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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
NSW is ending 'no grounds' evictions: what does it mean for renters?
Jemima Mowbray Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)
The recent announcement by the NSW Government that they are moving ahead with promised eviction reforms is welcome news. For renters, and those who campaign for housing justice, this is long awaited reform. The reforms to end ‘no grounds’ evictions will mean renters will be provided with a genuine reason if they are being evicted. Doesn’t seem like such a big ask does it? And still we’ve been fighting 50 years to make it happen. More than a third of NSW now rents - more of these households are families with kids, and older renters, and more of them are renting for longer.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/nsw-ending-no-grounds-evictions-…
# Must read, Hot topic, TUNSW in the media, Research alert NSW, Eviction.Why premier feels he has no choice but to act on rental reform
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)NSW Premier Chris Minns has warned that sweeping rental reforms are the only way to provide housing certainty to young people, who are fleeing Sydney and putting further pressure on small businesses that are struggling under the weight of the worsening worker shortage. The Minns government has committed to ending so-called no grounds evictions on fixed and periodic leases, which will see landlords banned from kicking out tenants without “commonsense and reasonable reasons”.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/why-premier-feels-he-has-no-…
# Hot topic NSW, .Vulnerable people living in Sydney boarding houses face eviction to make way for luxury apartments
Holly Tregenza ABC (No paywall)On a street in Sydney's wealthiest council area, Stephen Deer is one of 32 residents living at a boarding house which has been a refuge for low-income earners since the end of World War II. But a development proposal could end the 70-year-old's "absolutely joyful" decade living at Selwyn Street in Paddington. Mr Deer and his "family" of other boarding house residents, some of whom have lived there for more than 50 years, stare down eviction and potential homelessness.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-08/nsw-boarding-house-closur…
# Must read NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Eviction.NSW treasurer takes time out from housing crisis to buy $4m house
Lucy Macken The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey handed down his second budget earlier this year, addressing the housing crisis by rolling out the biggest investment in public housing in the state’s history. Job done, he went home and started packing boxes ahead of his own home upgrade. The Labor man, son of Indian migrants, has not only done well professionally since growing up in Merrylands, but he has also succeeded in the property stakes, judging by his recent purchase of one of Stanmore’s grandest residences.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/nsw-treasurer-takes-time-ou…
# Hot topic NSW, .Why some people are refusing to leave ‘unliveable’ flood-damaged Lismore homes
Catie McLeod The Guardian (No paywall)It’s been more than two years since Lachlan Gleeson grabbed his cat and climbed onto the roof of his house in south Lismore to be rescued after his home was engulfed by the area’s worst flood in recorded history. He’s now part of a community that has sprung up on Lake and Pine Street in the regional city in northern New South Wales, long after the flood water has receded. Gleeson has been squatting in houses on the two streets since early June. Built on the floodplain, the timber Queenslanders were deemed unliveable after the February 2022 disaster.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/10/w…
# Must read NSW, Disasters, Eviction.NCAT’s Indigenous List is a model for positive change
Emma McMahon Community Legal Centres Australia (No paywall)I was enlightened and deeply moved by my recent visit to the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to observe the Indigenous Tenancy. The Indigenous Tenancy List, established in December 2023, is a relatively new initiative to NCAT, aimed at providing culturally safe and supportive mediation for tenancy disputes. The List is available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in tenancy or social housing disputes in NCAT and provides an opportunity to connect with support services and specialist Aboriginal Tenants advocates, as well as extra time with the tribunal member to ensure a realistic agreement is reached.
https://www.clcnsw.org.au/ncats-indigenous-list-model-positive-c…
# Hot topic NSW, Aboriginal renters, Rent, Tribunal NCAT.NSW soon to unveil its first 3D-printed social housing project
Architecture AU (No paywall)The NSW government is preparing to commence construction on its first 3D-printed social housing property. The housing project is a part of a pilot program aimed at addressing the housing shortage and homelessness across the state. The project involves the introduction of two new 3D-printed duplexes on a vacant block in Dubbo. The aim of the trial is to reduce building cost and construction time by 50 percent, providing housing availability and affordability. The project construction is anticipated to be finished within a span of 16 weeks, a significant difference compared to the approximately 40 weeks needed for traditional construction methods.
https://architectureau.com/articles/nsw-soon-to-unveil-its-first…
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Rent.Council's verdict on Wollongong's Airbnb-style rentals amid housing crisis
Glen Humphries Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Wollongong has a need for more places for tourists to stay, according to a city council study. There is no need to impose restrictions on Wollongong’s short-term rentals as a way to tackle the housing crisis, according to a draft city council strategy. The draft Tourism Accommodation Review Strategy also stated there were 854 short-term rental accommodation (STRA) premises, equivalent to just under half the total rooms available through hotel and other accommodation. It stated there were 1924 rooms available across backpackers, bed and breakfasts and hotels – a figure that did not include the 854 STRAs.
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.