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
‘Legend’ ex-tenant uses post-it notes to warn of dodgy rental
James Robinson Domain (No paywall)A renter in Melbourne has taken to Reddit to share their experience of how an ex-tenant had ingeniously figured out a way to communicate the home’s problems. During an inspection of a three-bedroom home in Australia’s second-most populous city, the Reddit poster observed a number of post-it notes scattered around the rooms, with helpful messages explaining where issues were occurring.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/legend-ex-tenant-uses-post-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Flood relief payments and disaster relief: Here's what's available to you
Emily Stewart ABC (No paywall)Are you one of the hundreds of thousands of people across New South Wales and Queensland who had their homes or businesses flooded? Perhaps you have lost your house, your car, your possessions --- even your income, if you can't work right now. Inevitably, your mind turns to how you're going to get back on your feet financially. First up, federal government support ... If you're from New South Wales ...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-10/floods-damage-compensatio…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Regional NSW, State Government.Should the federal government step in to keep insurance affordable after the floods?
Jess Davis ABC (No paywall)As communities look to rebuild from the devastating floods many are concerned they will no longer be able to afford insurance, with calls for the federal government to step in and help. ... It's a problem resident in northern Australia already face, with insurance premiums soaring over the past decade following extreme cyclones. ... That's prompted the federal government to introduce a $10 billion cyclone reinsurance pool for northern Australia. It would effectively insure the insurance companies against any huge losses if they offer disaster cover. But there are calls now to expand the scheme to include all flood disasters, too, with the Greens announcing on Thursday that they'll move an amendment when parliament sits.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-11/federal-government-step-i…
# Australia, Housing market.Know your rights if you rent and are affected by flood - Tenants' Union advises
ABC (No paywall)What are your rights if you rent and have been affected by the floods? If you can't go back to your home will you get your full bond back? Leo Patterson Ross is the CEO of the Tenants' Union NSW, he discusses how tenants can manage a fair outcome after a natural disaster. (ABC Breakfast)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/northcoast/programs/breakfast/tenan…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio NSW, Rent.Kids Under Cover roll out backyard studios in Adelaide for teens at risk of homelessness
Tom Fedorowytsch ABC (No paywall)South Australia is rolling out 51 backyard studios to provide a safe space for young people who are homeless or at risk of leaving home. The one- and two-bedroom studios, which have ensuite bathrooms, will be installed in the backyards of families or carers. The SA Government's Homelessness Prevention Fund will contribute $2.3 million to Victorian not-for-profit Kids Under Cover to install the studios, starting in Adelaide's north.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-11/sa-rolls-out-backyard-stu…
# Australia, Homelessness, Housing market, State Government, Young people.Thousands more to live on flood plain on Sydney’s fringes if developments allowed to proceed
Peter Hannan The Guardian (No paywall)Thousands more people could soon be living on an extensive flood plain on the fringes of Sydney if land already approved for development were to proceed, according to planning officials, councillors and the New South Wales government’s own data. Blacktown city council alone has more than 10,000 homes already planned, with that region’s population expected to swell by half to more than 600,000 over the next two decades. About 425 square kilometres of land lie within the probable maximum flood in the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley, NSW estimates heard on Friday. While the NSW government is pausing new developments while it revises its flood strategy, pressure to open up more land for housing isn’t expected to ease.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/11/thousands…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.Emergency declared for NSW with thousands of homes still uninhabitable
Sally Rawsthorne The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A national emergency declaration for flood-affected communities in NSW was formally declared on Friday night after Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with Governor-General David Hurley on Friday night.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw-enters-state-of-emergency-wi…
# Australia, Climate change.Can we still afford a home among the gum trees?
Stephen Brook The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Fig Tree Bend, South Gundurimba, near Lismore, is a little slice of Aussie heaven – a farmhouse by a bend on the Richmond River. Tree-change friends from Sydney bought it, planted tea trees and converted an old dairy into cosy short-stay accommodation, painting it light blue. Now half the old dairy is washed away, along with trees they planted as part of the Richmond Rivers Rescue action group. They didn’t insure for floods – they found the premiums too expensive and now face an uncertain future. ... But to want a home among the gum trees – or equivalent – has been a human desire throughout history. Ask any prime minister of earthquake-prone Japan, or any governor of wildfire-ravaged California, or even some of those who fled Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius blew its top in 79 AD.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/can-we-still-afford-a-home-among…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market.