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
New study reveals intensified housing inequality in Canada from 1981 to 2016
Yushu Zhu The Conversation (No paywall)Driven by the neoliberal belief in the superiority of the free market, the housing policy in Canada has shifted from a welfare-oriented policy to a market-oriented one over the past four decades, encouraging home ownership, deregulation and private consumption. Housing financialization, the transformation of housing from a human right to an investment opportunity, has been driven by the federal government primarily through financial market deregulation and a financial practice called mortgage securitization. Much of the debate about the housing crisis has focused on the market imbalance between supply and demand, citing factors such as foreign investment and lack of market supply. However, many housing problems today need to be viewed in the historical context of the housing system restructuring, which keeps housing and wealth inequality alive and well.
https://theconversation.com/new-study-reveals-intensified-housin…
# International, Bond, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Race and ethnicity, Women, Young people.Australian man asked his neighbour to take the bins out – so he did, literally
Royce Kurmelovs The Guardian (No paywall)Australian man Carl Stanojevic might be the world’s most considerate neighbour after he was asked to “take the bins out” and dutifully followed the request – to the letter. The practical joke began when the 54-year-old photographer from Mackay, in Queensland, received a late-night text message from his neighbour, Nick Doherty – who works remotely – asking if Stanojevic “would be able to take my bins out please”. Stanojevic then joked about taking the bin out to local restaurants and bars. The next morning, after it was emptied and cleaned, Stanojevic decided to follow through on the banter.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/24/australia…
# Australia, Neighbours.Happy holidays and a big thank you from Shelter NSW!
Shelter NSW (No paywall)As 2021 comes to a close, we at Shelter NSW reflect upon what has certainly been a very big year! The challenges keep on coming as we enter the holidays, with uncertainty now seeming the norm. Despite the difficulties we continue to face across the state, we finish the year feeling a sense of hopefulness for the year ahead. Through the collective and consistent efforts of our board, staff, members, peers, suppliers, advocates, friends and allies, we've continued to contribute to ensuring a secure home for all. Please see our annual report which highlights our efforts over this last year towards building a fairer housing system. Go to: [https://shelternsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Shelter-NSW_Annual-Report_2021_FA_Digital_WEB.pdf]
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/happy-holidays-and-a-big-thank-you…
# NSW, Campaigns and law reform.News from the International Union of Tenants
(No paywall)Read about ... European Commission EPBD proposal claims for ”Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards” in housing; Get ready for the ERHIN Awards in Helsinki; IUT at international conferences; EU consultation on short term rental platforms (International Union of Tenants)
Luxury homes, short lets and shacks: inside Lisbon’s housing crisis
Beatriz Ramalho da Silva The Guardian (No paywall)From Spain ... Wealthy overseas buyers lured by ‘golden visas’ helped create a city where workers struggle to find homes ... For years, [Manuela] Lopes assumed her tenancy was protected by a Portuguese law that prevents anyone over 65 years old from eviction if their lease dated from before 1990. What she didn’t know was that an offer to move flats within the building, which she had accepted, had voided the terms of her previous lease and in 2017, she was given notice to quit. ... Lopes has lost count of the strange encounters she has had in the building since then. Unnamed people started showing up in the corridors, telling tenants to leave. Doors to vacant flats were pulled out, before being re-attached months later, and construction work began without notice. ... Across Lisbon, property prices were soaring, tourism was booming and many tenants were finding themselves in a similar predicament.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/22/luxury-homes-short…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Housing market, Personal stories.Many aged care residents face a lonely, isolated Christmas, priest says
Katherine Smyrk ABC (No paywall)Maria Berry from the Older Persons Advocacy Network is horrified by the treatment many older people have faced over the past two years. ... Ms Berry acknowledges that some restrictions are vital for protecting elderly people from COVID-19, but she believes there is a more compassionate way to safeguard the vulnerable. An Industry Code for Visiting Residential Aged Care Homes during COVID-19 has been developed, with contributions from members of the public and aged care peak bodies. It includes an 'essential visitor' policy, which requires that residents are always permitted to have at least one visitor, regardless of the COVID-19 outbreak status. But, at the moment, it's just an agreement, and not enforced by legislation. [Check it out at: https://www.cota.org.au/policy/aged-care-reform/agedcarevisitors/] And although COVID-19 and its accompanying restrictions are the most pressing concern right now, Ms Berry said it was just the most recent issue being faced in aged care.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-23/forgotten-australians-age…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market, Older people.Tennant Creek residents struggle with extreme heat during COVID-19 lockdown without working air conditioning
Samantha Dick and Samantha Jonscher ABC (No paywall)A Tennant Creek woman and public housing resident whose only air conditioner broke the day before the town's COVID-19 lockdown began has been forced to endure days of temperatures approaching 40C as she waits for it to be fixed. ... Lockdowns in Tennant Creek and the remote community of Ali Curung were extended again on Wednesday, until 5pm today. ... She said she first reported her broken air conditioner to the NT's Department of Housing around 8:30am on Friday. Since then, she said she has spoken to several housing and welfare workers who have told her she's "on their list". More than four days later, she's still waiting for a response. ... Simon Quilty, an ANU heat and health researcher based in Alice Springs, said some of the homes in remote parts of the NT were so poorly insulated that it could feel "substantially hotter on the inside than the outside". "Some of these homes can reach 50C, if not more," he said. He said sweltering inside one of these homes without air conditioning was "incredibly dangerous". "Once your core body temperature goes above 42C, you're in the vicinity of severe heat stroke," he said. "You actually start to cook from the inside and you'll die."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-23/tennant-creek-covid-lockd…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Repairs, Coronavirus COVID-19, Minimum habitability standards.Room for one plate: viral TikTok shows off ‘the smallest apartment in New York’
Edward Helmore The Guardian (No paywall)Most New York stories ultimately revolve around property, but one TikTok user has shown the world just how crushing the city’s rental apartment situation has become despite the Covid-19 pandemic. In a 46-second viral clip, AJ Webber offered a tour of his minute, 75 sq ft, low-ceiling West Village dwelling that just barely contains a sink, a microwave, and a loft bed. The short video has now had more than 26m views on the platform. ... Amid the many indignities of New York life, property is among the most contentious. In recent years, landlords have touted the charms of micro-apartments, and the efficiencies of enforcing a no-clutter life.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/22/smallest-apartme…
# International, Rent, Housing market.