Category Archives: Housing

Musk argues social media bill may not be lawful – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Does the delay on gambling ad restrictions have anything to do with the demands of lobbyists?

Clare O’Neil said it wasn’t about lobbying, but “about making sure that we get this right”.

And the minister has pointed to previous attempts to scale back gambling advertising that have actually resulted in more gambling advertising. This is a delicate area, and we’ve got to get the balance right, and that’s what the minister is seeking to do.

These complicated matters, they just are. You know, if this was a really simple problem to fix, then it would have been fixed a long time ago.

I would say our government deserves credit for stepping up and saying we’re going to take action on this, and the minister [Michelle Rowland] is doing what is appropriate, which is diligently working through what the proposals will look like.

The minister is working with people, experts, stakeholders, others who will be affected by this legislation, and the government has said will come forward with … proposals early next year.

Continue reading...

Perverse incentives leave young Australians locked out of community housing, study finds

Posted on by

Researchers find providers stand to lose 46% of possible income if they rent to young people compared with those on higher welfare payments

Thousands of young people are missing out on a safe place to live each year because community housing providers get more rent from older adults, research has revealed.

The lead author of the University of New South Wals research, Dr Ryan van den Nouwelant, said providers stood to lose 46% of the possible rental income if they chose a young person over an adult on a higher social security payment.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Too many buildings remain unsafe after Grenfell disaster, housing minister warns

Posted on by

Wajid Khan tells House of Lords remediation work is yet to start on half of properties with unsafe cladding

Far too many high and medium-rise buildings are still unsafe after the Grenfell disaster, with dangerous cladding remaining on at least 2,400 blocks, a housing minister has warned.

Wajid Khan, a Labour peer and housing minister, said on Friday that remediation work had not started at approximately 50% of properties being monitored for their unsafe cladding.

Continue reading...

Burnayi Lurnayi: Bendigo development aims to provide safe homes for Aboriginal women

Posted on by

Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation says the development will help Indigenous women stay in the increasingly unaffordable regional city

Traditional owners have partnered with community housing providers in central Victoria to build a new housing project aimed at addressing the high rates of homelessness faced by Aboriginal women.

The development, named Burnayi Lurnayi, meaning “young women” in Dja Dja Wurrung language, is being built in the Bendigo suburb of Flora Hill, in a partnership between the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (Djarra) and community housing organisation YWCA.

Continue reading...

Greens say leaked pokies reform report ‘a huge concern’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Heatwave conditions are building over parts of Victoria and New South Wales today.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, much of Victoria will experience heatwave conditions, with maximum temperatures in the mid to high 30s.

Continue reading...

Average asking price for UK home drops by £5,000 in November

Posted on by

Analysts say market is still relatively busy despite decline of 1.4%, which is unusually high for this time of year

The average asking price for a UK home has dropped by more than £5,000 this month as the autumn budget caused housing market jitters before the usual Christmas slowdown.

Average asking prices from new sellers fell by £5,366, or 1.4%, in November to £366,592, compared with the 0.8% decline usually recorded at this time of year, according to the website Rightmove.

Continue reading...

California city council passes $5.9m reparations deal with ex-residents

Posted on by

Palm Springs approves settlement for displaced Black and Latino families after decades-long fight for compensation

The Palm Springs city council on Thursday unanimously approved a $5.9m reparations settlement with former residents of a largely Black neighborhood that was leveled in the 1960s for commercial development.

The city council was also set to approve another $21m for housing and small business support aimed at the former residents and their descendants.

Continue reading...

Winning designs: the terraces and apartments designed to fast-track NSW housing

Posted on by

State’s housing pattern book, launching in 2025, seeks to cut red tape and reduce development application times with pre-approved designs

Five winning terrace and apartment designs will be pre-approved in a new NSW government “pattern book” in a bid to fast-track housing development in the state.

The designs were selected from more than 200 in the state government’s Pattern Book Design Competition, submitted by architects from Australia and around the world.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

UK charity declares ‘refugee homelessness emergency’ as numbers hit record high

Posted on by

Naccom report says gaps in state support have led to more than 1,940 refugees having no accommodation

Homelessness among refugees has doubled in the last year to reach record levels as charities hand out tents and sleeping bags to those forced to live on the streets for the first time, according to research.

The No Accommodation Network (Naccom), an umbrella organisation for 140 frontline organisations working with asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants across the UK, has collated the data and shared it with the Guardian.

Continue reading...

Police make arrest and seize water pistol after incident outside NSW parliament – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Could Donald Trump really fire Kevin Rudd?

The former prime minister’s criticism of Donald Trump has drawn the ire of those in the president elect’s inner circle, and prompted renewed debate about whether the incoming administration could seek retribution.

I’d be very much opposed to that.

You’ve got the world’s richest man, and you’ve given him this position of incredible influence in the American government. I think jobs for mates is a very bad idea. I don’t think that politicians should be putting their friends, their dear friends into positions of great influence in this country.

Continue reading...

New York City ends broker fees for new tenants in cost-cutting move

Posted on by

Move can significantly lower upfront expenses for renters in city with one of the world’s highest costs of living

The New York City council passed a bill on Wednesday that will prevent tenants from having to pay fees to brokers hired by landlords.

The move can significantly lower upfront expenses for renters in a city with one of the highest costs of living in the world. The median asking rent in New York City was $3,500 in 2023.

Continue reading...

Man charged with murder after woman’s body found in Penrith hotel – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Meteorologists are forecasting that thunderstorms will develop over large swathes of the country every day this week, and likely into next.

Ben Domensino from Weatherzone has outlined the forecast as follows:

Early in the week, showers and thunderstorms will target central, eastern, southern and southeastern Australia on Monday and Tuesday. Severe thunderstorms are likely in parts of NSW and [Queensland] on both days and are also possible in other states.

Storms will become more focussed on a broad arc stretching across Australia’s eastern and northern states and down into the WA interior through the middle of the week. Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra will all be at risk of severe thunderstorm activity on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Antic claims misinformation bill is bid to stop young Australians being ‘red pilled’ on social media

Posted on by

Follow today’s news live

Matt Keogh on Aukus, second Trump presidency

Matt Keogh was also questioned on what he thinks the challenges will be for the Australian government amid a second Trump presidency?

We understand regardless of who is in charge of the White House or what is happening across the globe, what matters to Australians is being able to make ends meet themselves.

We expect that to continue even under a Trump Presidency.

Continue reading...

Leading UK estate agent cuts its longer-term house price growth forecast

Posted on by

Hamptons says ‘modest’ rises can be expected amid ‘dampening effect’ of higher interest rates overall

Expectations that UK interest rates may stay higher for longer, as well as revenue-raising measures in the budget, have prompted a leading estate agent to cut its forecast for house price growth over the longer term.

The revised forecast from Hamptons came days after Halifax and Nationwide banks said the annual rate of property price growth had slowed, with the former saying it was likely to be “modest … for the rest of this year and into next”.

Continue reading...

Woman who fell to her death from Hackney council flat ‘was trying to fix drainpipe’

Posted on by

Coroner’s report finds Sarah McGreevy died after climbing on box on sixth floor balcony to unblock pipe repaired with tape

A woman who accidentally fell to her death from the sixth floor balcony of a Hackney council block was trying to fix a blocked drainpipe that had been repaired using “heavy duty tape”, a coroner has found.

Sarah McGreevy, 37, died on 16 June after climbing on to a wooden box on the balcony to manually unblock the pipe, a common practice among residents of the fifth and sixth floors of the building after heavy rainfall, according to the coroner’s report.

Continue reading...

Blockbuster: will Victoria’s tough housing market push The Block into the red?

Posted on by

Some predict the TV show will lose money this season as investors exit property and contestants face ‘a buyer’s market’ at auction

Channel Nine’s hit series The Block could be caught in the firing line of Victoria’s flat housing market and investor woes, with one expert predicting the show will make a loss this year.

The properties in the seaside township of Cowes, on Phillip Island, are set to go under the hammer on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Real estate agent who published identity of NSW tenant after one-star Google review broke privacy laws, commission finds

Posted on by

Noonan Real Estate Agency in Sydney forced to apologise after it disclosed renter’s full name, occupation and financial circumstances to global audience

A New South Wales real estate agent who exposed the personal details of a tenant who left a bad Google review broke privacy laws, Australia’s information commission has found.

After the tenant, who has not been named for legal reasons, gave Noonan Real Estate Agency a one-star review in 2021, the agency responded by disclosing his full name, occupation and financial circumstances, according to a written decision.

Continue reading...

Power station turned event space lights up Australian architecture awards

Posted on by

Mildura’s Powerhouse Place wins for sustainable architecture and urban design, while Sydney renovation for Atlassian boss takes top award

With its whirring engines and towering smoke stacks, Mildura’s power station was hailed as a technological marvel of the early 20th century.

When a new engine was installed to help light up the regional Victorian city in June 1925, the local newspaper proclaimed that there would finally be enough “juice” for everyone.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australian construction industry calls for skilled migration overhaul to ease ‘desperate’ shortage of tradies

Posted on by

Labour shortage is driving up construction costs and stopping industry from building enough homes to ease housing crisis, Master Builders says

Leading construction bodies are urging the government to change its approach to skilled migration and bring in more migrants to ease the shortage of tradies.

Industry bodies say a chronic shortage of workers across 12 different trades is impacting housing prices and affecting the flow of new homes into the market.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Housing, social care and universities: who lost out in the UK budget?

Posted on by

Rachel Reeves made funding the NHS a priority but people working in other areas said they were disappointed

Rachel Reeves’s first budget emphasised raising taxes to help the NHS, as the health service tries to cope with huge waiting lists and an ageing population. Funding the NHS was a top priority but people in other sectors – from universities to social care – feel the budget was a missed opportunity to tackle impending crises or introduce desperately needed reforms in their areas.

Continue reading...