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
Older people’s housing was a void in the planning and social housing white papers
Jane Ashcroft Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The past year has emphasised the importance of decent housing for older people. Yet older people’s housing was absent from the recent white papers on planning reform and social housing. This needs to be addressed, writes Jane Ashcroft
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/older-peoples-housing-wa…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Older people.Housing market to remain strong on low rates and government handouts
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australians are expected to keep sinking their cash into building new homes and bidding up house prices through the next six months as government handouts and record low interest rates underpin the market.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/housing-market-to-remain…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market.Resilient housing market ‘helpful’ for COVID-19 economic recovery: RBA
Jennifer Duke and Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Surging property values across the nation are being closely watched by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe but he says the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on the economy would have been more difficult to grapple with if home prices had fallen.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/resilient-housing-market…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.The role of Local Government in Victoria’s Big Housing Build
NENAD (No paywall)The Victorian State Government’s “Big Housing Build” announcement was widely well received, but left some in Local Government wondering what role they’ll be able to play. In this blog, Nenad breaks down the “Build” project and how Local Governments can be involved. (.id)
https://blog.id.com.au/2021/housing-analysis/the-role-of-local-g…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Local Government, State Government.Penrith’s social housing wait list grows to almost 1,700
Emily Feszczuk (No paywall)The St Vincent de Paul Society NSW is calling on the State Government to take action for the thousands of people that are in need of a home. This comes as the latest government figures show that the social housing waitlist in Penrith has grown to almost 1,700 applicants. (Westerner Weekender)
https://westernweekender.com.au/2021/02/penriths-social-housing-…
# NSW, Public and community housing.Tenants asked to provide social media links as Privacy Commissioner warns against collecting unnecessary details
Rosie Gordon (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Rocketing rents and a highly competitive rental market mean some desperate tenants are willing to comply with requests for personal information just to get their foot in the door. Many are handing over links to social media accounts in the hopes of securing a place. (Newshub)
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/02/tenants-asked…
# Must read International, Privacy and access.Underinsurance is entrenching poverty as the vulnerable are hit hardest by disasters
Kate Isabel Booth and others The Fifth Estate (No paywall)More than 70 homes were destroyed by bushfires in Western Australia this week, leaving those affected facing enormous costs. After disasters like these, insurance is not always there as needed — or as expected. In Australia, where one in six children live in poverty, significant rates of underinsurance entrench disadvantage and hardship. This dynamic will worsen as the consequences of unmitigated climate change unfold.
https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/under…
# Hot topic Australia, .Sydney and Melbourne increasingly divided into pockets of home-owners and renters, study finds
Melissa Heagney Domain (Paywall)Sydney and Melbourne are increasingly being divided into clusters of renters and home-owners, with tenants sticking to the inner city while home-owners move to middle and outer-ring suburbs, a new study has revealed. Growing hubs in middle and outer-ring suburbs are diffusing populations away from the CBD, but are more likely to attract home-owners than renters, researchers at the University of Sydney have found.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-and-melbourne-increasingly…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.