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
HomeBuilder construction deadline extended
Angelo Risso The New Daily (No paywall)The federal government has extended the deadline to begin construction under the HomeBuilder grants program by an additional 12 months. Those who were eligible for the grant before its March 31 conclusion – some 121,000 building applications, according to the government – will now have 18 months after signing contracts to commence construction. This is a year longer than previously allowed.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/04/17/homebuild…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Demand for more space driving housing 'frenzy' in Sydney's south-west
Jonathan Hair ABC (No paywall)Demand for property in the Greater Liverpool area is surging. According to new data from leading property website realestate.com.au, demand for homes in the local government area is up 29 per cent in the last six months.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-17/demand-for-space-driving-…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.Melbourne's average house price soars past million-dollar mark
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)For the first time in history, the average Melbourne house price has surged past the magic million-dollar mark.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/melbournes-average-house-price-s…
# Video Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Mascot Tower owners take step towards collective sale almost two years since evacuation
Laura Chung and Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Owners of Sydney’s beleaguered Mascot Towers will thrash out their options on Thursday night to try to resolve the long-running stand-off over the empty apartment building, including the possibility of selling the tower. ... Many remain doubtful that a motion for a collective sale of the building will receive the required support of 100 per cent of owners. ... Owners and tenants have been unable to return to their apartments since the building was evacuated, leaving many in dire financial straits. The estimated cost of repairing the building and repaying a 15-year strata loan escalated to almost $54 million last year, about $10 million higher than forecast.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/mascot-tower-owners-take-ste…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.‘Hippyland on a commercial scale’: Byron battle over suburb-sized commune
Angus Thompson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The former director of a commune in the Byron hinterland that collapsed with investors claiming $2.5 million is pushing for a suburb-sized alternative village in the same area.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hippyland-on-a-commercial-sc…
# NSW, Housing market, Local Government.‘Supply is restricted’: NAB chief calls for faster housing approvals
Jennifer Duke and Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The boss of one of Australia’s biggest banks is urging state and territory governments to revamp planning rules to encourage more housing development amid forecasts of double-digit price growth for 2021.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/supply-is-restricted-nab…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.America's COVID-19 Housing Crisis Is Hurting Black Women
(No paywall)Even before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the world economy, New Orleans had an eviction problem. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, ample low-income housing was never fully rebuilt, leaving tenants in the city fighting for the few affordable options available. In a new documentary for TIME, filmmaker Kathleen Flynn spent 6 months following the struggles of two single moms in New Orleans whose uncertain housing situations reflect what is happening around the country. The COVID-19 Eviction-Defense Project has estimated that at least a quarter of U.S. renters—up to 23 million Americans—could be pushed out of apartments. And the National Women’s Law Project found that Black women have been twice as likely to be behind on rent as white renters during the pandemic. The struggle is a grim echo of life after Hurricane Katrina, when Black women and families were slower to recover and permanently fled New Orleans. For those who returned, many are reliving the trauma of housing instability, this time with the added risk of a deadly virus. (Time Documentaries)
# Video International, Eviction, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Human rights, Race and ethnicity, Women.Sydney house rents at record high, unit rents stabilising after COVID price declines
Kate Burke and Paige Tonna Domain (No paywall)Sydney tenants are facing record-high house rents and unit price falls have come to an end, with rents already back on the rise in some pockets of the city, new data shows. ... Rising rental prices, particularly in regional NSW and the fringes of Greater Sydney, were putting more pressure on tenants, especially those who were already in the process of establishing repayment plans for deferred rent following the end of the COVID eviction moratorium, said Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive officer of the Tenants’ Union of NSW. Mr Patterson Ross said while the transition period had prevented a sudden uplift in evictions, properties were still being vacated because tenants knew they could no longer afford to stay. He said they were hearing a lot about people in regional areas being evicted to make way for new people with more money moving in from the city.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-house-rents-at-record-high…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.