Housing News Digest
Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
New Zealand tenant who found neighbour hiding in ceiling cavity wins compensation
Stuff NZ 9 News (No paywall)A housing tenant in New Zealand who reported 25 incidents involving neighbouring renters, including finding a person hiding in his ceiling cavity and threats of violence, is to be compensated. Felino Turner and his partner moved into a unit in Auckland managed by Central West Property Management in April 2023. The unit was one of three in a converted weatherboard house, which shared a common yard. Turner told the tenancy tribunal that problems with the tenants at Unit 3 and their associates began when he had a washing machine delivered to his doorstep the day after his tenancy began.
https://www.9news.com.au/world/new-zealand-tenant-found-neighbou…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Security and safety.'Scumlord' who needs to be shut down, or housing crisis hero?
Sinead Gill Stuff (No paywall)New Zealand: Property investor Lee Bennett has been accused of “scumlord” behaviour, and expects the outcome of a government investigation will make him a public enemy.
But he says he’s helping to solve the housing crisis and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on refurbishments since the inquiry began.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/better-business/131585767/scuml…
# Must read, Hot topic International, .73-year-old boarded up inside his Chicago apartment sparks investigation
9 News (No paywall)Rudolph Williams said he was home in a Chicago suburb when he realised the doors and windows to his courtyard-style apartment had been boarded up with plywood, locking him inside. “I didn’t know exactly what was going on,” the 73-year-old said in describing how he tried to open his blocked door. “What the hell?” His ordeal — chronicled by his nephew on now-viral videos — has generated a firestorm of criticism about rental conditions at the dilapidated low-income apartment complex in Harvey, Illinois.
https://www.9news.com.au/world/video-of-73-year-old-man-boarded-…
# Must read International, .CT Voices Call for Zoning Reforms and Renter Protection to Curb Cycle of Evictions and Homelessness
Hugh McQuaid CT News Junkie (No paywall)Connecticut Voices for Children called Wednesday for a series of zoning and land use policy changes as well as greater protection for renters in an effort to break a “vicious cycle” of evictions and homelessness exacerbated by the state’s deficit of affordable housing. The nonprofit think tank released the latest in a string of reports on Connecticut’s housing crisis.
https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2024/01/17/ct-voices-call-for-zoning-re…
# Hot topic International, Rent.International students say they want to study in Canada, but staying is a problem if they can't find housing
Vanessa Balintec CBC (No paywall)Incoming George Brown international student Harshal Bhasgauri says he's dipped into his family's savings in India to pay months of rent in advance just to get a shot at finding a place to live in Toronto for the school year. Even then, he says the past four months of searching for housing were filled with unanswered and rejected rental applications, leaving him wondering why he was invited to come to Canada if there was no housing available.
"I am always moments away from like a mental breakdown, just from the stress of wondering if I'm going to be homeless," said Bhasgauri, 24.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/international-students-affected-b…
# Hot topic International, .Housing Australia, the Accord and others ways the government wants to boost supply of housing.
Zuzia Buszewicz Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)With the size of the estimated need for social and affordable housing nationally confirmed, I moved to investigate the newest solutions introduced by the federal government to provide relief in the housing crisis.
First, I looked into the HAFF, the highly anticipated and, at points, feverishly debated Housing Australia Future Fund. HAFF is a funding mechanism promising to deliver 30,000 new affordable rental homes in its first five years.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/housing-australia-boosting-housi…
# Must read, Research alert Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.Rental availability at record low across the country
ABC (No paywall)There's more bad news for tenants, with data showing the number of properties available to rent remains at stubbornly low levels.
Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the New South Wales Tenants' Union, talks about the latest figures.
On housing, is Labor listening?
Peter Mares Inside Story (No paywall)The government seems to be ignoring valuable ideas raised during consultations on its housing plan… When the Albanese government asked citizens to help develop its National Housing and Homelessness Plan, almost 1200 people joined community forums, webinars, stakeholder roundtables and targeted discussions run by consultants to the Department of Social Security.
# Hot topic Australia, .