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
The federal government doesn’t care at all about the housing crisis
Michael Pascoe The New Daily (No paywall)[The] Grattan Institute burned Tim “Look-At-Me” Wilson’s Home First, Super Second campaign and buried the ashes. But that still leaves room to drop a boulder on the site lest Mr Wilson’s band of conflicted followers try sprinkling water on the dirt and claim any resulting weeds as proof of life. ... By sticking to the economics of the thing, the Grattan article omitted two key political policy aspects of Mr Wilson’s latest campaign: He and his peers aren’t really interested in housing affordability at all, only appearing to be doing something; and they are interested in weakening superannuation however they can.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2021/04/13/michael-pascoe-hou…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing market.Regional aged care homes are closing at an alarming rate, leaving elderly Australians facing uncertain futures
Jessica Davis and Mollie Gorman ABC (No paywall)Aged care in regional Australia is in crisis, with more than three-quarters of all homes losing money. ... Some are already closed — which has left hundreds of elderly, rural Australians, like 101-year-old Nancy Bulmer, in a precarious position.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-13/australia-regional-aged-c…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, Older people.Aged care sector calls for uncapped home care packages, more staff funding
Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Uncapped home care packages, a registration scheme for care workers and a focus on transparency are some of the solutions the aged care sector wants to see in the federal government’s response to the royal commission. Two coalitions of aged care peak groups on Monday released formal responses to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety report, urging the government to commit to a total overhaul of the system.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/aged-care-sector-calls-f…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, Older people.Scammers target desperate renters on Sunshine Coast as housing crisis continues
Edwina Storie ABC (No paywall)Scammers are taking advantage of the desperate rental situation on the Sunshine Coast, where the vacancy rate has dipped as low as 0.5 per cent in some areas. Late last year Morgan Smith, a single mother of two, found "a gorgeous house" in Peregian Springs at a reasonable price, listed on Facebook. ... "[The scammers] were insistent that she pay the bond, but she couldn't have access to the property or even view the property before she paid the bond. "That's really unheard of in rental — but I know how desperate the rental situation is on the Sunshine Coast.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-12/scammers-taking-advantage…
# Australia, Bond, Rent, Housing market.Waiting to borrow: buying a first home amid soaring real estate prices feels grimly Beckettian
Josephine Tovey The Guardian (No paywall)For Australians in their 30s, auction horror stories dominate the conversation, while others are left out entirely ... homeowners have seen their household wealth rise along with property prices. Renters, whose security and rights in Australia pale in comparison to many places overseas with comparably expensive housing markets, miss out on this benefit entirely. This inequality will only get worse ... we really need some political courage and action on housing affordability, on containing soaring prices, and on rental security for those locked out of the market. That would be “good news” indeed.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/12/waiting-t…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.180-day cap on Airbnb properties expanded to areas outside Sydney
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A 180-day cap on using empty properties for Airbnb-style letting will be expanded beyond greater Sydney to a number of coastal areas and regional centres in NSW, as part of state-wide planning rules which have drawn criticism from councils and holiday rental company Stayz.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/180-day-cap-on-airbnb-proper…
# NSW, Local Government, Planning and development, Short-term holiday letting, State Government.NSW delays rules on Airbnb-style letting after concerns they are being rushed
Mostafa Rachwani The Guardian (No paywall)The New South Wales government’s decision to delay the implementation of new rules governing Airbnb-style letting has been welcomed by accommodation-sharing platforms. The new rules – which include the expansion into regional areas of the 180-day cap on using empty properties for short-term rentals – were due to come into effect on 30 July, but the start date has been pushed back by three months to 1 November. ... The delay comes only days after the planning department announced it would implement the new rules by the end of July.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/14/nsw-delay…
# NSW, Rent, Local Government, Short-term holiday letting, State Government.Are new homes in Western Australia about to get a whole lot more energy efficient?
Poppy Johnston The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Maybe with Western Australia finally switching to the latest version of the National Construction Code next month there will be no more homes built with seriously poor energy standards. Maybe not. Here’s what we heard from an architect, the state government, the UDIA WA and a source who prefers to remain anonymous.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/are-new-h…
# Australia, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.