Category Archives: Housing

PM questions migration attacks – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Plibersek says new coalmine approved ‘in accordance with the facts’ and law

Circling back to the environment minister’s interview with ABC Radio:

I need to make decisions in accordance with the facts and the National Environmental Law. That’s what I do with every project. That’s what’s happened here.

Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan hails surpassing of affordable housing target in London

Posted on by

Capital’s mayor lauds achievement but warns skyrocketing rents pose threat to ‘the soul of our city’

Sadiq Khan is to announce the surpassing of a landmark housebuilding target in London, but will warn that the capital’s skyrocketing rents pose a threat to “the soul of our city”.

In a speech on Monday setting out his stall before the 2024 election for city hall, the mayor of London will say that nearly 120,000 affordable homes have been built in the capital since 2015, equivalent to the housing stock of Plymouth.

Continue reading...

‘I felt so betrayed’: classical musician forced out of London flat after noise complaints

Posted on by

Fiona Fey, of popular choir Mediaeval Baebes, says her livelihood was threatened by noise abatement order

Musicians are facing a postcode lottery of noise complaints, industry leaders have warned, after a member of the classical chart-topping choir Mediaeval Baebes was handed a noise abatement notice for playing music in her flat.

Fiona Fey was told she had created “excessive noise from the playing of musical instruments that is audible and detectable from your property” and that she must cease making any more “noise from the property in the form of playing loud music”.

Continue reading...

‘Skeletal’ body of man who lay dead in Bolton flat for six years discovered

Posted on by

Robert Alton, 70, is believed to have died in 2017 with his death going unnoticed by his landlord and local council

The body of a retired bookkeeper lay undiscovered in his flat for six years with his “skeletal” remains found only after housing officials forced entry to carry out a gas safety check, an inquest heard.

Robert Alton is believed to have died in 2017 aged 70, but his death went unnoticed by both his landlord, which continued to receive his rent automatically through housing benefit, and his local council, which seemingly failed to act on Alton’s mounting council tax arrears.

Continue reading...

Number of adults living with parents in England and Wales rises by 700,000 in a decade

Posted on by

A large majority of those returning to the roost – or who never left it – are men, census data reveals

It is enough to make parents wonder: whatever happened to the bachelor pad?

At least 620,000 more grown-up children are now living with their parents than a decade ago – and most of those doing so are young men, census figures reveal.

Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury’s attack on illegal migration bill ‘wrong on both counts’, says minister – as it happened

Posted on by

Justin Welby says bill is ‘morally unacceptable’ and rules on protection of refugees are not ‘inconvenient obstructions’. This live blog is closed

In the House of Lords peers are just starting to debate the second reading of the illegal migration bill.

Simon Murray, aka Lord Murray of Blidworth, is opening the debate. He is a lawyer who was made a Home Office minister, and a peer, when Liz Truss was PM.

We now face a perfect storm of factors driving more people into homelessness while giving us fewer good options to help them when they do. These factors include soaring private rents (above the benefit cap), private landlords leaving the sector, a national shortage of affordable housing, and a backlog of court cases after Covid-relating housing support was removed. At the same time, we have a cost-of-living crisis which is reducing real-term incomes and putting further strain on relationships.

Continue reading...

Budget 2023 live updates: government ‘got the balance right’, PM says when pushed on inflation and $40 jobseeker rise – latest news

Posted on by

Treasurer to resume spruiking his budget today at the press club in Canberra. Follow the day’s news and budget analysis, live

What about the jobseeker rate?

Anthony Albanese:

Reform is never done.

What we do as a Labor government is focus on what we can do for people, but we focus as well on doing it in a really practical way. I think one of the things that we need to examine, for example, with people who are on jobseeker, is how we improve employment services to get those long-term unemployed into work quite clearly. When you have an unemployment rate of 3.5% but you have a whole lot of people who are just stuck in, in unemployment, then what you need to do is to focus on how is it that the system can be reformed so that we provide those people with employment opportunities, because that’s the key.

You can’t do everything in every budget. And if I did that, you would be asking me questions about inflation. You’d be asking me questions about whether the deficit was too large. As it is what we’ve done is produce a projected surplus. We’ve got the balance, right, providing support, doing, I think, very significant changes.

Continue reading...

Commonwealth rent assistance has no effect on Australia’s housing affordability, Anglicare says

Posted on by

Report finds that not only is CRA inadequate in alleviating rental stress, but that the way it’s calculated neglects those most in need

An increase in commonwealth rent assistance has been mooted as a budget measure to ease the housing crisis for those on lower incomes, but Anglicare Australia has warned the payment is not “fit for purpose” and has no effect on affordability.

As a result of the way the payment is designed, rental assistance payments for nearly 300,000 people may have fallen this year as a direct consequence of the cost of living going up.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Second homes ‘destroying’ Welsh-speaking areas, say campaigners

Posted on by

More than 1,000 people gather at Caernarfon Castle to demand new law to regulate market and protect communities

More than 1,000 people gathered outside Caernarfon Castle in north Wales for a rally protesting against second homes, which they say are “destroying” Welsh language strongholds.

Members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith (the Welsh Language Society) are calling for a new Property Act to protect communities in language heartlands such as Gwynedd in the north and Pembrokeshire in the south-west.

Continue reading...

Short-term rental properties in NSW surge by 13,000 since December 2021

Posted on by

Exclusive: 45,209 rentals now registered as minister prepares to review proposed annual limits

The number of properties listed as short-term rentals across New South Wales has surged by 42% since 2021 to exceed 45,000, with the state’s planning minister to review proposed annual caps later this year.

Paul Scully said his department would interrogate the calls for 60-day caps, amid pressure from mayors to allow councils to set their own limits to deal with the rise in listings that they say is adding to the statewide housing crisis.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Greens under pressure to support $10bn social housing bill after Labor strikes minor party deal

Posted on by

Agreement heralded as ‘massive victory’ by Jacqui Lambie Network but Greens senators want government to do more

Labor’s $10bn housing affordability future fund is one step closer to passing the Senate after a deal with the Jacqui Lambie Network to support the bill.

The deal, which guarantees a minimum of 1,200 social and affordable houses in each territory and state over five years, adds pressure on the Greens, whose 11 Senate votes would now be sufficient to pass the bill.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

First major bank passes on rate hike – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Asked whether he would swear allegiance, Albanese replied he “will do what is entirely appropriate as the representative of Australia” promising to “engage in that spirit” by swearing the oath – as he has done 10 times when sworn in to parliament and as a minister.

Albanese noted that Australians had voted at the 1999 referendum to remain a monarchy, but acknowledged that Australians have a “wide range of views” on whether to become a republic.

I think that Australia should have an Australian as our head of state, I don’t shy away from that. I haven’t changed my views.

But my priority is constitutional recognition – I can’t imagine going forward, for example, going forward as was suggested by some legitimately that we should be having another referendum on the republic before that occurs.

All Australians wish King Charles well regardless of the different views of people will have about our constitutional arrangements.

Continue reading...

Rent in Australian capital cities climbs record 11.7% in 12 months

Posted on by

Increase equivalent to $3,200 a year for tenants, with relief ‘unlikely’ in the short term as demand continues to outstrip supply

Renters in Australian capital cities have suffered the highest increase for a 12-month period since records began in 2007 as the nation’s housing crisis shows no sign of slowing down.

The combined capitals’ rental rate increased 11.7% over the past year, far above the average increase of 3.5%.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Couples’ to include siblings and friends under expansion of Australia’s first home guarantee

Posted on by

Federal scheme and its regional and family equivalents allow people to buy houses with deposit as low as 5%

Friends and family members looking to buy their first home together will be among many more Australians set to benefit from an expansion of three government housing schemes.

The first home guarantee and its regional and family home equivalents will have their criteria expanded from 1 July, to help more Australians achieve home ownership.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Mayors in NSW holiday hotspots consider short-term rental caps after 60-day limit proposed

Posted on by

Blue Mountains among the regions examining advice from state’s Independent Planning Commission

Mayors across New South Wales will look to adopt strict limits on short-term holiday rentals to address housing shortages if the state government accepts recommendations to allow the Byron shire council to impose a 60-day annual cap.

Amid warnings from Airbnb that such a cap would cause a hit to Byron Bay’s economy, the Blue Mountains mayor, Mark Greenhill, said he would jump at the chance to impose a similar cap in the region, which is facing comparable pressures.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Major $2.2bn Medicare overhaul welcomed but medical association warns budget will be ‘real test’

Posted on by

National cabinet also plans to work on strengthening renters’ rights, boosting housing supply and affordability, and improving NDIS

Medical groups have praised the $2.2bn Medicare overhaul announced by national cabinet but warned there is more to do to fix the nation’s ailing general practice and hospital systems.

National cabinet committed nearly $1.5bn in new funding to overhaul Medicare, as part of a $2.2bn health plan to boost the number of nurses, increase after-hours care and expand the roles of pharmacists and paramedics.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Steve Barclay says RCN left him with no choice but to go to court to block unlawful strike – UK politics live

Posted on by

Health secretary defends court action as Pat Cullen says government decision could make nurses more determined to vote for further strike action

Maclean tells MPs that the last Labour government required photo ID for voting in Northern Ireland. She claims fears that this would lead to people being disfranchised did not materialise.

Earlier, in response to opposition claims that the policy was all about voter suppression (reducing the chance of non-Tories voting), she said Labour required party members to provide photo ID when they turned up to vote to select a Labour candidate.

Continue reading...

News live: clock ticking as US coast guard scours ocean for missing Australian cruise passenger

Posted on by

Coast guard say passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island. Follow live

The US coast guard has confirmed that an Australian man fell overboard on the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship, which was travelling from Brisbane to Hawaii.

The coast guard said the passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island.

500 nautical miles south of Hawaii’s Big Island a man fell overboard on Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. He is an Australian national.

A Hercules airplane is on scene conducting a search. At the moment it is the only asset that’s on scene searching.

We’ve been on scene since 9am. And with the crew’s endurance and the fuel constraints of the vessel they should be there for about six hours since arriving on scene.

What I can confirm is the budget will have a cost of living package that is targeted to the most vulnerable. We’ve been clear about that. Obviously some of that is the assistance and support on energy relief. We’ve had the announcements around medicines in the last day.

We are focused on making sure we can do the right thing for those that are doing it tough, but within an environment where there are a lot of demands on the budget in a lot of areas.

Continue reading...

‘Latte line’: poverty rises in parts of Sydney as gap hardens between city’s east and west

Posted on by

Exclusive: One in five renters are among 1 million living in poverty, according to New South Wales Council of Social Services

The “latte line” dividing Sydney’s western and eastern suburbs is hardening, with new research identifying deepening levels of poverty within already disadvantaged areas and groups.

A report commissioned by the New South Wales Council of Social Services (Ncoss) also found one in five renters are among more than 1 million people living in poverty in the state.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW’s most popular holiday spots divided over limits on Airbnb rentals

Posted on by

Not all councils agree on best way to tackle homelessness caused in part by popularity of short-term rentals such as Airbnb

Councils responsible for some of New South Wales’ most popular tourism destinations are urging the incoming Minns government to give them the power to further restrict short-term holiday rentals.

In December, the Byron shire council, which has the highest rate of homelessness in the state outside Sydney, voted in favour of introducing a 90-day cap on some short-term holiday rentals in an effort to generate more long-term rental supply.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...