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 digital view
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Go to foot of 'Letters' for online comment from one of the stories that attracted the most reader feedback yesterday on smh.com.au: 'Australia to build its own missiles with $1bn guided weapons facility' ... from MolokoPlus: 'That’s enough money to end homelessness.'
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/political-class-like-aristoc…
# Must read Australia, Homelessness.Green Valley's social housing experiment still being fixed 60 years later
Jonathan Hair ABC (No paywall)Green Valley was built under unusual circumstances 60 years ago. Walk through some parts of it today and you'll be able to spot remnants of that bygone era. The south-west suburb was developed by the NSW Housing Commission during the affordable housing crisis in the 1960, on farming land at the fringes of Sydney's suburban sprawl.. ... "[But] they transported people away from their homes, their families and their social networks."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-04/green-valley-social-housi…
# History NSW, Public and community housing, Planning and development.Answering the persistent call of the NIMBY
Jon Feine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Every Easter, we have a debate about replacing the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby. This year, another exotic native has also emerged from its comfortable nest. Its distinctive cry, the warbling sound of the Angry Nimby, echoes around our suburbs. ... A new sub-species of the Nimby has been seen in the inner city this past week – the plumage showing a new green outer skin. The City of Yarra, with a Greens councillor majority, ... rejected a state government proposal for a social housing development in the precinct around the Collingwood Town Hall. Years of work on a plan to provide 200 units — 100 of them for social housing — has been abandoned as the council refused to endorse the state government plan.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/answering-the-persisten…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Housing market, Local Government.Fire and flood: 'Whole areas of Australia will be uninsurable'
Royce Kurmelovs The Guardian (No paywall)Extreme weather events caused by the climate emergency are an existential threat to homeowners and industry alike.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/02/fire-and-…
# Australia, Housing market.Keeping an Eye on Landlord Tech
Erin McElroy, Wonyoung So and Nicole Weber (No paywall)From the United States ... Most renters know too well that COVID-19 has exacerbated racialized housing injustice, despite the powerful organizing efforts of an ever-growing housing justice movement. ... While numerous eviction moratoriums have passed in the U.S., these protections are weak and place the burden of proof on tenants. Most have only deferred rent debt, evictions, and houselessness. ... At the same time, an array of new real estate-oriented tech startups has emerged with tools to help landlords evict unruly or non-paying tenants. ... Manifestations of landlord tech can include tenant screening services, app-based short-term rental platforms, biometric facial recognition, and tools for real estate speculation. (Shelterforce)
https://shelterforce.org/2021/03/25/keeping-an-eye-on-landlord-t…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Landlords and agents.House price party will end in tears unless someone turns off lights soon
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)If the Australian property market were a party, it’s at that point where the drinks should be put away, the guests kicked out and the bed turned down for a good night’s sleep. Unless the Reserve Bank, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and federal and state governments step in soon, the country is going to wake up with a hangover that will last for years.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/house-price-party-will-e…
# Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.Why the RBA is reluctant to stop the housing boom
Ian Verrender ABC (No paywall)Each weekend, across the country, they line up for a quick COVID-restricted viewing. They are shuffled in from the driveway and from the street, subjected to a toned-down version of the usual spin from agents whose main task these days is to act as crowd control marshals and fend off requests for contracts. The competition is intense. Young couples nervously eye each other off, would-be rivals in a quest for their slice of the great Australian dream. ... The final prices routinely come in at well above the indicative range and well above buyer reserves. It's been a bonanza for the two-thirds of households that own a property; heartache for those desperately trying to get aboard the boom. ... So far, however, those at the controls have steadfastly refused to budge when it comes to bringing the madness under control.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-01/why-the-rba-is-reluctant-…
# Hot topic Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.House prices rising at fastest pace in 32 years as listings can't keep up with demand: CoreLogic
Stephanie Chalmers ABC (No paywall)Australian house prices are rising at the fastest pace in 32 years, as the Sydney and Melbourne property markets stage a full recovery from the short-lived COVID downturn. CoreLogic's monthly home value index rose 2.8 per cent in March — the biggest monthly growth since October 1988. ... Sydney prices had the most rapid rise, up 3.7 per cent in the month and 6.7 per cent over the first quarter of the year — the strongest quarterly growth since mid-2015.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-01/home-prices-rise-at-faste…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.