Category Archives: Housing

Outrage as residents in England’s ‘affordable’ housing forced to pay thousands of pounds extra in service charge

Posted on by

Pressure on Michael Gove to act as householders see bills rise 40%, with many saying that they cannot afford to pay

Some of the UK’s largest housing providers have dramatically increased annual service charges by thousands of pounds, plunging residents into financial crisis, an Observer investigation has found.

Many residents who bought shared-ownership properties built as affordable homes have been sent bills in recent weeks with increases of more than 40%. Some say they are unable to sell the properties having now been lumbered with “extortionate” charges and no cap on future increases. More than 1,000 people across the country are now threatening to refuse to pay.

Continue reading...

AOC and Sanders aim to place public housing at center of Green New Deal

Posted on by

Proposal aims to decarbonize all of nation’s public housing units, with an investment of between $162bn and $234bn over next decade

With a sweeping legislative proposal, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders are attempting to place public housing at the center of the green energy transition, tackling the twin crises of global warming and soaring housing costs.

“Public housing should be the gold standard for affordable, environmentally friendly, and safe communities,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an email. “This bill is how we ensure that.”

Continue reading...

Labour has 99% chance of forming next government, says elections expert – UK politics live

Posted on by

Prof Sir John Curtice, the psephologist and lead election analyst for the BBC, said the chances of a Tory revival were small

In the House of Lords peers have just started debating the second reading of the leasehold and freehold reform bill. The bill has already passed through the Commons.

Normally, at this stage of the process, the content of a government bill is all but finalised. But, as No 10 admitted on Monday, the government has still not decided how far it will go in terms of cutting ground rents for existing leaseholders.

Continue reading...

ONS scraps plans to stop reporting the deaths of homeless people

Posted on by

U-turn comes after campaigners attacked proposal by data body for England and Wales as ‘callous’

The Office for National Statistics has scrapped plans to no longer report the deaths of homeless people after an outcry.

The data body for England and Wales proposed cutting the release of the figures to help increase the efficiency of health data. But the idea was attacked as “callous” by campaigners.

Continue reading...

Stamp duty: would Victoria be better off with a land tax instead?

Posted on by

As the state government considers reforming its contentious stamp duty, here are the benefits and pitfalls of replacing it with an annual tax

The Victorian government has given its strongest indicator yet it is open to reforming stamp duty – one of the state’s most contentious taxes.

The government this week released its response to a parliamentary inquiry that urged the state to investigate options to scrap stamp duty and replace it with a broad-based land tax.

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

Continue reading...

Affordable housing beyond reach in all Australia’s eastern capitals, data shows

Posted on by

Only Perth and Darwin buck the trend, according to analysis by the Parliamentary Library, as the Greens say home ownership has become an ‘impossible dream’

Affordable housing is now beyond reach in all Australia’s eastern capitals, according to new analysis released by the Greens, with the average annual salary needed to buy a home without financial stress $164,400.

There are just two capitals – greater Perth and Darwin – where the cost of a unit would not put the average earner under housing stress, according to the Parliamentary Library’s analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and CoreLogic.

Continue reading...

Data missing on clearing of endangered ecosystems for western Sydney housing scheme

Posted on by

NSW environment department spokesperson says offset program for the area has continued despite failure to file reports for three years

The New South Wales environment department stopped monitoring and reporting on a $530m conservation program meant to compensate for swathes of land-clearing at the same time as its management of biodiversity offset schemes was under investigation, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Conservationists and the NSW Greens say the government must investigate the “startling failure” by the department to report on progress towards meeting the conservation offset requirements for new suburb developments in western Sydney.

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

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Steven Miles says Suncorp Stadium will host Brisbane Olympics opening and closing ceremonies

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

‘There’ll be a lot of people grieving today’

Both Barnaby Joyce and Tanya Plibersek were asked about soldier Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

The Fitzgibbon family are a family of honour. Jack died in service to our nation. Joel has served our nation. The family will be absolutely grieving. We hope and pray Jack is with our maker, give comfort to them. You’ve seen the Fitzgibbons, you’ve watched them on television. They’re a great family. He is also my mate. We’ll turn up and give what support we can to Jack’s family.

It’s just the worst thing that any parent can imagine and so our hearts go out to Joel and Diane and their family and the friends and comrades that Jack had in the service as well. We know there’ll be a lot of people grieving today.

Well, first of all, of course it’s not on government devices in Australia either. We’ve got a ban here in Australia on government devices. But there are 8.5 million Australians who are using it.

We’ll take the advice of our security and intelligence agencies on anything we need to do around TikTok. I think people should be careful of the data that they put online in general. Like I say, if the security and intelligence agencies give us advice on TikTok, we’ll take it.

Continue reading...

Over a third of first time buyers relying on ‘bank of mum and dad’

Posted on by

Tories accused of deserting those without financial support, as proportion relying on help with deposits rises from 27% to 37% in a year

Rishi Sunak has been accused of “locking the door on home ownership” and entrenching inequality, amid evidence that tens of thousands more young house buyers have been forced to turn to the “bank of mum and dad” to secure a new home.

A crisis in housing affordability is again set to be a major election flashpoint, with the prime minister already admitting in recent months that the Conservatives needed to do more to address falling home ownership rates among the young. The party has failed in its manifesto pledge to build 300,000 houses a year.

Continue reading...

Number of affordable rentals in Australia at its lowest since records began

Posted on by

PropTrack report finds availability at its lowest in 17 years, with only 39% of properties affordable for median income households

The affordability of rental properties has reached its worst level since records began, a report has found.

The latest PropTrack Rental Affordability report found households on the median income of $110,000 a year could only afford 39% of available properties to rent.

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

Continue reading...

Greens aim to turn Eagle Farm racecourse site into housing if they win Brisbane city election

Posted on by

Mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan says council would compulsorily acquire the site if party wins poll

The Greens could compulsorily acquire the Eagle Farm racecourse site to make way for council-owned housing if elected at this month’s local poll.

The party has previously released plans to build 4,000 homes on the 49-hectare site. It neighbours Doomben racecourse and the Ascot and Doomben railway stations.

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

Continue reading...

Hundreds to be rehoused in Aberdeen after Raac concrete found

Posted on by

About 500 council and private properties in Balnagask were identified as having Raac panels in an inspection in 2023

Hundreds of people are being moved out of their homes in Aberdeen after the discovery of potentially collapse-risk concrete.

Panels made from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) were found in about 500 homes in the Balnagask area of Aberdeen, including 364 council properties, in 2023.

Continue reading...

Deadly experiment? UK asylum sites criticised for ‘horrific’ level of despair

Posted on by

Critics of the government’s mass housing plan say it won’t save public money and at worst put asylum seekers at risk of suicide

Twice in January, ambulances rushed to the former RAF airbase at Wethersfield in a remote part of Essex, now the Home Office’s biggest mass asylum accommodation site, to attend to suicide attempts. On each occasion, an asylum seeker was admitted to hospital. Both survived.

Acts of self-harm have been common since part of the 325-hectare (800-acre) site, which first opened in 1944, started to be used to house refugees in July 2023.

Continue reading...

Greens-Coalition alliance may force Chalmers to keep power to overrule RBA on rates

Posted on by

Chalmers had announced plans to scrap the veto power but former treasurers and RBA governors say it is a vital ‘safety valve’

An alliance between the Greens and Liberal parties in the Senate could force Jim Chalmers to keep a government power that allows treasurers to overrule Reserve Bank decisions on interest rates.

Chalmers announced plans to scrap the veto power in the government response to recommendations from a panel which reviewed the Reserve Bank operations and made suggestions for improvement.

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

Continue reading...

Councils call for funding help as more Ukrainian refugees become homeless

Posted on by

Continuation of war has left more refugees unsettled, with councils stepping in to to relieve most cases of homelessness

Councils have called for urgent review of funding for Ukrainian refugees amid alarm that 9,000 have reported as homeless and many more are needing longer-term support – with no sign of the war ending after two years.

The government announced on Sunday that it would extend by another 18 months the three-year visas of Ukrainians who escaped the war.

Continue reading...

Australian cities hollow out as younger families move out and inner suburbs get older

Posted on by

Many families move to afford a freestanding house, but higher density living could save them money, experts say

Sydney could become a “city with no grandchildren”, the New South Wales Productivity Commission has warned, but analysis of census data shows similar trends in most big capital cities.

Australian cities are being hollowed out as younger families are priced out, leaving many inner ring suburbs getting older.

Continue reading...

Nearly 100,000 NSW homes not being used for long-term housing, figures show

Posted on by

Housing review finds 33,000 homes, including Stayz and Airbnb listings, are registered as non-hosted short-term rentals

Almost 100,000 apartments and houses across New South Wales are not being used for long-term housing, according to state government modelling.

The state government estimates 15,000 homes are vacant year-round, 45,000 are used as holiday homes and more than 33,000 are registered as non-hosted short-term properties, according to the data released as part of the Minns government’s review of short-term rentals including Stayz and Airbnb.

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

Continue reading...

Michael Gove says no-fault evictions will be banned this year

Posted on by

UK housing minister promises section 21 evictions in England will have ended by time of general election

Michael Gove has vowed that no-fault evictions will be banned this year, as he warned separately that democracy was under threat if young people were shut out from owning their own home in future.

Ministers have come under fire in recent days from campaigners who have said its bill to get rid of so-called section 21 evictions in England, whereby landlords can remove tenants for no reason, is inadequate. The ban was also a pledge made in the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto.

Continue reading...

Landlords should reveal homes’ energy efficiency to help Australia’s renters cut power bills, advocates say

Posted on by

Acoss report says $2bn federal fund and coordinated policies would reduce costs, protect against heat-related illness and reduce emissions

Governments should require landlords to reveal the energy performance of homes put up for sale or lease as part of a policy blitz aimed at helping low-income households cut power bills and improve their comfort, according to a report by the Australian Council of Social Service.

The report, released on Monday, also calls for a $2bn federal fund and coordinated policies across all levels of government to assist less-advantaged residents tap emerging technologies. They should also follow Victoria by banning new gas connections.

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

Continue reading...

‘Pressure works’: Greens to stall Labor housing bill in campaign to limit negative gearing

Posted on by

System is ‘stacked against renters and first-home buyers’ and government must change its position on negative gearing and capital gains tax, Greens say

The Greens are threatening to impede passage of the government’s “help-to-buy” housing scheme, as they seek to force Labor into winding back tax breaks on investment properties.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, on Sunday said the government had no plans to change negative gearing, as attention shifted to other areas of tax reform after the government’s amendments to stage-three income tax cuts.

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

Continue reading...