Homes over Airbnbs
Renters are being evicted so landlords can turn the homes into Airbnbs. Entire buildings are being taken off the rental market and are being listed instead as short stay accomodation on sites like Airbnb. These are buildings that were once affordable for young people, and now they’re $900 a week on airbnb. This is happening […]
Melbourne Cost of Living
Melbourne is a great city. It’s known for its food, its art, its cappuccinos, and being categorically better than Sydney. Unfortunately it’s also a very expensive city to live in. And its getting more expensive year on year. So what’s the breakdown of these costs? The median cost of rent is $560 a week, give […]
Fining the Homeless?
Imagine having to pay to sleep on the streets. Well that’s effectively what the City of Port Phillip and the City of Melbourne are considering. A fine for people sleeping rough. Making homelessness a crime. As if it’s a choice, as if people would be sleeping on the street if they had any other option […]
Underquoting prices out buyers before bidding begins
Buying a house during a housing crisis is already extremely difficult, time consuming and expensive. Now imagine, you’ve worked out your budget, got pre-approval for a loan and you’ve found your dream house listed online, within your price range. Only, when you turn up to the auction, you’re priced out of the place before bidding […]
Make Housing Cheaper & Taxes Fairer
Housing and land taxes need to be fairer. The cost of housing is simply too high. Things like stamp duty and land taxes make mortgages more expensive for people already struggling with cost of living pressures. They also raise house prices and lock down the market, making it harder for older people to downsize and […]
Rent Reforms: Know Your New Rights
If you rent in Victoria, things are about to change big time. For too long, landlords and real estate agents have had ALL the power. They’ve been able to jack up rents, charge ridiculous extra fees, and kick people out with barely any notice. But thanks to massive pressure from renters and a huge push […]
Rental Horror Storries
We’ve all heard – or lived – rental horror stories Houses that have no insulation, hotter on the inside than it is outside. Houses that only have enough hot water for one short shower a day. Houses that have shorting electricity circuits, leaking water or even gas. Houses that have all of these issues, that […]
Development of Ivanhoe Water Tank Site Needs to Benefit Community
The Ivanhoe Water Tank site is a prime location of government owned land with beautiful green space and mature red gums. The Labor government is currently planning to build 275 new homes on the site. We need to make sure these will be social, affordable and genuinely servicing the local community, not just property investors. […]
41 Less Public Homes in Bell Bardia Estate
Labor’s plan for the Bell Bardia Estate in Heidelberg West involves reducing the number of public and community homes by 41. They have demolished 94 existing public homes and are only rebuilding 53 community homes, leaving the rest to the private market. In this time of intense housing stress, and long waiting lists to access […]
Short stays can’t stay
Regulating short stay accommodation like Airbnb is a key step to addressing our country’s housing crisis. Airbnb’s ensure many of the houses in our state are empty, despite house prices soaring, unlimited rent increases and housing supply falling below demand. We need to unlock these houses so they can be lived in all year round. […]