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
To return to the office or not? How your choice could change the shape of our cities
Alison Cheung (Paywall)Australian cities are at a critical juncture, with changing demands and expectations from workers and inner-city residents in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis set to dictate what our urban landscapes look like for generations to come, planning experts say. (commercialrealestate.com.au)
https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/to-return-to-the-of…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Planning and development.Progress on homelessness stalls as property market booms
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)As low interest rates and government incentives fuel another housing boom, fresh data has shone a light on the challenges facing the nation’s most vulnerable. New figures released by the Productivity Commission on Wednesday shows that 50.2 per cent of low-income households renting homes in the private market in 2017-18 were suffering from rental stress – defined as spending more than 30 per cent of gross household income on rent. The commission said the high rate of rental stress had remained “largely unchanged over the past 10 years” and was putting lower-income earners at greater risk of homelessness.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/01/20/rental-st…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Homelessness, Housing market.Australian housing system ‘broken’ with more than half of low-income renters facing rental stress
Christopher Knaus The Guardian (No paywall)Demand for homelessness services has soared with more than half of all low-income renters facing rental stress, a new report shows, prompting warnings about the looming cuts to the jobseeker payment. The Productivity Commission’s report on government services, released on Wednesday, found no progress has been made in improving access to homelessness support or rental stress in the past decade.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/20/australia…
# Must read, Research alert Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.Caravan communities: older, underinsured and overexposed to cyclones, storms and disasters
Jonatan A Lassa The Conversation (No paywall)Communities living at the margins are often more vulnerable to disaster risk, a problem likely to be exacerbated by climate change. ... People with long-term tenure at caravan parks likely experience higher levels of disadvantage than the population as a whole; many are unemployed or in lower paying jobs, and contending with serious health issues.
https://theconversation.com/caravan-communities-older-underinsur…
# Must read Australia, Land lease communities, Climate change, Housing market.End of the Covid-19 moratorium on rent could lead to rent hikes, unaffordability and homelessness
Isabel Bird (No paywall)From Tasmania ... Tenants already struggling to pay rents during the pandemic will be at serious risk of homelessness in early February, either through unaffordable rent hikes or eviction, says the Tenants' Union of Tasmania. The state government has said the freeze on rent hikes and evictions will end on January 31 despite pleas from the community sector to extend the moratorium to March, as has occurred in a majority of Australian states. (The Advocate)
https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/7086509/rent-hikes-looming-…
# Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Single mum alerts housing rental crisis in Northern Rivers through moving poem
ABC (No paywall)Rebecca Rushbrook is a single mother of three children and Finnegan the black Lab. The house they have been renting in Lismore for the past three years has been sold and she can't find another. Through her struggles of turning up to inspections with up to 50 other people, Rebecca expressed her concerns of ever finding somewhere to live for her tribe through poetry. (Breakfast ABC)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/northcoast/programs/breakfast/housi…
# Audio NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Personal stories.Coronavirus HomeBuilder construction scheme to hit nearly $2 billion amid spike in demand
Nour Haydar ABC (No paywall)A cash grant program to boost housing construction is likely to cost around $2 billion, with applications far exceeding the Federal Government's expectations. According to the latest figures, 75,143 households applied for a $25,000 grant under the HomeBuilder scheme as of the end of December, nearly double Treasury forecasts.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-20/homebuilder-construction-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Home ownership.Pre-Christmas surge for construction grants
Daniel McCulloch and Colin Brinsden The New Daily (No paywall)The federal government’s HomeBuilder program has received more than 30,000 applications above Treasury forecasts. The construction stimulus scheme is now expected to cost about $2 billion after a surge in applications in the final two months of last year. More than 75,000 households have applied for the $25,000 cash grants, with 80 per cent of applications to construct a new dwelling. The remaining 20 per cent of applications have been for major renovations.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/01/20/homebuild…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.