Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment
Nature is not a blocker to housing growth, an inquiry by MPs has found, in direct conflict with claims made by ministers.
Toby Perkins, the Labour chair of the environmental audit committee, said nature was being scapegoated, and that rather than being a block to growth, it was necessary for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods.
Continue reading...Investor home borrowing surges nearly 18% in the September quarter compared with previous three months, prompting calls to ‘urgently rein in overheated credit market’
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Property investors have borrowed record amounts of money for home purchases amid a decline in first home buyer lending and surging house prices.
Investors accounted for two in every five home loans from July to September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday, sparking calls for the Albanese government to force banks to put the brakes on landlord lending.
Continue reading...Sydney researchers commercialising a product they say can cool indoor spaces and will cost little more than standard premium paints
Australian scientists have developed roof coatings that can passively cool surfaces up to 6C below ambient temperature, as well as extract water from the atmosphere, which they say could reduce indoor temperatures during extreme heat events.
Heatwaves are becoming more intense, more frequent and more deadly due to human-caused global heating.
Continue reading...Developers flock to build ‘affordable’ housing – but are poised to reap benefits while tenants could pay 50% of post-tax income in rent
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A small block of units on Clovelly Road built in 2021 was granted extra floor space so the developer could add five affordable units, taking the total development to 13. The Sydney units, three minutes’ walk from the beach, with parking and a bus stop outside, are in a highly desirable spot.
But “affordable” they are not.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Intervention by deputy leadership contender could have saved company based in her Manchester constituency millions
Lucy Powell urged ministers to reconsider costly legal proceedings against a property development firm in her constituency founded by a Labour donor, in a move that could have saved his company millions, the Guardian can disclose.
Powell, who is the favourite to be elected Labour’s deputy leader this week, wrote to Angela Rayner on behalf of Urban Splash, a property developer in Manchester founded by party donor Tom Bloxham.
Continue reading...Collapse in construction activity causing alarm but mayor and Whitehall face pushback over ‘extreme solutions’
Sadiq Khan has known for a while that he has a problem with housebuilding in London. But last week a consultancy published figures about the scale of the problem, which prompted full-scale alarm in City Hall and Whitehall.
The analysis from Molior showed that new housebuilding in the capital had collapsed. Only 40,000 homes are under construction – two-thirds the normal rate – and in the first three months of the year builders started work on just 3,248 private sector units.
Continue reading...Bloc’s first affordable housing plan to cover issues such as tenants’ rights, property speculation and tourist lets
The EU executive will propose rules to tackle the “huge problem” of short-term rentals via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, as it seeks to confront the “social crisis” of people struggling to afford a home, its first-ever housing commissioner has said.
In an interview with the Guardian and other European newspapers, Dan Jørgensen said it was time for Brussels policymakers to take housing seriously or cede ground to anti-EU populists, who, he said, did not have the answers to the shortage of affordable homes.
Continue reading...Proposed government overhaul of house purchase process looks at shifting some costs from buyers to sellers
Ministers are attempting to cut the time it takes to buy a home by four weeks under new proposals aimed at overhauling the housebuying process.
The UK government will also consult on plans to shift costs from buyers to sellers, including compelling sellers and estate agents to provide buyers with vital information – such as the condition of the home and the scale of any leasehold costs – upfront.
Continue reading...Greens and experts argue policies that let first home buyers spend more than usual only creates more expensive housing – without lifting the proportion of homeowners
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Millions of Australians eligible to take up the federal government’s new 5% deposit scheme could be unable to afford mortgage repayments, new analysis has shown.
Data compiled by the Parliamentary Library and commissioned by the Greens shows of the 3.8 million Australians in the top 10 most common professions in Australia, the vast majority would be unable to afford mortgage repayments on the median Australian home without falling into housing stress.
Continue reading...Historic US company also offering ‘12-month lease’ – an annual supply – of pre-ground coffee for under $40
Housing in the US has become so unaffordable that a coffee company has based a viral marketing campaign on the idea that almost nobody can afford to buy a house.
Maxwell House coffee, a 133-year-old brand, recently launched a marketing campaign rebranding themselves as “Maxwell Apartment Coffee”.
Continue reading...Advocates say it should be easier to dispute bond claims, as tenants in Australia’s toughest rental markets are increasingly losing their deposits
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Ziggy Tow and his housemates thought they had had enough trouble after their property manager evicted them without grounds and listed their inner-Sydney home for an extra $300 a week.
Then the property manager claimed back all of the $3,400 they paid in bond to cover cleaning and repair fees.
Continue reading...NSW government to rezone Paramatta Road corridor and make room for 8,000 new homes – but plan omits mooted light rail
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Sydney’s ugliest road is again being touted as the next development hotspot, with plans by the Minns government to rezone and develop about 8,000 new homes along Parramatta Road in Leichhardt and Camperdown, in the city’s inner west.
The state government and inner west councillors have agreed to partner on rezoning along the Parramatta Road corridor to deliver a major boost to housing close to the CBD.
Continue reading...Under the plan, the state government will seize planning controls for the designated areas – near train and tram stops – from local councils
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Affluent Melbourne suburbs such as Hampton, Hawthorn and Kew could be rezoned to allow apartment towers of up to 16 storeys, according to new draft maps released by the Victorian government.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, and the planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, will on Wednesday release the maps showing proposed heights and boundaries for 25 of the government’s 50 activity centres, which were first announced in October 2024.
Continue reading...Pausing changes to Construction Code, establishment of ‘strike team’ within environment department and use of AI in planning among reforms
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The Albanese government has promised to cut red tape and fast track environmental approvals for new homes in an effort to address Australia’s housing crisis.
On Saturday, the government announced plans to pause further residential changes to the National Construction Code and to streamline the assessment of more than 26,000 homes under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Continue reading...Pressure on first home buyers heightens as investors target lower-priced homes and more affordable regions
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Property investors borrowed a record sum, nearly $130bn, to buy homes over the year to June, supported by interest rate cuts but squeezing out first-time buyers.
Banks made almost 200,000 new loans to landlords over the year, the most since 2022, while the number of new first-home mortgages slipped to 116,000.
Continue reading...Record number of homes for sale has created ‘buyer’s market’ and kept price rises in check, Zoopla report says
The typical summer lull in Britain’s housing market has been avoided amid the availability of bigger home loans fuelling a “buyer’s market”, according to a property website.
Despite the signs of a bustling market, Zoopla said it had halved its house price forecast for 2025 as buyers were taking into account increased stamp duty costs in their offers in England and Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...Premier says plans have affordability and fast approval in mind as expert welcomes potential to ‘democratise good design’
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What if you could buy architect-designed drawings for a new home for $1 – and have certainty your council would approve it within 10 to 20 days?
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, will release the state’s housing pattern book on Wednesday, which contains eight blueprints for architect-designed townhouses, terraces and manor houses, chosen from internationally renowned firms including Sam Crawford Architects, Carter Williamson Architects, Saha and Anthony Gill Architects.
Continue reading...Lord mayor Clover Moore says city ‘should not simply be an enclave for the rich’ and hopes case sets precedent
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A court has rejected a developer’s bid to turn a boarding house into luxury apartments in a case the lord mayor of Sydney hopes will set a precedent to stop the ongoing loss of affordable housing.
In the wake of the court’s decision the mayor, Clover Moore, has also called on the Minns government to allow significant loss of individual homes as a ground for rejecting development applications.
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Continue reading...Moreton Bay council agrees to supreme court injunction against evicting residents who had previously been evicted from another park
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Moreton Bay city council has been ordered not to clear a homeless encampment after a hearing in the Queensland supreme court on Wednesday.
Numerous homeless residents of Eddie Hyland Park in Lawnton were evicted by council rangers in April, with their tents cleared by heavy machinery. Just two were granted public housing. Most have set up a new camp in a different park in Kallangur.
Continue reading...‘You can’t build new homes without roads, parks and schools to match, and the community shouldn’t have to wait for them,’ premier says
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Developers in New South Wales will be able to choose between paying a levy of $12,000 per lot, or building infrastructure such as roads and parks themselves as an “in kind payment” in a further push to speed up the construction of new housing in the state.
The changes will be revealed on Thursday by the premier, Chris Minns, before next week’s state budget.
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