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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Fremantle’s ‘lady who lives in the port’ dies age 89
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Eileen Carmel Mullally, a North Fremantle character who became renowned for her battles to keep living in her cottage as her neighbourhood was swallowed up by industry expansion, has died aged 89. ... Carmel told ABC Perth in 2019 she never really did anything, ‘just refused to sell’.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/fremantle-s-la…
# Australia, Housing market, Personal stories.Where house prices could be in two years if economists are right
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Where would property prices be if they rise a little further and then fall slightly over the next couple of years, as economists expect? Home prices could end up close to current levels or back at the same level as last year, but with the kicker that mortgage repayments will be more expensive. Once the Reserve Bank lifts the cash rate – perhaps as early as June or as late as 2023 – home buyers will be able to borrow less, which could constrain how much they can bid at auction and push prices down. The forecasts come after home values soared in the pandemic, as locked-down buyers armed with crisis-era interest rates chased more spacious accommodation to work from home.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/where-house-prices-could-be…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market.Space Invaders’ Peter Walsh draws the line on serious clutter
Bridget McManus The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The distinction between cluttering and hoarding, [Peter Walsh] says, is that clutterers ... might not be able to eat at their dining room table, so piled is it with domestic detritus, but they still do the washing up and put out the rubbish.
https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/space-invaders-peter…
# Australia, Health, Home.Eviction, hardship, and the housing crisis: Building a more crisis-resilient renting system
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)All people deserve to live with stability and peace of mind, including people who rent their homes. The Tenants’ Union of NSW today published a Special Report entitled: 'Eviction, hardship and the housing crisis: Building a crisis-resilient renting system'. In it, we take a new look at eviction. Moving house is generally considered one of life’s most stressful events: the financial costs, and the stress and anxiety associated with moving are substantial, and these are exacerbated when a household is forced to move – when a household is evicted. Our current renting system relies too heavily on eviction. In many ways we have become complacent about the costs associated with eviction – intervening after the fact, rather than looking to see what a better model or approach might look like. You will find the full report at: [https://www.tenants.org.au/news/tenants-union-nsw-publishes-special-report-eviction-hardship-and-housing-crisis]
https://mailchi.mp/tenants.org.au/special-report-eviction-hardsh…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, No-grounds evictions.Calls for end to ‘no-grounds’ evictions in NSW as lockdown moratorium lifts
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)Eviction costs the average renter more than $4,000 and up to 30% of renters in New South Wales will experience it – often through no fault of their own – according to a new report from the NSW Tenants’ Union. The report, titled Eviction, Hardship, and the Housing Crisis, calculated the costs of eviction to the renter, the landlord and the public more broadly. It found that the average cost of a move ranges from $3,215 for a single-person household in greater Sydney through to $5,400 for a family household in regional NSW. The Tenants’ Union is calling for the NSW state government to abolish “no-grounds” eviction, bolster hardship provisions for renters, and provide landlord insurance, compensation or similar schemes to prevent the need for unnecessary eviction.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/14/calls-for…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, No-grounds evictions.Time we stopped 'eviction dependency' argues new report
Cassie McCullagh ABC (No paywall)Australia is fast becoming one of the last few OECD countries where landlords can evict tenants without saying why. A brand new report from the NSW Tenants Union argues it is high time we did away with it and replaced with a more sensible approach. The new report also tries to estimate the personal and social costs of eviction.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/sydney/programs/mornings/eviction/1…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio NSW, Eviction, Rent, Tribunal NCAT, Personal stories.RSPCA calls for leniency as rental squeeze increases pet surrenders
Kimberley Bernard and Tara Cassidy ABC (No paywall)A quarter of pets surrendered on the Gold Coast this year have been casualties of the tight rental market, according to the Animal Welfare League Queensland (AWLQ). ... More people are citing accommodation stress as a reason to surrender their animals, according to the AWLQ. The RSPCA has called for more leniency from landlords, as the organisation records an increase of animals needing to be rehomed. Gold Coast woman Kim Calkin is weeks away from being evicted from her Coomera home with her two young children and dog. She says of the limited places around, few owners were willing to accept pets, so she is preparing to live from the family's car and trailer.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-13/surrender-numbers-increas…
# Australia, Discrimination, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Pets.NSW students sleeping in cars amid critical rental, accommodation shortage
Fatima Olumee and Nick Rheinberger ABC (No paywall)For the past couple of weeks Maddison Murray has been sleeping in her car. The newly enrolled 20-year-old student has moved from Adelaide to study at the University of Wollongong and has just two weeks to find a home before the semester begins. "I've been searching since mid-December, and it's been quite overwhelming," she said. Before sleeping in her car, Ms Murray was couch-surfing across the south coast of New South Wales and staying in hostels. More recently, the local hostel has reached capacity with international students booking beds.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-16/students-face-critical-re…
# NSW, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Personal stories, Regional NSW, Students.