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
Fears of a debt disaster as property market runs hot and changes to safe lending laws loom
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)The federal government is looking to wind back safe lending laws, saying there are other adequate protections for consumers. ... But Katherine Temple from the Consumer Action Law Centre ... said axing safe lending laws during a pandemic was risky and would fuel an already overheating housing market.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-13/fears-of-a-debt-disaster-…
# Hot topic Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership.The coming end of the eviction moratorium in NSW is sparking concerns that low-income renters could be forced into homelessness.
Mostafa Rachwani and Nino Bucci The Guardian (No paywall)The looming end of the NSW government’s Covid-19 eviction moratorium could force low-income renters into homelessness if they are not offered more financial support, a group of 40 organisations has warned. (16:13pm)
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2021/mar/05/aust…
# Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Sydney property market recovery soars to record new high
Ellen Lutton Domain (Paywall)Sydney’s property market has made a stunning comeback from its lowest point less than two years ago, with new data revealing home values haven’t just recovered, they’ve blown any previous records out of the water.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-property-market-recovery-s…
# NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Senate committee backs plan to roll back responsible lending rules, citing home-loan approval delays
Elizabeth Redman Domain (Paywall)Responsible-lending rules could soon be rolled back, after a government report warned home loan approvals were taking too long and were too invasive. A Senate committee argued the change would not undermine consumer protections, saying the principle of responsible lending was still embedded in other bank regulation. The findings are in stark contrast to calls from consumer advocates to keep the rules, amid worries the changes would allow borrowers to take out loans they could not afford, with banks facing no penalty if they contravened the existing laws on responsible lending. Experts have also warned the change would further push up soaring property prices.
https://www.domain.com.au/money-markets/senate-committee-backs-p…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Byron second only to Sydney for homelessness with countless women on the fringes of insecure housing
Bruce MacKenzie and Bronwyn Herbert ABC (No paywall)Former investment banker Kelly Reiffer has called the Byron Shire home for the past seven years, and while her two daughters were born there and they are heavily entwined in the community, finding a stable home has been a challenge like no other. ... She said the first step was convincing landlords of the merits of secure and stable tenants rather than a short-term cash-grab through holiday rentals.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-08/countless-women-on-the-fr…
# NSW, Homelessness, Regional NSW, Women.What Happens to Your Mental Health When You Can’t Pay Your Rent?
Jason Cherkis The New York Times (No paywall)From the United States ... research shows that there is a connection between people’s ability to pay rent each month and their mental health. As politicians debated increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, I thought about the deaths I was reviewing. There’s a moral argument that Democrats should be making, but are not. Along with increasing social mobility and addressing inequality, raising the minimum wage has the potential to lower the country’s suicide rate. The Covid-19 pandemic has raised concerns about a coming mental health crisis, and a wage hike should be discussed as not just good economic sense but also critical mental health policy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/10/opinion/minimum-wage-mental-h…
# Must read International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Work, employment.‘Sydney remains in his debt’: City mourns loss of ‘visionary’ Jack Mundey
Tim Barlass The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Helen Temple ... who worked with the Historic Houses Trust of which Mundey was chairman, summed up Mundey’s contribution to Sydney. “His fingerprints are all over this city. He really gave his life in service for its conservation.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-remains-in-his-debt-c…
# Must read, History NSW, Heritage listings.Even during a pandemic, Biden can’t declare a hold on home evictions
Jacob Sullum (No paywall)Last week, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the Constitution does not give the federal government the power to decree that landlords across the country must house tenants who do not pay their rent. ... The eviction moratorium, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention originally issued in September, was renewed by Congress in December, then extended again by the Biden administration. It is based on a breathtakingly broad reading of the CDC director’s authority to “take such measures” he “deems reasonably necessary” to stop the interstate spread of communicable diseases. (Chicago Suntimes)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/3/4/22313591/evicti…
# Legal significance International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents.