Latest news with #housingcrisis
News.com.au
8 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
The $500 ‘whole of Australia' solution to housing ‘disaster'
It's a small donation that could generate more than $1 billion in social housing. A social enterprise tackling the housing crisis is calling on home sellers and developers to do more to alleviate the desperate need for more social and affordable homes — and it could cost them as little as $500. Homes for Homes, created by the Big Issue, has just signed a deal with the Queensland government and registered its first Queensland developer. The not-for-profit enterprise provides a scalable and sustainable funding model for using small donations made during the sale of a property. When a property registered with Homes for Homes is sold, 0.1 per cent of the sale price is donated to the organisation. These funds are then distributed as grants to community housing providers, who use them to build or acquire homes for people in need. The donation is voluntary and the covenant can be removed at any time. On a $500,000 property, it amounts to $500. On a $1m property, the donation would be $1000. More than $2.5m has so far been granted, creating over 300 homes across Australia, with hundreds more projected to be built in the coming years. If just 5 per cent of Australia's properties were registered, the program could generate over $1 billion for social housing over 30 years, according to modelling by SGS Economics & Planning. Homes for Homes Queensland partnerships manager Mia Bannister said De Martini Fletcher had just registered it's project of 88 luxury apartments in Stones Corner, Corner House — a first for a developer in the state. Ms Bannister said Economic Development Queensland had also signed a memorandum of understanding with Homes for Homes to begin working with the organisation. 'What I would like to see is Homes for Homes getting written into prority development areas as an option for developers to use,' she said. 'We have so many priority development areas out there — Waraba, the ' homes for thousands and thousands of people.' But Ms Bannister said the take-up of the initiative had been slower than she had hoped. 'Being a charitable organisation, I think people push us down to the bottom of the pile of things to do, so it's trying to change that mindset that we're a solution to a problem that's everybody's problem,' she said. 'It's a whole of Australia solution really because what does it really cost you to register your home? Nothing, but it's trying to change that mindset. 'The deficiency of social and affordable homes in Australia is projected to be more than one million by 2026, so that's disaster.'
ABC News
8 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Liberals were too focused on homebuyer help and urban sprawl, says Andrew Bragg
The Liberal Party's reliance on urban sprawl to fix the housing crisis was "misguided" and the opposition could prioritise supply by threatening state governments, new spokesperson Andrew Bragg has said. Previously an assistant in the housing portfolio under Peter Dutton, Senator Bragg was promoted on Wednesday to shadow minister by Sussan Ley, who said he would also have "economy-wide" responsibility for productivity and deregulation. "You should have some policies which help prioritise first homeowners, but the thrust of your policy should be on the supply side," he told the ABC in an interview. "We need to look very carefully at how we ensure that the states are going to meet their end of the bargain … We need to look at the carrots and the sticks." Senator Bragg also declared himself a supporter of working from home and suggested he would focus on slashing paperwork for small business owners, whom he said Labor had neglected. Economists panned Mr Dutton's housing platform, which would have allowed first homebuyers tap into their super, secure easier loans, and enjoy tax deductions on their mortgages. Senator Bragg said it was "possible" the approach he helped to craft did too much on the demand side and could have pushed up prices. "We need to find demand-side policies which do tilt the scales in favour of first homebuyers, and which do ensure that the bank of mum and dad is not going to be the only way that a young person can get a house. [But] the supply side is very important." The main Coalition supply policy at the last election was to fund sewer pipes and connecting roads to build new homes on the urban fringe, which then-housing spokesperson Michael Sukkar said should be the location of the "Australian dream". But Senator Bragg said supply policy should not be fixated on outer suburbia. "Our policies going forward will be reviewed, but my disposition is … if we have a housing supply policy it would be deployed everywhere, in the inner city, in the regions, in the outer suburbs. "You need to infill. You need to build up where the transport infrastructure is, and the idea that you would have a scheme that would only apply to outer suburbs, I think, is very misguided … People live everywhere, frankly." Senator Bragg said Labor's proposal for the federal government to build homes itself via grants was "one of the craziest ideas I've ever heard" and would be opposed. Instead, he said the focus should be on knocking down barriers to private sector supply at state and local level and left the door open to withholding GST or other payments from states that don't do enough, an idea he floated as assistant spokesperson. "In NSW for example, Chris Minns talks a big game on housing, but the Rose Hill complex has fallen over, he's had a number of disasters under his premiership … Maybe we look at league tables, we look at working out how exactly we rank states." In his newly created portfolio of productivity and deregulation, Senator Bragg said the priority would be to advocate for unlocking more private investment. "The most jobs created in Australia in the last few years are non-market jobs. The size of the state is getting larger and larger … [but] we haven't even seen from the government discussion of what you can do to get private investment moving." He said Labor had "vacated the field" on stimulating investment and that Australia should focus on "national competitiveness". "We are in a global race to attract more investment into our jurisdiction because that will result in more jobs," he said. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has named productivity as a priority for Labor's second term and tasked the independent Productivity Commission with proposing reforms. Senator Bragg said he would "do a lot of listening" to the commission and others. He added the Coalition would prioritise regulation busting for small businesses. "My sense is that most small businesspeople feel like the government doesn't imagine that they are people," he said. "When they finish their job at the end of the day they go home and they do their compliance tasks for the government, and so they lose their recreation and family time. And so we want to free people up to have their lives back." For larger businesses, he said the federal government's standard process for assessing the impact of regulations was not a "serious process". "I think we've got to be much more rigorous about how we assess the cost of new regulation." Senator Bragg, a leading moderate, made a pointed defence of Australia's target of net zero emissions by 2050, set by the Morrison government as part of the Paris climate accords but opposed by some Nationals. "We're looking at how net zero can best be deployed in Australia as part of our policy review. We are committed to cutting emissions and that can only be done as part of an international framework, so that's our starting point," he said. Ms Ley has declined to confirm that net zero will remain Coalition policy at the end of the review, but Senator Bragg said it was the "starting point". "We signed Australia up to net zero in 2021 … There are different ways of doing that and that's a process now that [energy spokesperson] Dan Tehan will lead," he said.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Heartbreaking final words of mom who died in scorching apartment after housing authority 'refused' to fix AC
A mother who died in her scorching apartment after the housing authority allegedly refused to fix her AC told her son 'I have suffered all weekend' just hours before. Disabled resident Shirlyne Johnson passed away at her apartment in a central Denver high-rise on May 23, 2023, after complaining about the temperature several times. The medical examiner said the 68-year-old died due to cardiovascular disease complicated by exposure to heat, adding that her body temperature was 111 degrees. They estimated that Johnson's apartment, in the 13-story Thomas Bean Towers, was a scorching 125 degrees after her AC unit blew hot air in on a 60 degree day. Johnson's heartbroken son, Shawn Pope, said she complained about the broken machine to her front desk on May 19, but maintenance never attended her unit. She complained again on May 22, and an employee told her the super would fix the AC later that day. He revealed her final words that day to The Denver Post. 'I have suffered all weekend, son,' Johnson told her son. 'I'm tired.' On May 23, Pope tried to call his mother, but she didn't pick up. Just before 9pm, he went to her flat with his wife to check on her, but there was no answer. Investigators estimated that Johnson's apartment, in the 13-story Thomas Bean Towers (pictured), was a scorching 125 degrees after her AC unit blew hot air in during a 60 degree day A maintenance man let the couple in, and they were confronted with a blast of hot air. They found Johnson dead in just her underwear, lying on her bed. Johnson's children, Pope and his sister Latrisse Johnson, have since launched a lawsuit in Colorado court accusing the Denver Housing Authority of neglect. 'My mother didn't have to go this way,' Latrisse Johnson told the Post. 'I need accountability for her death.' has contacted the housing authority for comment. Thomas Bean Towers serves low-income elderly adults, and people with disabilities. Johnson was disabled - she suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and rheumatoid arthritis, among other health issues. According to the Post, she was not the first person to die at Thomas Bean Towers due to overheating. Another woman, Diann Cooper Williams, also died at the age of 66 in the 189-unit block on March 11, 2019 amid similar circumstances. Williams died after the housing authority installed a humidifier as contractors fixed a water leak, and the heat soared to around 116 degrees. Medical examiners determined that she died as a result of environmental exposure due to hyperthermia - also known as heat stroke - with contributions of cardiovascular disease and a recent flu infection. City officials investigated the deaths and found that the Denver Housing Authority failed to identify what contributed to the first death, or make any changes to prevent future tragedies unfolding. The building has also been troubled by another health issue - an outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease, a severe lung infection, spread through the units later in 2023. A public investigation found that the Denver Housing Authority again did not act quickly to resolve this horrific issue. The agency told the Post in a statement that it 'takes resident well-being seriously and it is always our top priority.'
The Independent
9 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
Military families ‘struggling' with their homes during VE Day celebrations
Military families were 'struggling' with the state of their housing as Downing Street held a VE Day anniversary street party, an MP has said. Liberal Democrat defence spokeswoman Helen Maguire described a 'scandal' in service family accommodation (SFA) and urged ministers to take 'concrete action to fix' homes. The Government logged 442 urgent repair requests for SFA in the week which began on May 5, the early May bank holiday when Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted a Downing Street party and the Red Arrows flew over London's Buckingham Palace to mark the 80th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day. Responding to a written question which Ms Maguire tabled this month, the Ministry of Defence revealed 64,258 urgent repairs for SFA had been made between January 2024 and April this year. Call-outs peaked in January 2024, with 5,921 urgent repairs for SFA, and 5,546 during the same month in 2025. 'For so many military families to be struggling over the 80th anniversary of VE Day – a week when they should have been able to celebrate and feel recognised by the nation for their service – is a scandal,' Ms Maguire told the PA news agency. 'This Government is more than happy to publicly celebrate our service personnel and veterans with a Downing Street party, but won't take concrete action to fix their homes. 'That's the ultimate hypocrisy. 'It's shocking that almost two-thirds of service personnel are still dissatisfied with the standard of maintenance for their housing.' The Government has unveiled plans to extend a 'decent homes standard' – the 'minimum standard' which social housing should meet – into the private rented sector. Lib Dem, Green Party and independent MPs and peers have called for the change to go further, to cover SFA. Ms Maguire, a former Royal Military Police captain, said: 'We desperately need to bring military housing up to the decent homes standard.' The Renters' Rights Bill faces further scrutiny in the House of Lords before it can become law. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: 'We're determined to deliver homes fit for our heroes and, for too long, military families have endured substandard housing. This Government is determined to fix that. 'Our deal to bring military homes back into public ownership is saving £600,000 of taxpayers' money each day, allowing us to start to fix deep-set problems in housing and support the development of high-quality new homes. 'Last month, the Defence Secretary announced a new consumer charter to drive up the standards of forces housing, and the forthcoming defence housing strategy will set out further plans to deliver a generational renewal of service family homes across the country.'
CBC
10 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
2 Halifax apartment buildings are converting into condos
The buildings have 128 units between them. The owners say they can't afford to keep operating the buildings as rentals. Tenants say it's a blow to lose their homes in the middle of a housing crisis. Taryn Grant has the story.
