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
Rising cost of living dragging Canberrans below poverty line in what many call Australia's most affluent city
Isaac Nowroozi ABC (No paywall)According to the ACT Council of Social Service's latest report, nearly one in 10 Canberrans are living below the poverty line, challenging the perception of a "well-off" and "rich" national capital. Caroline, who moved back to Canberra last year to be closer to her daughter, is one example. Since moving to the ACT, Caroline has struggled to find a job and to consistently have a roof over her head. .... She has since found emergency accommodation, but before that she was forced to live in her car for months. ... Peta Stamell managed to buy her own place, but says she chose to live in share houses for about 15 years so she could afford it. ... Ms Stamell believes that affordable housing is a basic human right and wants reform that helps lower prices. "The problem with the Australian housing market is that its success is determined by how much equity it makes investors, not by how well it houses people, which is ridiculous," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/act-service-providers-wor…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Families, Homelessness, Housing market, Women.Whose responsibility is mould in a rental home and how should a tenant deal with it?
Antonia O'Flaherty ABC (No paywall)What are renters' rights when health-threatening mould takes hold in the property they occupy? The landlord, right? Well, that depends. Relentless rain and high humidity in Australia's east have created the perfect conditions for mould to spread rapidly in dampened homes. ... Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) chief executive officer Antonia Mercorella and Tenants Queensland CEO Penny Carr said it largely depended on what caused the mould to grow in the first place. [Read on]. Also, read the article by Matt Webber, Tara Cassidy, and Alexandria Utting entitled: 'Mould allergies, infestations on rise amid persistent wet weather, flooding' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/wet-weather-flooding-mould-allergies/101060432]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-18/tenants-impacted-by-mould…
# Video Australia, Rent, Mould.Housing crisis faces Tasmanian women and children fleeing unsafe domestic situations, but some hope on horizon
Ellen Couter ABC (No paywall)After leaving a toxic relationship, Amy Bourke was desperate to find a home that would give her son Chance some stability. ... Crisis accommodation through homelessness shelters is meant to be for three months, but Ms Bourke and her son ended up spending nine months in shelters before they found somewhere to live. ... Chief executive Janet Saunders said once women were in the shelter, there were few housing options to move on to. "There are no exit points for them, there's no affordable housing, and there's a long wait list for the social housing register."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-15/tasmania-womens-shelter-a…
# Australia, Domestic violence, Homelessness.Shortages in crisis housing leaving hundreds of homeless youths in Melbourne's outer south with nowhere to go
Margaret Paul ABC (No paywall)Jack Knight was 18 when a family breakdown left him homeless, in Frankston, in 2015. He spent a couple of nights on a friend's couch before he ended up sleeping in a garage. "It was very cold," he said. ... A support worker helped him into transitional housing, and then into a share house. Mr Knight started studying youth work, and now helps other young people facing homelessness, as a case manager with a support service in Frankston.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-15/frankston-rental-emergenc…
# Australia, Homelessness, Young people.Just one Sydney council to make big increase to housing supply in next five years
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Just nine Sydney council areas are expected to build more homes in the next five years than they did in the past five – and only one by a significant number – underscoring the stubborn supply drought contributing to the city’s housing affordability crisis. It comes as experts questioned whether the major parties’ policies to boost supply – which Labor’s Jason Clare called “the Gordian knot” of the housing problem – would have the desired effect, and called for a bigger focus on that side of the issue, rather than purchasing.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/just-one-sydney-council-to-m…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, Local Government.The other housing tax no one’s talking about this election
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)With the pandemic property boom turning the Great Australian Dream into a nightmare for many aspiring buyers, housing affordability has been an issue in this election campaign. ... But experts say there’s another reform that could help: stamp duty. Scrapping this tax would not only improve housing affordability over time and help grow the economy, it could also be an easier sell for any federal government than changing negative gearing.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-other-housing-tax-no-on…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Home ownership, Housing market, Tax.Australia’s most sustainable houses – in pictures
Michael Sun The Guardian (No paywall)From a tiny home in Tasmania to a sprawling multigenerational manor inspired by camping, the Houses awards have chosen a shortlist of this year’s most sustainable architecture
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2022/may/14/aus…
# Australia, Home, Housing market.WA budget to benefit property development, but leaves renters out in the cold
Holly Thompson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Western Australia’s latest budget is likely one property developers are thrilled with, but for those seeking to rent or on the waitlist for social housing the numbers are less than ideal. ... Anglicare WA chief executive Mark Glasson said with consecutive budget surpluses over $5 billion, there had never been a better time to change the rental market. “We were looking for something in the budget that supported people with rent relief. We were looking for something that said to people you are paying far too much of your income on rent, let the state help you, we’re in a good financial position, we can afford to do this until more housing stock comes online,” he said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t see that.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-budget-to-b…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government.