women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness. On top of that, another 10,000 affordable homes would be allocated to frontline workers such as nurses, police officers and cleaners. ... The government's budget included a housing package, worth $782 million over four years, most of which will be used to extend the HomeBuilder program.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-14/federal-budget-reply-2021…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Homelessness, Older people, Women.Renters seize on lower costs to live in UK cities
Kevin Peachey BBC (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Tenants are showing signs of returning to major cities to take advantage of rents that were lowered during lockdown, a report suggests. Work and leisure restrictions, as well as younger adults returning to live with their families, meant demand dropped in the last year. This in turn led to rent falls, including a drop of 9.4% in London, according to property portal Zoopla. But, since Easter, it said demand had picked up. There was a two-speed rental market over the last year, according to the Zoopla figures. Outside London, rents rose by 3% in the year to the end of March.
# International, Rent, Housing market.The Queen’s Speech: what legislation is coming for the social housing sector?
Dominic Brady Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... the Queen listed a number of policies and measures that will have a direct impact on social housing providers. Many proposals were expected, such as the Building Safety Bill and the Planning Bill. But for many in the social housing sector, the speech will be defined by its omissions as much as what was included. ... The Queen’s Speech also contained a commitment to help more people own their own home while enhancing renters’ rights. Central to reforms in the private rented sector is the idea of scrapping Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions – first announced by former prime minister Theresa May in April 2019. Documents published today show that the government has vowed to publish its consultation response to the proposal “later this year”. The government also said it will bring forward reforms to “drive improvements in standards in rented accommodation, including by ensuring all tenants have a right to redress, and ensuring well targeted, effective enforcement that drives out criminal landlords, for example exploring the merits of a landlord register”. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said that the Queen’s Speech “offers hope to England’s 20 million private and social renters”. She added: “We stand ready to work with the government to deliver a Renters’ Reform Bill that includes scrapping Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions and introduces a national landlord register. It’s also time to bring forward long-overdue legislation that improves standards for social tenants with safety at its core.”
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/the-queens-speec…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Home ownership, Minimum habitability standards, No-grounds evictions.Eviction notice periods reduced to four months from June
Dominic Brady Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Minimum eviction notice periods will be cut from six months to four from June for most renters in England, the government has announced. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said that longer notice periods for tenants facing eviction during the pandemic will remain in place until at least October, although the term will be reduced to four months from next month. Before the coronavirus crisis hit the UK last March, the standard minimum notice period in England was two months. ... In yesterday’s Queen’s Speech it was announced that government will publish a white paper in the autumn, with further protections for renters including proposals to abolish so-called ‘no-fault’ evictions. Former prime minister Theresa May first promised to scrap Section 21 evictions two years ago in April 2019. A recent survey commissioned by Generation Rent found that nearly one in 12 private renters have been served with a Section 21 notice since the start of the pandemic.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/eviction-notice-period…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19, No-grounds evictions.Coalition’s $17.7bn aged care budget pledge ‘falls well short’ of what is needed, experts warn
Elias Visontay The Guardian (No paywall)Aged care experts are warning the Morrison government’s budget commitment of $17.7bn for the sector “falls well short” of what is needed for generational reform and to avoid workforce and transparency “vulnerabilities”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/12/budget-20…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, Older people.Federal Budget 2021: Measures will boost housing demand without increasing much-needed supply, experts say
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)This year’s federal budget has been dubbed yet “another missed opportunity”, with experts concerned measures will only further fuel rapid price gains and do little to improve housing affordability. Measures that could improve housing affordability long term, particularly increased funding to build more social and affordable housing, were overlooked in favour of schemes that brought forward housing demand – which experts say support individual buyers but ultimately push up property prices.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/federal-budget-2021-measures-to-b…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Pallas insists budget about fairness as property industry savages tax hikes
Ashleigh McMillan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Property industry leaders have criticised planned hikes on stamp duty and land tax in this week’s Victorian state budget as “short-term gain for long-term pain” that would worsen housing affordability, as Treasurer Tim Pallas insisted it was fair to ask those who had benefited from surging values contributed more to repairing public finances. ... Developers and land speculators who reap windfall gains when their property is rezoned will be hit with a 50 per cent tax if the gain is worth $500,000. The brunt of the new tax increases would be worn by landlords ...
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/property-industry-savag…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government, Tax.Can we refit empty office buildings for housing in the heart of our cities?
David Stevenson, architect ABC (No paywall)Our city-centres are screaming out for more people at a time when there is an abundance of empty office space. With affordable housing also an issue, is it possible to refit these empty office spaces and entice more people back to living in the city? (ABC RN Drive)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/can-we-refit…
# Audio Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market.