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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
The Sirius question: Inside the Sydney building rocking the property conversation
Julie Power The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When Owen McAloon, a long-standing public housing tenant of the Sirius building in the Rocks, hung the sign “One Way! Jesus!” to block the western sun from turning his unit into an oven, he didn’t expect it to become an icon, visible to any motorist heading into the city. McAloon later said his sign was designed as a talking point for anyone who saw it: “To get them thinking: ‘What does that mean?’ The conversion of the former housing commission flats into 75 luxury apartments – all sold bar seven apartments – still delivers: It gets people talking.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-sirius-question-inside-t…
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Rent.Fire upon fire as Woonona hoarder's home lights up the night
Angela Thompson Illawarra Mercury (Soft Paywall)A Woonona hoarder’s home that went up in smoke in April will become the subject of a second investigation, after an even mightier blaze finished off the property tonight. The April 3 fire, at a public housing property on Sussex St, was in its early stages when firefighters arrived that afternoon, so unnoticeable that first crews initially walked past it. Three months later, there was no missing the emergency, which sparked at least 10 triple-0 calls from about 6.30pm.
# Hot topic NSW, Disasters.No-fault evictions in NSW pushing 'more people into homelessness' but little movement on law change
Joseph Hathaway-Wilson ABC (No paywall)When businesswoman Eman Soliman was texted her eviction notice, she assumed it was a mistake. "There wasn't even a phone call to explain why it had happened," she said. Less than three months earlier, the single mother of two sons had signed a new lease and was told by the agent she could stay as long as she liked and even thanked her for taking care of the property. "That was in October. We passed Christmas and New Year's Eve, and then in early January, as soon as everyone went back to work, I got an eviction notice," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-01/nsw-no-grounds-evictions-…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent.NSW government announces the first of 44 government-owned sites that will be made available for new housing
Jesse Hyland ABC (No paywall)The NSW government has revealed the first new locations to be made available for affordable housing in the state, out of 44 government-owned sites that will be used to build new homes. The four locations include North Eveleigh and Camperdown in the inner city, Kellyville in Sydney's north west and Camden in the south west. Out of the sites announced, the Carriageworks Precinct near Redfern station in North Eveleigh will take up the lion's share of new housing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-01/nsw-first-housing-sites-a…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing.Elderly woman who lost house in Whalan explosion moved to temporary housing with restrictions on visitors
Sarah Gerathy ABC (No paywall)When an explosion ripped through a row of social housing townhouses at Whalan in Western Sydney, 86-year-old Ninette Dawson lost her home of 17 years. Since then she has been living in a temporary accommodation facility at Blacktown with women and children fleeing domestic violence, which has restrictions in place that have prevented her family from visiting. As she speaks to her daughter in Brisbane on the phone, Ninette's voice cracks as she tells her: "I just feel sad today, but then I'm sad every day." Her daughter Shareen Dawson fights back her own tears and as she tells her mum: "I know, hopefully it won't be too much longer."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-27/elderly-woman-lost-house-…
# Must read NSW, Disasters, Public and community housing, Rent, Repairs.Legislative changes implemented to make residential land lease community fees fairer
Keira Proust ABC (No paywall)Daryl Rowe is one of about 40,000 people who rely on residential land lease communities as an affordable housing option in New South Wales. The 57-year-old moved into Kincumber Nautical Village on the New South Wales Central Coast eight years ago, but has struggled to keep up with increasing site fees ever since. Mr Rowe's fortnightly site costs are just less than half of his disability pension. "When I moved in it was $175 a week, which I could cope with, but now it's up to nearly $500 a fortnight," he said. "Everything is a bit tight — I'm not buying many luxury things … just the bare minimum that I have to, really."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-07/residential-land-lease-co…
# Must read NSW, Land lease communities.More than 400 build-to-rent homes will be allocated to essential workers
ABC (No paywall)The NSW government has announced that the upcoming budget will include a $450 million dollar package for housing for essential workers. It's a way the state is trying to keep essential workers in places they are desperately needed. Homes will be offered to workers like teachers, paramedics, police officers and firefighters at a discount to the market rent.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sydney-breakfast/400-buil…
# Audio NSW, Rent.Thousands of short-stay rentals flouting registration rules in Sydney, research finds
Tamsin Rose The Guardian (No paywall)The City of Sydney will call for major reforms to the short-term rental sector as it raises concerns that thousands of properties on hosting sites such as Airbnb have been operating without valid registrations. Research commissioned by the city found that while there were about 2,500 active properties in the Sydney local government area (LGA) last year, according to New South Wales government figures, there were closer to 5,500 properties active in the area according to data sourced from AirDNA, a rental insights company based in the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jun/13/s…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.