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 chance does a single mum have? Fierce competition driving up rents in regional Victoria
Henrietta Cook and Benjamin Preiss The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Michelle Attenborough knew the warning signs of homelessness after moving to Shepparton to help people struggling to make ends meet. The case worker soon realised she ticked many of those boxes herself.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/what-chance-does-a-sing…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent, Housing market, Older people, Women.The Guardian view on the cladding scandal: don’t punish the innocent
Editorial The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... If natural justice had its proper bearing, hundreds of thousands of people would not tonight be sleeping in high-rise homes that are clad in materials that could potentially go up in flames, a prospect for which they not only have to pay fire safety costs and higher insurance bills, but also face the reality that they will not be able to sell and move. Straight after the manmade tragedy of the Grenfell fire of 2017, those flammable panels should have been stripped off flats across the land and families would be getting on with their lives. Instead of which, we have this week’s extended game of parliamentary ping pong between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as they bat back and forth amendments to a fire safety bill amid a widespread sense of stasis.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/28/the-guardi…
# International, Minimum habitability standards.Sydney’s 8.5% quarterly house price rise largest in three decades
Michael McGowan The Guardian (No paywall)Sydney’s property market has recorded its largest quarterly increase in almost three decades, with the median cost of a house in the emerald city now a staggering $1.31m.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/29/sydneys-8…
# NSW, Housing market.Melbourne apartment building rates ‘to fall off a cliff’
Noel Towell The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Apartment building in Melbourne is set to plummet, with a respected property research company tipping the number of units completed across Victoria to plunge from more than 16,000 this year to just 800 in 2024.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/melbourne-apartment-bui…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.House price rise growth shows signs of slowing
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The housing boom is showing signs of slowing and could even end in the next few months after a period of breathless rises.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/house-price-rise-growth-s…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart house prices at record high
Adrian Lowe Domain (No paywall)House prices in six capital cities have hit dizzying new highs, with two cracking through major barriers and prices in another poised to do so within three months.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-melbourne-brisbane-adelaid…
# Australia, Housing market.Sydney house prices soar to record median of $1.3m after fastest quarterly rise in 28 years
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Sydney house prices have soared to a record-breaking $1,309,195, rising more than $100,000 in the first three months of this year, new figures reveal, the fastest quarterly gain in almost 30 years.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-house-prices-soar-to-recor…
# NSW, Housing market.City of London aims to deliver at least 1,500 homes using empty office space
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)The City of London has set a target to deliver at least 1,500 homes over the next decade as part of its post-pandemic plan to use vacant office space.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/city-of-london-aims-to…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.