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
A new action plan for LGBTQ housing
Martin Hilditch Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Research has suggested that the housing concerns of many LGBTQ people are being neglected. Inside Housing met with tenants, academics, senior council and housing association figures and HouseProud – the UK-wide network for LGBTQ housing professionals – to draw up a potential action plan.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/a-new-action-plan-for-lg…
# International, Public and community housing, Human rights, LGBTIQ+.Housing price rise isn’t unsustainable: RBA’s Lowe
Colin Brinsden The New Daily (No paywall)Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe is not concerned that a possible housing price bubble is being created against the backdrop of extremely low interest rates and government support measures.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/02/03/housing-p…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.The cladding scandal reveals how Britain treats its poorest people
Owen Jones The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Residents repeatedly warned that [Grenfell Tower], which was covered in cheap, flammable cladding, was unsafe. Those residents were not only disproportionately working class, but also Black and brown; many hailed hailed from other countries. If they had been wealthy, white penthouse-dwellers, their pleas for help might not have been ignored until the moment their homes were ablaze. Even after the deadliest structural fire on British soil in three decades, solemn promises to rehouse survivors went unmet. Time and again, it seems politically permissible to ignore society’s most disfranchised people. Read on ... Also, check out The Guardian's Editorial at: [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/02/the-guardian-view-on-the-cladding-scandal-rip-off-panels-not-people]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/02/cladding-s…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Housing market.Australia's housing market is boosted by policies designed to ensure prices keep rising
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)One thing you can count on in politics is that any government will look after home owners ... The latest housing loan figures show the housing market continues on its merry way. The market is still boosted by government policies designed to ensure prices keep rising, even in an environment where wages are unlikely to grow and interest rates look unlikely to rise significantly for many years. Read on ...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/feb/04/aus…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Increased buyer demand, not a shortage of property listings, behind tight market
Rachel Wells Domain (Paywall)New figures have revealed there’s no significant shortage of property listings in Australia’s capital cities, despite many real estate and buyer agents claiming a lack of stock in some capital cities is contributing to fast-rising prices.
Instead, it’s the sheer number of buyers in the market right now – thanks to historic low interest rates – that’s making buyer conditions so competitive.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/increased-buyer-demand-not-a-shor…
# Australia, Housing market.Nation’s biggest superannuation lobbyist goes to war with government in new ad campaign
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The nation’s biggest superannuation lobby group is on a collision course with the federal government, launching a digital campaign to tell 1 million voters their golden years could be in jeopardy from policy changes requiring them to work longer, sell their home or retire later. Read on ... Read the same story by Ben Butler in The Guardian at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/04/you-might-have-to-sell-your-home-industry-super-launches-social-media-blitz-to-fight-cuts]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/nation-s-biggest-superan…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Older people.Government releases additional 1800 spots for existing property in First-Home Loan Deposit Scheme
Tawar Razaghi Domain (Paywall)An extra 1800 first-home buyers will be able to break into the property market sooner, after the government announced any unused spots from the first round of the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme would be reissued.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/additional-1800-spots-available-i…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership.Property prices in some cities rise while rents stagnate or fall: Domain data
Melissa Heagney and Rachel Wells Domain (Paywall)Property prices are rising while rents track sideways or fall, with experts warning buyers should be careful about purchasing in neighbourhoods on “shaky ground”.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/property-prices-in-some-cities-ri…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.