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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
I'm a single mum living in a sharehouse with other mums
Wilhelmina Ford, as told to Margaret Ambrose SBS (No paywall)An old article, but well worth the read ... I decided to initially rent a home while I considered where to buy. Was I in for a shock! Despite the fact that I had serviced a mortgage for years and had enough savings to pay for a year’s rent upfront, once real estate agents discovered I was a single mum, doors slammed in my face. ... Whether you call them ‘mummunes’, communities of mothers, or mummy share houses, an increasing number of single mothers are deciding to live together, some for support and friendship, others to relieve the financial burden of parenting alone.
https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/family/article/2020/01/07/i…
# NSW, Discrimination, Share houses, Personal stories, Women.Australian housing prices tipped to bounce back in 2021, except inner-city units: economists
Rachel Wells Domain (Paywall)Home prices are set to rise in all Australian capital cities in 2021, economists predict, buoyed by low interest rates, an improving economy and government stimulus. But they warn inner-city apartment prices in Melbourne and Sydney will continue to fall, due to a drop in immigration and international students and increasing numbers of city dwellers relocating to regional areas.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-housing-prices-tipped-…
# Australia, Housing market.How to save money and electricity when renovating — CSIRO's top tips for your home
Lexy Hamilton-Smith ABC (No paywall)What do you do with a 50-year-old red brick home in the tropics of Far North Queensland that is an energy guzzler burdened with a two-star energy efficiency rating? Read more
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-05/qld-csiro-energy-savings-…
# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.Extend Covid measures or households face 'cliff edges', says Labour
Phillip Inman The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Universal credit boost, ban on evictions and mortgage holiday must continue, party says.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/01/covid-measures-…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Housing struggles are painted as a rite of passage for young people. Why?
Melis Layik The Guardian (No paywall)One silver lining of Covid-19 has been the significant drop in rental prices in Melbourne. It’s meant that I can afford to live by myself for the first time, in a clean, comfortable and central apartment building. Still, it’s not cheap or easy. I still have no job after losing my three jobs this year, so rent takes all of my income from Youth Allowance. I receive money from my parents to cover other costs. Read on ...
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/03/housing-s…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Personal stories, Young people.Rental tribunals powerless across borders
Nick Gibbs (No paywall)A NSW family has been left with no option aside from entering into a costly court case or moving interstate to resolve an ongoing dispute with a Victorian tenant. Dispute resolution bodies such as VCAT in Victoria and NCAT in NSW, lack authority when parties are in different states. (YAHOO News)
https://au.news.yahoo.com/rental-tribunals-powerless-across-bord…
# Legal significance Australia, Tribunal NCAT.Property prices defy pandemic, grow in every capital city except Melbourne in 2020
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Buying a home in every capital city across the country except for Melbourne became more expensive in 2020, while regional property prices grew three times as fast as the big smoke. Despite the ongoing pandemic, Sydney house prices increased 4 per cent over the year to December, CoreLogic data released on Monday morning shows. Regional NSW house prices jumped 8.8 per cent over the same period. In Melbourne, prices slumped 2 per cent but increased 5.5 per cent in regional Victoria.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/property-prices-defy-pan…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Australian house prices could drop in early 2021 despite 3% rise over past year, analysts say
The Guardian (No paywall)House prices in Australia’s biggest cities could decline early in 2021 due to raised coronavirus restrictions for the latest infections affecting the eastern states.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/04/australia…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.