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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
Vacant houses test the limits of private property rights
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)A man's home may be his castle, as the ancient English legal principle goes, but no castle is completely immune from attack. Especially if that castle has been left to rot and ruin and nobody lives there to defend it. "Traditionally we work on the assumption that if it's private property, people are free to do with it as they please, they can leave it vacant, not use it," explains property law expert Cathy Sherry from Macquarie University. "But no matter what you do with private property, you're always being regulated by law. And law always regulates private property for the benefit of the wider community," she says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-07/vacant-houses-test-the-li…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Many Australian homes are freezing in winter, but change is in the air
Benn Dorrington realestate.com.au (No paywall)Cold snaps across the country have shone a spotlight on Australian homes and why they get so chilly when temperatures drop, but new rules are set to make homes warmer in the future. This winter has seen temperatures drop below zero across much of the country at times, forcing many people to rug up in their own homes amid rising energy bills and the cost-of-living crisis. Part of the problem is the way Australian homes have been built in the past, lacking enough insulation to properly shield from the icy weather and other energy-efficient measures.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/many-australian-homes-are-fre…
# Hot topic Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.A new bill is proposing a human right to housing. How would this work?
Chris Martin The Conversation (No paywall)There’s a new bill before federal parliament calling for housing to be considered a fundamental human right. The bill, introduced last week by independent federal parliamentarians Kylea Tink and David Pocock, would require the government to create a ten year National Housing and Homelessness Plan. One part of the bill states housing should be considered a fundamental human right for all Australians. Here’s how this would work.
https://theconversation.com/a-new-bill-is-proposing-a-human-righ…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Canberra couple awarded damages after wife awoken by a real estate agent in her bedroom conducting an inspection
Charlotte Gore ABC (No paywall)A Canberra woman who was awoken by a real estate agent in her bedroom conducting an inspection has been awarded damages by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT). The ACAT heard the woman was in bed with her infant son when the agent entered the room, both of whom later testified they were "shocked" to see the other. The woman gave evidence she "heard a person in the apartment" and hid under the bedsheets because she was "terrified" and because she was not wearing her Islamic head scarf.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-05/act-woman-awoken-real-est…
# Must read Australia, Discrimination, Rent, Tribunal NCAT.Do renters have a right to heating and air-conditioning?
Ben Knight UNSW (No paywall)Expanding minimum standards for rental properties could improve conditions for renters shivering through the winter. Australian homes can get particularly cold during winter months. And if you’re a past or present renter, chances are you’ve been uncomfortably cold in your rental when temperatures drop. You may have asked, or considered asking, your landlord if they could please install something with more grunt than a little box heater. But are they obliged to help you stay warm at home?
https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2024/07/do-renters-have-a-…
# Hot topic Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.Queensland and South Australia lead the ranks in report that reveals most painful suburbs for renters
Annika Burgess ABC (No paywall)Australians remain in the grip of rental stress, but there are stark differences emerging across the country. The latest Rental Pain Index (RPI) report by property research and analysis firm Suburb trends found signs of easing pain in some states, and "promising" improvements in Tasmania. But Queensland and South Australia remain stuck above the 80 per cent RPI mark, exceeding critical levels. Suburb trends analyst and founder Kent Lardner says the monthly report reveals a complex picture of Australia's rental market, and there are significant challenges across the board.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-09/rental-pain-index-austral…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Sharing risk in shared housing: rental regulations and housing justice in Australia
Zoë Goodall Taylor & Francis (No paywall)Shared housing in the private rental sector (PRS), where people rent with non-family, is becoming more significant across many countries. However, from a housing justice lens, it is unclear whether housing policies and regulations based on normative understandings of households are equipped to effectively support shared housing renters. Through a case study of Australia, which operates on a ‘consumer protection’ model of rental regulation, we ask how current Australian rental regulations enable or restrict housing justice for people in shared housing in the PRS. We conduct a critical discourse analysis of consumer-oriented tenancy information published by Australian state governments and identify explicit or implicit risks in the text that may be experienced by shared housing renters.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19491247.2024.23678…
# Research alert Australia, Rent, Share houses.Why Australian homes are so cold
ABC (No paywall)VIDEO: When you think of Australian weather, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn't how cold it can get. "I'm from Norway, but Australian winters have humbled me." It doesn't even get that cold compared to international standards, especially compared to our friends in the Northern Hemisphere.
# Video Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.