Rough sleeping in London hits highest level in a decade

Almost 12,000 rough sleepers were seen by outreach workers in 2023-24, a 19% increase on the previous year

Rough sleeping in the capital has hit the highest level in a decade, with more than 1,100 people living on London’s streets for the first time because of evictions.

The number of new rough sleepers seen for the first time by outreach workers between April 2023 and March 2024, surged 25% to 7,974 people – the highest in at least four years. Almost one in 10 people living on the streets was aged 25 or under – including 13 children.

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Toronto residents flood city lotteries amid ‘impossibly unaffordable’ housing

Demand far outstripped supply for six lotteries amid rising rents in city with scarcity of affordable options

Toronto inhabitants fed up with rising rents are flooding city-run lotteries for affordable housing in new developments, but the chance of being selected for a subsidized unit is often less than 1%.

One new development in the city’s West End recently offered a random public draw to allocate 135 units with rents pegged to income ceilings that would cost hundreds of dollars less than market rates. Nearly 12,500 people entered the draw for the homes aimed at middle-income earners in the Galleria on the Park development.

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Inflation rises to 4%, stoking concern interest rates could increase again

The consumer price index increased to its highest level in 2024, indicating the Reserve Bank is unlikely to cut interest rates soon

Australia’s monthly inflation rate increased to its highest level in 2024 in the latest indication that the Reserve Bank won’t be cutting interest rates soon and might yet hike again.

Consumer prices rose 4% last month from a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That compared with the 3.6% pace recorded for April, and the 3.8% rate expected for May by economists.

The jump in May’s inflation was propelled in part by automotive fuel prices, which were up 9.3% from a year earlier even as they retreated 5.1% during the month itself.

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Shadow energy minister says system in ‘dire trouble’ – as it happened

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Australia needs more gas supply on east coast, Albanese says

Anthony Albanese is speaking to the ABC from Devonport.

We’ll work those issues through with Aemo.

We need more gas supply. We announced our future gas strategy a short while ago because we understand that we need more supply. Gas has an important role to play in manufacturing in particular. But also in providing firming capacity for the renewables rollout.

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From social housing to $1.5m for a studio: minister hits out at ‘dud deal’ sale of Sydney’s Sirius building

Exclusive: Rose Jackson says losing public housing in expensive central suburbs leaves society worse off, and this week’s state budget will address issue

A decade ago the only way to secure a bed in Sydney’s brutalist icon, the Sirius building, was a proven need and time on the social housing waitlist. Now the price of admission starts at $1.55m – for a studio apartment.

The last of the 76 apartments in the redeveloped complex in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge are on the market after the building was sold to a developer by the former Coalition state government for $150m in 2019.

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Victoria’s premier unveils new housing targets for construction of 2.5m new homes by 2051

Jacinta Allan reveals Geelong will be set highest target for new homes, with City of Melbourne and Melton second and third

Melbourne’s CBD, the outer suburbs and the regional city of Geelong will shoulder the burden of new housing in Victoria, according to draft council targets set to be released by the state government.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, and planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, will on Sunday announce their proposed housing targets for local government areas (LGA), which they say could lead to the construction of 2.5m new homes by 2051.

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Housing to be at the centre of NSW budget, with more homes for those in need

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey foreshadows more money for social and affordable housing while lamenting drop in state’s GST share

Housing will be the centrepiece of the New South Wales budget, with money for social and affordable homes, regional development and essential services to support growth across Sydney.

While the treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, acknowledged there was no quick fix for the crisis, he said he had been listening to experts who called for more homes to help those most in need and stem the brain drain from the state.

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Starmer promises ‘long-term strategy’ in business-friendly Labour manifesto

Labour puts economic policy and wealth creation at heart of pitch to win over former Conservative voters

Keir Starmer will put economic growth and wealth creation at the heart of Labour’s offer to voters as he launches a business-friendly manifesto targeted at former Conservative voters.

The Labour leader will launch his election manifesto in Greater Manchester on Thursday, promising to emphasise economic stability in a deliberate contrast to the Conservatives’ more policy-heavy offering earlier this week.

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New ‘targeted’ search in Samantha Murphy investigation – as it happened

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Sydney’s light rail network disrupted today amid industrial action

A reminder for Sydney commuters that the light rail network will be disrupted today amid planned industrial action.

Recent estimates have Australians consuming around 3,300,000 bags of cocaine per year, with every single one of them bought off the black market. There is no way of knowing whether any of them have been cut with deadly substances like fentanyl or nitazene.

We have to acknowledge that the majority of people who use cocaine do so recreationally and there is absolutely no chance of stopping people using the drug. We therefore need to consider all options to reduce harm, including regulating cocaine in a similar way to how we regulate alcohol.

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UK politics: Anas Sarwar says election is about ‘getting rid of Tories’, not Scottish independence – as it happened

Leaders of Scotland’s five main political parties clash during live TV debate

Momentum, the leftwing Labour group set up when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, is not happy about Keir Starmer’s jibe about Corbyn’s manifesto.

Labour’s 2019 manifesto was fully costed.

Keir should know, he stood on it as a member of the shadow cabinet.

How about stopping attacking your own side during an election @Keir_Starmer?

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Australian capital city rents have biggest monthly fall in over four years but crisis ‘far from over’

Sydney house rents still nation’s highest but an expected rise in vacancy rates this winter could provide some relief to tenants, expert says

Average asking rents in Australia’s capital cities fell 0.5% in May, the largest percentage monthly decline in more than four years.

New data released by SQM property research shows the fall in average capital city rents – to $723 in May – was the largest monthly percentage decline on that measure since April 2020.

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Sunak pledges to keep stamp duty threshold at £425k for first-time buyers

Pledge comes as parties prepare to launch their manifestos, with Labour to offer support for small businesses

The Conservatives would permanently scrap stamp duty on homes up to £425,000 for first-time buyers, Rishi Sunak is expected to pledge in the party’s election manifesto, in a move that would affect 200,000 households annually.

The threshold was raised from £300,000 to £425,000 in the September 2022 mini-budget as a temporary relief measure that is due to expire next March.

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Wendell Pierce alleges he was denied rental apartment because he is Black

The Tony award winner says ‘Racism and bigots are real’ after being turned down by landlord in Harlem

The Tony award winner Wendell Pierce has alleged that he was denied a rental apartment in New York’s historically Black Harlem neighborhood because he is Black.

“Racism and bigots are real,” the actor posted on X this week. “There are those who will do anything to destroy life’s journey for Black folks. When you deny our personal experiences, you are as vile and despicable.”

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UC Berkeley gets go-ahead to build housing at People’s Park after years-long battle

California supreme court greenlights project that protesters say will add noise pollution to already dense historic park

A California supreme court ruling will allow student housing at University of California, Berkeley, to be built at the historic People’s Park.

The court on Thursday ruled that a new law enacted in 2023 invalidates the claims by two local organizations that sued the school, saying students living in downtown Berkeley would add noise pollution to an already dense area. The project set off years of protests over the park – a landmark that is a touchstone of counterculture.

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Brisbane’s homes now second-most expensive in Australia, with average value of almost $1m

Queensland’s capital is second only to Sydney with a median house value of $937,479, as lack of supply bites

For the first time in 25 years, Brisbane is Australia’s second-most expensive city for housing.

The Queensland capital edged out Canberra in May, the latest CoreLogic report shows, with a median house value of $937,479. Sydney continues to have the priciest homes in the country.

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Australia politics live: government has discretion over acting on ICC arrest warrants, officials say

Meanwhile, government to rewrite visa cancellation rules after independent tribunal gave non-citizens with serious criminal convictions their visas back. Follow the day’s news live

Andrew Giles was asked why he wasn’t told about what was happening with his directive in the tribunals – why there weren’t meetings to receive updates.

He said there were meetings with his department which were taking place “pretty regularly”.

What has been unacceptable is the fact that these AAT decisions to set aside cancellations that were made under section 99 that were made by this government by my department – we were not advised, I was not told that these cancellations had been overturned by the tribunal.

That’s the issue that I’m deeply concerned about. And that’s what I’m focusing on fixing now.

There are around 30 that I’ve called up as a matter of absolute urgency and they are dealt with through the day and night.

I’m gonna get to the bottom of this – a protocol that I put in place was not adhered to, that is entirely unsatisfactory. As I said, I’m now focused on dealing with the urgent issue which is the cancellation consideration, I put in place a new protocol and I want to get to the bottom of what happened and why.

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MP urges colleagues not to use Gaza as ‘opportunity to gain votes’ – as it happened

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WA shooter’s daughter says police ‘ignored’ warnings

Social services minister Amanda Rishworth has been asked about the powerful statement Ariel Bombara released yesterday, claiming Western Australian police had “ignored” warnings from her and her mother that their lives were under threat.

By that point we felt completely helpless and I had to focus on getting mum to safety. I did everything I could to protect my mother, and when my father couldn’t find us he murdered her best friend and her best friend’s daughter.

Rents have surged in Australia’s capital cities, with only 5.9% of city overall rentals now costing less than $400 a week.

At the start of the pandemic, one in five house rentals in Sydney cost less than $400 a week – that figure is now one in 50.

In Melbourne, one in 25 house rentals now costs less than $400.

The national share of rentals available under $400 dropped by one third annually to just 10.4%.

ACT had the smallest share of properties listed to rent under $400 at 2.1%, followed by Sydney (3.8%) and Perth (5.6%).

Melbourne saw the largest annual decline in the share of houses listed for less than $400 a week, followed by Adelaide and Sydney.

In regional markets, only 16.3% per cent of houses were advertised for under $400 a week in April.

Regional WA (14.8%) had the smallest portion of homes listed to rent below $400 of the regions, followed by regional Queensland (15.8%) and regional NSW (21.5%).

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Almost 40,000 homes across Australia waiting to be built as interest rates and building costs hit developers

KPMG analysis reveals 15,593 dwellings in NSW and 7,897 in Victoria are yet to break ground despite planning approval amid higher cost of materials and finance

Developers have yet to begin work on almost 40,000 new homes across Australia – including 11,170 in Sydney – despite being granted building approvals, with stubbornly high interest rates and construction costs being blamed.

According to KPMG analysis released on Tuesday, 15,593 dwellings with planning approval were yet to break ground across New South Wales by December 2023. It was only a slight improvement on the state’s figures a year earlier, when there were 15,818 approved dwellings across NSW where work was yet to commence.

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Public housing regularly being offered to people on NSW waitlist who have died

Exclusive: Data reveals that 77 people died before being offered public housing between April 2019 and March this year

At least one person has died every month before finally being offered public housing in New South Wales, new data has revealed.

Data provided to Guardian Australia after a freedom of information request shows that between April 2019 and March this year, 77 people who had already died were offered housing. This included 12 people in 2020 and 2021, 17 in 2022 and 11 in 2023.

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Farm owners in California mass shooting to pay workers $450,000

Workplace killings in 2023 revealed hazardous working conditions of migrant farmworkers in Half Moon Bay

The owners of two mushroom farms in northern California where a disgruntled employee shot and killed seven people last year will pay a total of more than $450,000 in back wages and damages to 62 employees.

In an announcement released on Monday following an extensive investigation, the US labor department said the payment is an element of administrative settlements reached by the department’s wage and hour division with California Terra Garden and Concord Farms.

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