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.
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Archive
Australia’s high court to rule on compensation claims for poor housing in remote community
Sarah Collard The Guardian (No paywall)Australia’s highest court is deciding whether to award compensation to public housing tenants for disappointment and distress over dilapidated and poor housing, in a case their lawyers say could have ramifications for tenants around the country.
Residents in the remote community of Ltyentye Apurte or Santa Teresa, 85km south-east of Alice Springs, lead by claimants Enid Young and the now deceased Mr Conway, have been engaged in a series of long-running legal battles with the Northern Territory government over the poor housing, with the supreme court and court of appeal finding in their favour.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/16/australia…
# Must read, Hot topic, Legal significance Australia, Aboriginal renters, Rent, Regional NSW.The housing and homelessness crisis in NSW explained in 9 charts
Paul Miller The Conversation (No paywall)Whatever the result of the New South Wales election on March 25, rising housing stress is a problem the new state government will have to confront.
Soaring rents and an extraordinary lack of rental vacancies are intensifying housing stress in Sydney and elsewhere. Many low-income households are spending well over 30% of their income on housing costs.
The numbers of people seeking help are pushing social housing and homelessness systems to the brink.
https://theconversation.com/the-housing-and-homelessness-crisis-…
# Must read, Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market.‘It’s Up to Us’: squeezed by the housing crisis, a NSW rural community finds its own solution
Jordyn Beazley The Guardian (No paywall)After raising $350,000, a group of Bega electorate residents provided temporary units for locals – but long-term investment is needed to provide more permanent accommodation.
About two years ago Michael Brosnan decided he could no longer wait for the government to act on the housing crisis.
As more and more people were squeezed into homelessness in his community on the far south coast of New South Wales, he and other locals decided to start a fundraiser.
https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardi…
# Hot topic Australia, Co-operatives and resident-led housing, Housing market, Personal stories.Affordable housing series part 1: tensions and political legitimacy
Mike Brown The Fifth Estate (No paywall)The Australian government has rightly defined the housing affordability crisis as a national issue. What features of the crisis, if any, warrant national policy attention? Well, its existence for a start…
Alison Pennington’s Friday essay (an extract from her recent book Gen F’d?: How Young Australians Can Reclaim Their Uncertain Futures In The Conversation reviews the by-now well-known financial conditions that benefit older generations but confront young intending home owners and renters, whom she refers to as “Generation F-d”.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/affordabl…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Landlord limits 'not needed' in Queensland as sky-high rents force people from their homes
Owen Jacques ABC (No paywall)Housing advocates in Queensland are calling for a cap on rental increases as growing numbers of tenants are forced out of homes in a market with almost no restrictions on price hikes.
The state government and real estate lobby do not agree that restrictions are needed, warning such a change would have little impact and would risk scaring owners and investors out of the market.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-18/rental-crisis-queensland-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing market, Personal stories.Fierce competition for Adelaide rental homes amid tight market, prompting calls for rental price caps
Stacey Pestrin ABC (No paywall)Hayden Patterson says he applied for more than 400 rentals before finally landing a place in a share house in Adelaide's inner-south – then his rent increased.
He said last year, before the price rise, he was already spending 80 per cent of his income on rent.
"Whereas just five years ago when I was in social housing, it was capped at 25 per cent," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-17/price-hikes-and-tough-com…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Personal stories.How would rent caps work in Australia and how might they affect affordability?
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Advocates call for price controls to provide cost-of-living relief, while investors argue they will cause a drop in supply.
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has spent this week riding a tide of investor backlash after saying her government was “very seriously” considering introducing rental caps.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/22/how-would…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Housing market, State Government.Opinion: 'Good cause' is good policy
David R. Jones City & State NY (No paywall)My family has lived in New York for a long time. We have been renters, we have been homeowners, and we have been small landlords. Housing was never simple or easy in New York, but with homelessness and displacement on the rise, the situation today is uniquely dire.
Every day we see another story about evictions in New York City and New York state. A lot of the time they have to do with non-payment – rents are too high and wages are too low. But we also regularly see cases of no fault evictions: cases where the tenant has held up their side of the bargain, but the landlord wants them out. The 1.6 million families who don’t live in rent stabilized, subsidized or public housing have little legal recourse. If the landlord wants them out – whether because they want to charge another tenant an exorbitant amount, or because the tenant is organizing around building conditions, or because they’re discriminating against them – they can simply evict them without cause.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/opinion/2023/03/opinion-good-caus…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.