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
Struggling renters told to leave Sunshine Coast due to housing crisis in 'heartbreaking' St Vinnies warning
Jacqui Street, Amy Sheehan, and Meg Bolton ABC (No paywall)Residents struggling to find permanent accommodation in popular Queensland regional areas are being told they may have to move hundreds of kilometres away to secure long-term housing. ... Mr Harrison has lived on the Sunshine Coast for two decades and has never seen a housing crisis as bad as the one gripping the region. "I know it's stressful for families, because they might have a network here, they may have children at school here," he said. "But you can't live in a car for the rest of your life and that's what they would have to do if they were trying to stay here."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-20/rental-crisis-homelessnes…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market.Germany: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany’s top court
(No paywall)Germany’s constitutional court has decided that the Berlin rent cap violates Germany’s constitution. The cap is one of the most-debated laws in the country. Campaigners argued it was a vital way to preserve affordable housing in the German capital, where rents have been soaring for years. The German Property Foundation (ZIA) calculated last year that rents in new contracts in the city had risen 27% from 2013 to 2019 alone. (International Union of Tenants)
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/germany-berlin-rent-cap-overturne…
# Legal significance International, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Cladding removal from first of 214 towers won’t start until end of year
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Apartment owners will have to wait until late this year before work starts on removing combustible cladding from the first of 214 high-rise residential buildings in Sydney and other parts of NSW.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cladding-removal-from-first-…
# NSW, Strata, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.Federal budget 2021: $18 billion is a step towards closing gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities
Kerry Blck The Conversation (No paywall)From Canada ... There is no denying that the landscape of our collective reality has shifted dramatically since the pandemic began. Budget 2021 reveals significant investments in COVID-19 relief efforts, job creation and building a resilient economy. But where does the 2021 budget stand on investments in Indigenous people and communities? ... Targeted investments in housing for First Nations living within their Nations are essential, and help to balance the housing needs on- and off-reserve. The 2016 Clatworthy report estimated capital investment needs of $20 billion. This value has only increased since then.
https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2021-18-billion-is-a-…
# International, Federal Government, Housing market, Planning and development, Race and ethnicity.Frustrated home buyers leave the market unable to make a winning bid
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Defeated house-hunters across the country are giving up on buying property as skyrocketing house prices and intense competition continually knock them out of the market.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/frustrated-home-buyers-leave-the-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Slow down and embrace nature – how to create better cities when the pandemic is over
Bjorn Wickenberg The Conversation (No paywall)This kind of multifunctional infrastructure is becoming increasingly popular, with many cities adopting so-called “nature-based solutions” to not just solve environmental problems and safeguard biodiversity, but to also provide local people with recreation space.
https://theconversation.com/slow-down-and-embrace-nature-how-to-…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Planning and development.Real estate faces macroprudential risks and some analysts suggest the multi-decade housing boom could be nearing its end
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Despite concerns about the pace of property price growth in Australia, regulators may not step in this year, analysts have warned. But looking further ahead, analysts also suggest Australia's multi-decade housing upswing could be nearing its end and that prices could ease through the decade once this short-term price surge has ended. However, they say much depends on the future level of immigration, the persistence of the working-from-home phenomenon and the levels of interest rates in coming years.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-22/real-estate-faces-macropr…
# Australia, Housing market.Why regulators aren’t alarmed by the housing boom... yet
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s sometimes said credit is the oil that greases the wheels of commerce and economic activity. So, what do you do when you want to slow things down a bit? You throw some sand in the gears. Whether the red-hot housing market needs this treatment is an important question facing financial regulators, who are committed to keeping interest rates low for years, but also wary of allowing the property market to overheat.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/why-regulators-aren-t-ala…
# Australia, Housing market.