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
Public housing tenants answer your questions to tackle stigma
Carol Raabus ABC (No paywall)When Nickolas Koutsoudakis lived with his mum in a housing commission property, he didn't feel welcome in some parts of society. [Read on] (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/public-housing-tenants-answer-yo…
# Australia, Public and community housing.At last, we have a chance to fix the housing crisis – and that’s down to Michael Gove
Vicky Spratt (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Standing before a packed room of housing policy experts and journalists at an event hosted by the charity Shelter, the Housing Secretary began to speak. His focus? The urgent need to build more social housing and to tax landowners properly to make sure councils have enough money to fund it. “Even the most – how can I put it – Thatcher-worshiping, home ownership-fetishising, capital-accumulating members of this audience… you want more social housing,” he said. “Because you want people to be in decent homes where they can pursue the jobs that they love and save one day for a home that they might want to call their own.” The words could easily have been spoken by someone on the left, but they came from Michael Gove. (inews.co.uk)
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/at-last-we-have-a-chance-to-fix-the-…
# International, Public and community housing, Housing market, Local Government, Tax.Australia's overheated property market has become a target for hackers — and they're scamming millions
James Purtill ABC (No paywall)The scammers' first email to Kelly and her husband arrived in the small hours of the night, when they were sleeping. "Due to the ongoing bank audit on our account," the email read, "please see attached our subsidiary trust account details for the payment of $25,000 deposit." The email address looked legitimate — it was the real estate agent's. Kelly and her husband, both young engineers and "tech savvy", were at the pointy end of buying a house in Western Australia. ... According to national figures, plenty of others are falling for the scam too. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Scamwatch receives on average about two reports per week of payment redirection scams in real estate.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-04-24/scammers-hackers-…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.‘Hard to escape’: Unbearable heat forces Sydney families out of their homes
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Poor building standards and rising energy costs force 30 per cent of Australians to get out of the house during summer, as hot weather takes an increasing toll on physical and mental health. Low-quality homes that do not offer protection from the heat and poorly planned suburbs without trees and shelter from hot weather leave many Australians to suffer heat distress, even during milder summers. ... More than 2000 people were surveyed between December 2021 and March 2022 by Sweltering Cities. ... The survey found renters were more likely to live in hot homes that lacked airconditioning or proper windows, blinds and insulation. One-third of NSW renters said they had asked their landlord to make changes to cool their homes, yet only 11 per cent agreed. Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said too many homes lacked sufficient protection to maintain safe indoor temperatures – ideally around 18-23 degrees.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hard-to-escape-unbearable-he…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change, Health, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.Coming clean on living with a hoarder
Danny Katz The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Once, [my wife] came home with four perfectly good Bentwood dining chairs that she found on a nature strip; she said she almost didn’t see them there because they were hidden behind a half-filled removalist truck.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/two-minu…
# Australia, Home.‘Can that be legal?’ UK tenants forced from their homes by soaring rents
Shanti Das The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Private renters already struggling with food and fuel prices are being hit hard as landlords raise prices in London and nationwide. Margaret Perry wants to buy a house one day. But the increases in her energy, water and council tax bills over the past few weeks have dented her ability to save. Then, on Easter Monday, her landlord called to say the monthly rent on her shared house was going up by £500. ... Campaigners say greater protection is needed – including caps on rent increases in line with median wage rises, or a three-year freeze on increases for existing tenants.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/apr/23/meet-the-tenants-b…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Where will they go?: Women say affordable housing is difficult to find after evictions
Jared Weber (No paywall)From Michigan ... The eviction notices for some residents of a local apartment complex started arriving early last summer, just as the federal government’s moratorium was about to expire. But neither Carmelleta Smith, Rosalind Johnson nor Tenille Buckner had ever fallen behind on rent, even as rates consistently rose in recent years at BLVD West — a south Lansing apartment complex across the street from the new McLaren Greater Lansing hospital. ... The eviction notices have left the three women with few options: fighting their cases in eviction court or trying to find affordable housing that fits their needs elsewhere — which offers limited choices.
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2022/04/20/evicte…
# International, Eviction, Welfare, Women.Older single women and victims of domestic violence face increased homelessness as affordable housing falls short, report warns
Tony Ibrahim ABC (No paywall)The Deloitte report, titled 'Commonwealth Social and Affordability Policy Review', cites last year's surge in house prices and rents — up 21 and 8 per cent respectively, and a homelessness rate that's up 41 per cent over the last five years. It identifies older, single women and women fleeing domestic violence as the fastest-growing cohort at risk of homelessness. ... The NSW government is responsible for housing, but [Link Wentworth's chief executive Andrew] McAnulty joined a chorus calling for the federal government to take a leading role. "We've been lacking a national housing strategy for decades within Australia," he said. You can read the report at: [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/552bbddde4b0da214d6d3a2f/t/6232bfd9d554a503b76c340e/1647493085888/220317_Deloitte+Social+Affordable+Housing+policy+review.pdf]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-21/vulnerable-residents-incr…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Homelessness, Housing market, State Government.