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
Youth housing service raises funding fears with ‘astronomical’ demand
Matt Dennien The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A major Brisbane youth homelessness support service has raised concerns about its ability to cope with an “astronomical” spike in demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and funding certainty into winter.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/youth-housing-service…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Young people.Brisbane realtor refuses to repay $24,500 deposit after sale falls over
Toby Crockford The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Brisbane real estate agency refused to repay a $24,500 deposit to a potential buyer after the sale of a block of land fell over, instead keeping $20,000 as commission and giving the land owner the rest.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-realtor-refu…
# Legal significance Australia, Landlords and agents.Perth council eyes CBD car parks for night homeless shelters in winter trial
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Spaces like Perth CBD car parks which go unused at night could be part of a new winter trial to provide evening shelter to homeless people. The City of Perth council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to investigate the feasibility of a trial ...
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/western-australia/perth-council-…
# Australia, Homelessness, Local Government.Cost-savings tips to take the stress out of moving house
Joel Gibson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)I have heard it said that after the death of a loved one or a divorce, moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do in life. Having just tested the theory by moving into a new home myself, there might be something in it.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/cost-savings…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Home ownership.Inflation figures give an early guide on home loan interest rate moves
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)The release of the consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, is arguably one of the more important data drops on the economics calendar. Think of it like the economy's blood pressure: low inflation suggests lethargy, weakness and vulnerability; high inflation represents hypertension, indicating major underlying problems with an economy that's fit to burst. What policymakers and economic lever-pullers, like the Reserve Bank, want is inflation that's in the middle of those two extremes.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/inflation-figures-early-g…
# Australia, Housing market.Covid spread as overcrowding doubles among private renters in England
Chaminda Jayanetti The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The proportion of private renters living in overcrowded homes has doubled during the pandemic, adding to concerns that living conditions helped the virus spread, particularly among ethnic minorities. Figures out last week from the English Housing Survey’s household resilience study found that the proportion in November and December last year was 15%, up from 7% a year earlier. That means more than one in seven private renters are enduring overcrowding, compared with only one in 50 homeowners. Overcrowded housing is believed to be linked to higher rates of coronavirus infection because it makes social distancing and self-isolation harder. ... Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “A chronic lack of social housing is at the heart of our housing emergency. It has pushed millions into expensive and unstable private renting over the years. ...'
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/24/covid-spread-as-…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health.I’m a landlord and I cringe at the sound of landlords screaming like spoilt brats
Mark Todd (No paywall)From New Zealand ... The quickest route to getting wealthier in this country has been buying an existing home, renting it out, and spending as little as possible on it while the capital gains accumulate. The problem is: nothing is being created. Societies thrive on the creation of new wealth, not the hoarding of existing wealth. ... Unfortunately, the headlines have been dominated by landlords threatening to take revenge on their tenants, which has only made the government’s case easier. I’m a landlord but I cringe at these stories. As a sector, we need to stop looking like spoilt brats and engage in positive discussions to ensure the policy going forward works. (The Spinoff)
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/27-04-2021/im-a-landlord-and-i…
# International, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.‘No demand’: Urban designers reject push to convert empty offices into apartments
Bianca Hall The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW chief economist Stephen Walters this week called for empty offices to be converted into residential apartments in Sydney – in a similar push to those undertaken in London and New York – to reinvigorate that city’s CBD. [But] Hodyl and Co managing director Leanne Hodyl, who conducted a built form review of the CBD for the Victorian government, said there was more empty office and student apartment accommodation in the city than there was demand for either. Ms Hodyl poured cold water on previous proposals to convert empty office space into residential accommodation, saying without international students there was little call for more apartments. ... [But] Two “really exciting” alternatives could be transforming student accommodation into affordable or crisis housing, and using spare office space to rejuvenate the city’s diverse cultural creatives, she said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/no-demand-urban-designe…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development, Students.