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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
The cities and regions where rental returns are on the rise
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Rental returns have taken a hit from rapidly rising property prices, but there are some cities and regions bucking the trend with rising rental yields, new figures show.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-cities-and-regions-where-rent…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.It feels like winning the lottery’: confessions of a Sydney homeowner
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)This is the first time I’ve been on the receiving end of such ill-gotten gains, after nearly two decades of railing against declining housing affordability in Australia. ... And, as exciting as that is, it’s not right. I believe those of us fortunate enough to have found our way on to the property ladder have a moral responsibility to consider the plight of those to come. So, what can we do?
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/it-feels-like-winnin…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, Tax.Unit prices fall in many city suburbs amid house-led real estate boom
David Chau ABC (No paywall)Despite house prices rising at their fastest pace in 32 years, apartments in Australia's most oversupplied cities aren't getting as much love from buyers. In some areas, unit prices have tumbled in the past year and still haven't recovered from their COVID-19 slump — with Sydney and Melbourne the worst hit capitals. Those cities, in particular, have relied heavily on international students and foreign workers being able to pass freely through Australia's borders, to rent out apartments that their investor landlords don't want to live in themselves.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-21/unloved-apartments-amid-r…
# Australia, Rent, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, Students.As property prices surge, Melbourne homebuyer looks to social media for her first property
Yara Murray-Atfield ABC (No paywall)Sick of being outbid at auctions and competing with crowds of other people for a home in her dream suburb, Katie Higgins turned to Facebook.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-22/property-prices-surge-mel…
# Australia, Housing market.Young mum lands dream home after spending months in homeless accommodation - only to discover it's a tip
Sophie Halle-Richards (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... A young mum who found her dream home after spending months in homeless accommodation has been left heartbroken after claims the house has been left in a tip. (Manchester Evening News)
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-…
# International, Rent, Homelessness.Vacancy rates still high for inner-city rentals
John Collettt The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Vacancy rates in Melbourne and Sydney CBDs remain elevated in the absence of international students and travellers.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/vacancy-rates-still-high-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.The Carpenter Who Built Tiny Homes for Toronto’s Homeless
Catherine Porter The New York Times (No paywall)On his way to work on a construction site, Khaleel Seivwright surveyed the growing number of tents lining an intercity highway and in parks with increasing discomfort. How would these people survive Toronto’s damp, frigid winters, let alone the coronavirus, which had pushed so many out of overcrowded shelters? He remembered the little shanty he had once built out of scrap wood while living on a commune in British Columbia. ... [Today Mr. Seivwright] has built about 100 similar shelters with a crew of 40 volunteers and more than $200,000 in donations. He has hauled them to parks across Toronto where homeless encampments have slumped into place — jarring reminders of the pandemic’s perversely uneven effects.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/world/canada/khaleel-seivwrig…
# Must read International, Homelessness, Housing market.Podcast: Building Tenant Power – With IUTs Barbara Steenbergen
(No paywall)Barbara Steenbergen from the International Union of Tenants, European Union office, joins Am Johal on this episode of Below the Radar. Together they discuss the role of the tenant unions in Europe as well as their advances in housing policies and protecting tenant rights.
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/podcast-building-tenant-power-wit…
# Video International, Campaigns and law reform.