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
Welsh government extends eviction protections until the end of June
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)Renters in Wales will be protected from eviction until the end of June as the Welsh government has legislated to extend six-month notice periods and rules preventing bailiffs from entering homes. ... Similar rules preventing bailiff evictions and allowing for extended notice periods are in place across the rest of the UK. It means courts are still able to grant evictions but bailiffs cannot enter people’s homes to enforce them.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/welsh-government-exten…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, No-grounds evictions.Australia's household wealth surged by the end of 2020 — but property owners have taken the lion's share
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Despite the pain of the lockdowns, and nearly a million jobs disappearing, by the end of 2020 Australia's household wealth was surging. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), household wealth skyrocketed by $501 billion in the last three months of last year, which was the strongest quarterly growth since December 2009 ... How could that be? ... According to the ABS, the surge in wealth in the December quarter was driven by two main things: property price rises and growing superannuation savings.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-28/household-wealth-is-at-re…
# Australia, Housing market.Poverty advocacy group disappointed after property investors joke about using 'rat poison' to evict squatters
Ireland Hendry-Tennent(No paywall)
From New Zealand ... A poverty advocacy group is disappointed after several landlords joked about poisoning squatters in a property investors Facebook group. A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, sent Newshub screenshots of the comments. She joined the group to get advice about buying her first home but said she was "appalled" by the attitudes towards renters. (Newshub)
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/03/poverty-advoc…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents, Squatting.In one of the richest places in the world we rely on charity to stop citizens starving
Ben Harvey (No paywall)From Western Australia ... We are all appalled by the number of rough sleepers on the streets of Perth but if they disappeared tomorrow would we be much more inclined to vote Labor? Probably not. It feels more natural to reward a government for something that is there, like a new railway system, than something that’s not. And that’s just the “visible” homeless. What about the 30,000 people on the housing waiting list who we don’t see because instead of sleeping in the Hay Street Mall they are couch-surfing with friends and family? (The West Australian)
https://thewest.com.au/news/social/ben-harvey-in-one-of-the-rich…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness.Should we be building houses on floodplains?
ABC (No paywall)Over 18,000 people have been forced out of their homes as flood waters sweep through large parts of the east coast, from southern Queensland to northern Victoria. And even before the clean-up begins, questions are being asked about whether homes should be allowed to be built on floodplains. Tony Weber, water catchment modeller and independent consultant to local and state governments on water issues, says flooding is always going to occur, so there needs to be serious thought given to how floodplains are managed as the population grows. (RN Breakfast)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/should-w…
# Audio Australia, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development.Liberal MP Tim Wilson accused of ‘dishonest’ campaign to let first-home buyers tap their super
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Liberal MP Tim Wilson has been accused of putting his own interests above those of ordinary working Australians by campaigning to let first-home buyers use their superannuation to pay for deposits. And the federal member for Goldstein has also come under fire for using his position as chair of the House Economics Committee to pursue his own political objectives.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2021/03/25/tim-w…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership.Booming property prices push household wealth to record levels in Australia
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Booming property prices have pushed Australia's household wealth to record levels, despite hundreds of thousands of people remaining unemployed. The value of Australia's residential property jumped by roughly $250 billion in the last three months of last year. ... According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the combination of rising property prices and a recovery on stock markets saw total household wealth grow by $501 billion in the December quarter — the largest quarterly growth since December 2009.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-25/booming-property-prices-p…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Report paints catastrophic picture for NSW floodplains
Judy Skatssoon (No paywall)Here's a media report from August 2019 ... A risk study for the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley has painted a catastrophic worst-case flood scenario in which 90,000 people would have to be evacuated and 12,000 homes would be affected by floodwaters.
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/report-paints-catastrophic-pic…
# NSW, Planning and development, State Government.