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We’ve just spoken to St Vincent’s hospital and confirmed that the woman bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour last night remains in hospital in a stable condition.
The woman, in her late 20s, was bitten on the right leg by a suspected bull shark in Elizabeth Bay last night.
Continue reading...PropTrack report finds number of December listings 30.2% below past decade’s monthly average as housing advocates say government policies are failing
Tenants are continuing to feel the pain of rising rents with the number of listings falling to another record low, according to the PropTrack Rental Report.
The report, released on Tuesday, found that total rental listings on realestate.com.au in December were at a record low, sitting 30.2% below the average over the past decade for the month.
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Homelessness increasing across Australia, report finds
In January every year, the Productivity Commission releases its Report on Government Services, which “monitor[s] the performance of Australian governments in the delivery of important services to the community”.
The first thing is to stay connected with the emergency messaging and understand the alerts that may and will come out as the cyclone approaches the coast.
But more importantly, use the next 48 hours to 72 hours to prepare yourself and your family for a potential cyclone crossing and flooding event after. You can do simple things like keep the fuel in your car topped up now, make sure you have enough food in your house for 72 hours, [and] make sure you have battery charging packs for your phone. Very simple things you can do.
Continue reading...Fiona was told that the landlord needed to move into the flat, which was then relisted for $300 more a week when Fiona moved out
A Sydney landlord put pressure on a single mother to leave her rental home after just nine months, eventually relisting the property at $300 more a week when the tenant’s lease expired.
Fiona*, who has two children, last year rented a two-bedroom apartment in Arncliffe for $690 a week through agency Century 21.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese says no requests for aid or reports of any Australians there caught up in Port Moreseby unrest. Follow the day’s news live
Government fences off Rozelle Parklands after asbestos discovery
As Catie McLeod reported yesterday, the finding of some asbestos in playground mulch in new parklands in Sydney’s Rozelle triggered a closure of those areas just a couple of weeks after they had been opened:
Continue reading...Housing advocates call for urgent reform to address growing crisis as capital rents hit average of $600 a week
Australia’s record shortage of rental properties will continue to drive prices up for tenants, analysts say, with a new report revealing combined capital city rents rose 13.2% year-on-year.
Data from PropTrack, the property analytics division of REA Group, has revealed national rental prices rose 11.5% over the past year, with combined capital city rents up 13.2% to an average of $600 a week, driven by large increases in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Continue reading...Buyers and renters compete for limited stock as the Western Australian capital favours sellers and landlords, CoreLogic analysts say
The Australian property boom has shifted from east to west, with buyers and renters tussling for a limited number of Perth homes and creating a housing crisis for those left behind.
Perth has become the hottest selling market among state capitals, with homes listed for a median 11 days before being sold, according to CoreLogic data calculated for Guardian Australia.
Continue reading...Fees for foreign investors who leave properties vacant will double and taxes will triple for those who buy existing houses
Foreign investors in Australia will face higher fees and steeper penalties for buying existing homes and leaving them empty as the government aims to address housing affordability.
The federal government on Sunday announced new rules tripling taxes for foreigners who buy existing houses in Australia and a doubling in fees for those who leave dwellings vacant.
Continue reading...Former Victorian premier gives first interview after resignation, saying ‘the haters hate and the rest vote Labor’. Follow the day’s news live
James Ashby to stand for One Nation in Queensland seat
James Ashby, the chief of staff to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, will stand for the party in the seat of Keppel at next year’s Queensland state election, AAP reports.
The Nationals are dead in Queensland’s parliament while the Liberals are lurching further left in their attempts to secure inner-Brisbane seats.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Minns government to place every aspect of housing ‘under the microscope’ as it confronts rental crisis
Vacant property taxes, levies and annual caps will be considered when the New South Wales government reviews regulation of short-term rentals including Airbnbs over the next six months.
The housing minister, Rose Jackson, who will lead the review, hoped to find ways to move some holiday rentals and unoccupied properties on to the longer-term rental market as the Minns government confronts the state’s chronic housing crisis.
Continue reading...Index reveals rental affordability has plunged over year with situation particularly difficult in Sydney
Rental affordability has plunged in the past year with low-income Australians now completely priced out of living alone, a new report has revealed.
The ninth annual National Shelter-SGS Economics and Planning Rental Affordability Index has found affordability has worsened in the past year in every capital city except Hobart and Canberra.
Continue reading...Greens unveil policy designed to freeze rents at January 2023 levels in battle for Brisbane city council
The Greens say they would introduce an effective rent freeze across Brisbane by enacting massive land rates increases for any property investors who increase the rent.
The announcement on Monday will be a centrepiece of the Greens’ campaign for the Brisbane city council, a city where nearly four in 10 homes are occupied by renters.
Continue reading...Follow the day’s news live
Rain expected to ease over flooded regions in Victoria
The good news is no more rain is expected over flooded regions in Victoria, VicSES deputy chief officer David Baker told ABC News:
The big tap in the sky has been turned off. That’s great news for us. So what we’re dealing with now is what’s currently in the river systems that will need to flush itself through the systems. And we can assess that and we can manage that and put efforts in place to make sure that communities are out of harm’s way. So the good news is no more serious rain expected, and a pretty stable system, I understand, until at least … next week.
We estimate up to 130 properties may be impacted by the event, hence we issued an Emergency warning late yesterday afternoon which was renewed during the early hours of the morning.
It’s mainly homes in that area. Rural homes that may see what we call above floor inundation.
Continue reading...If approved by NSW government, it will apply only to Byron and not other councils struggling amid the state-wide housing shortage
Byron council’s planned 60-day cap on short-term rentals like Airbnbs to ease pressure on the housing market would not come into effect until the middle of next year if the government decides to allow it, the holiday hotspot’s mayor says.
And if the tightened rules are approved by the New South Wales government, they will just apply to Byron and not other councils also struggling with housing amid a state-wide shortage.
Continue reading...Professionals seeking affordable housing are displacing those at risk of homelessness as rents soar
When a boarding house in Sydney’s inner-west was razed by arson last year, taking with it the lives of three residents and leaving eight without homes, the hope was that it would be replaced with a newer, safer version of the same low-cost community housing.
But 12 months is a long time in Sydney’s rampant rental market.
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Continue reading...New report shows housing affordability has reached its lowest levels in decades as market continues to rebound
Rising interest rates and surging home prices have seen Australian housing affordability crash to its lowest levels in decades, according to a new report.
A household earning the median income of $105,000 can now only comfortably afford 13% of homes on the market, the lowest share since the relevant data was first collected in 1995, according to property data company PropTrack.
Continue reading...Housing tussle between Labor and the Greens does not impact PM’s popularity with 37% feeling positive about Anthony Albanese
Three in four Australians believe rents should either be capped to inflation or frozen until economic conditions improve, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
Presented with choices about rental policies, 44% of the 1,151 respondents supported an annual increase to rents by no more than inflation, while 34% believed rents should be frozen until the economy turns around.
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Home prices to keep rising despite higher rates: REA
National property prices are expected to increase by up to five per cent in 2023, having already lifted more than two per cent since the start of the year, AAP reports.
We saw price increases despite rising interest rates and reduced borrowing capacities and anticipate moderate price increases to continue over the coming months.
Don’t wait for a flare to rise from Canberra, until you get started.
The campaign has truly begun. Get out there, talk to your family, talk to your friends.
This is your moment.
I urge you to campaign for a future you want to see.
We will win this referendum, conversation by conversation. Silence doesn’t make history, people make history.
Continue reading...Minor party plans to door-knock Labor electorates in a ‘national day of action’ as it continues to call on the prime minister to include rent relief in package
The Greens remain defiant in the face of Anthony Albanese’s double-dissolution threat over his housing bill, insisting the minor party will continue to push for rent relief to be part of the package.
Queensland Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather said the party remained willing to negotiate but would not be pushed into supporting Labor’s $5bn housing Australia future fund (Haff).
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Housing bill squabble to bring back possibility of double dissolution election
Parliament resumes next week after a five-week hiatus over winter, which means all the squabbles and fights we left in June are starting to whirl up again – chief among them housing. As Daniel Hurst reported this morning, Labor is going to bring back its housing bill to the house in October, where it will pass. Once it hits the Senate, things get a little more dicey. If it’s rejected by the Greens, who so far aren’t seeing what they want from the government, then the government has a double dissolution trigger.
The early indications are that there was a 50m exclusion zone around the deceased.
All efforts had been made to cover the body but at certain stages of the forensic examination, that body did need to be uncovered so the forensic police could do their work for the coroner and unfortunately, those children did walk past.
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