Jesse Thompson

3 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Jesse Thompson

Waitlists for social housing grew in the four years to 2022, with the number of people being helped into homes falling, prompting a call for a reboot of the overburdened sector. The combination, outlined in a report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, is worsening wait times for people facing acute housing stress, according to its authors.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Jesse Thompson

The Victorian opposition says it will scrap stamp duty for first homebuyers if it forms government next year — a move one expert says could push up house prices while helping more Victorians into homes. The proposal to wipe stamp duty for all first home purchases of up to $1 million would benefit an expected 17,000 home buyers a year. But the Victorian Liberals declined to detail how they would pay for the proposal, which it said would cost $1.09 billion over the next four-year term of government.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Jesse Thompson

Jeannie Erceg spent a decade on the public housing waitlist before being handed the keys to a three-bedroom flat in Melbourne's inner south. Her 24-year tenancy in the low-rise housing complex, surrounded by homely possessions and the coming and going of her seven children, would come to seem like a lifetime compared to the upheaval that took place next. Ms Erceg had to relocate so the complex could be knocked down and rebuilt.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Jesse Thompson

Brett Cooper was used to the sound of water flushing through the stormwater system that flanked his home. But the noise just before Christmas was different. There had been no significant rainfall, but the usual trickle was surging with a jet engine's roar. Mysterious water leaks were also drawing attention — disintegrating asphalt and turning nature strips into swamps in the streets around his hillside neighbourhood.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Jesse Thompson

The owners of a home that crashed down a hill during a landslide in McCrae have told an inquiry how their daughter came close to being seriously injured or killed during a landslip that substantially damaged their house about a week before it was destroyed. The couple has also told of how previous landslides had not been mentioned in pre-purchase property reports. The inquiry will hear from more homeowners this week.