Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Year: 2018

Generation Share: why more older Australians are living in share houses

An increasing number of older Australians are living in share housing. A relatively new group to emerge on the share-housing scene, they are choosing to share for financial reasons, but finding unexpected social benefits.

Share housing has traditionally been associated with student housing and media depictions of the share house as dysfunctional, chaotic, “He Died with a Falafel in His Hand” scenarios. But a growing number of older people are sharing housing.

This trend is part of the growth in share housing across an increasingly broad demographic as professionals aged in their 30s, 40s and onwards continue to share house or return to share housing into later life. Generation Rent is fast becoming “Generation Share”.

Discover the full article on The Conversation.

Churches of Christ DigiAsk project changes the landscape of service provision for the homelessness

DigiAsk is a Churches of Christ Housing Services Limited initiative in partnership with Brisbane City Council. Using Churches of Christ’s mobile office (or DigiVan), the project is helping people experiencing homelessness – or those who are at risk of homelessness – to access technology and help.

Commencing in January 2018, DigiAsk has supported almost 500 patrons with digital advice and access to the internet. The service has also distributed reconditioned smart phones, sim cards and phone battery chargers.

Find out more on the Churches of Christ in Queensland website.

Geelong’s rapid growth could spell housing affordability woes, say experts

Booming house prices in Geelong have raised concerns about the city’s ability to maintain such rapid growth and stay affordable.

Greater Geelong recorded the strongest house price growth in Victoria over the June quarter, according to the Domain Group House Price Report released on Thursday.

The area, which included suburbs from Lara (about 20 kilometres north of Geelong city) to Leopold (10 kilometres to the south) saw the median house price jump 3.7 per cent for the quarter to $530,000.

House prices have increased 15.2 per cent over the past year, much higher than Melbourne’s 0.5 per cent annual growth.

While the area remains much cheaper than Melbourne, some Geelong suburbs, including the city centre and Newtown, were creeping closer to Melbourne prices with medians above $720,000.

Deakin University Geelong planning expert Professor Louise Johnson said buying a home was becoming harder for some long-time residents.

Read the full article in Domain.

ACT Greens urge Labor to release housing strategy

The ACT Greens have called on their Labor colleagues to release the long-awaited housing strategy urgently, and detail how the government plans to provide more community housing in Canberra.

Greens planning spokeswoman Caroline Le Couteur called on Housing Minister Yvette Berry to release the strategy, after an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed Canberra continues to have the second-lowest proportion of community housing in the country.

It also comes as the proportion of public housing in the ACT has also fallen from 12.4 per cent to 7.1 per cent over a couple of decades, a trend reflected around the nation as Commonwealth funding has fallen and state housing agencies have been left without significant new investment for more public housing.

The city’s planning, development and housing sector has been waiting for the new strategy for several months, since stakeholders formally put forward their ideas in a summit late last year.

While the government pledged the new strategy during the 2016 election campaign, the strategy, if it is complete, has not been released.

Read the full article in the Canberra Times.