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
Rental reforms pass in Queensland but not all tails are wagging
Felicity Caldwell The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Reforms will make it easier for Queensland renters to keep a pet but the changes have been denounced as going too far by the LNP and not far enough by the Greens. ... But Greens MP Amy MacMahon, who failed in her attempt to delay the bill until MPs who were landlords – about one in three – excused themselves from debate, said it did nothing to address the unequal power relationship between lessors and tenants. ... Labor’s bill would also stop landlords ending a lease without grounds and prescribed minimum housing standards from September 2023 for new tenancies and September 2024 for all tenancies. Grounds for eviction will include the end of a fixed-term agreement or if the owner wishes to perform significant repairs or renovations, sell or move in themselves. ... The Greens had also proposed a bill which would cap rent increases to once every 24 months by no more than CPI, ban rental bidding, and end “no grounds evictions”, even when a fixed-term contract was due to expire or the owner wanted to sell the property. Also, check out the story in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/10/15/rental-reforms-queensland/]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/rental-reforms-pass-i…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, No-grounds evictions, Pets, State Government.Queensland landlords stripped of automatic refusal on pets in rental properties under new housing bill
Jessica Rendall ABC (No paywall)Queensland landlords will no longer be allowed to refuse pets in rental properties without a reason deemed valid by the state government. The state government said the changes would modernise current laws for the 34 per cent of Queenslanders living in a rental property. ... Under the bill: Tenants can have pets unless landlords provide a valid reason to refuse; Tenants experiencing domestic violence can end a lease with just seven days' notice; No evictions without grounds evictions; Added reasons for landlords and tenants to end tenancies; Strengthening housing standards by fining landlords up to $6,850 if repairs aren't completed. (Note: This article is misleading because a landlord may still give a no-grounds notice at the end of a fixed term.)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-14/qld-new-housing-bill-remo…
# New policy announcement Australia, Domestic violence, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, No-grounds evictions, Pets.Housing 2030 study published covering 56 countries
(No paywall)A study has been published by The partnership of the UNECE, Housing Europe, UN Habitat team, with the financial support of the Irish Housing Finance Agency, Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland, the Slovenian Ministry of Urban Planning and the Czech Ministry of Regional Development. The International Union of Tenants was one of many contributors with good practice examples. It is our pleasure to share with you the published Report and bring to your attention to the extensive and searchable Website Housing2030.org which brings many good practice illustrations to the fore. Go to: [https://www.housing2030.org/] (International Union of Tenants]
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/housing-2030-study-published-cove…
# International, Affordable housing, Landlords and agents.I live in an apartment. How can I cut my risk of getting COVID?
Geoff Hamner The Conversation (No paywall)Governments are pressing ahead with home quarantine for returning travellers and people are isolating at home due to COVID-19. So now is a good time to think about what you can do to reduce your risk of infection if you live in an apartment.
https://theconversation.com/i-live-in-an-apartment-how-can-i-cut…
# Hot topic Australia, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19.‘Crisis’ of Aboriginal homelessness in sights of multimillion dollar plan
Cameron Gooley The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A $12 million plan to reduce homelessness in the state’s Aboriginal communities has been welcomed by some First Nations service providers, but they warn far more needs to be done to fix an ongoing housing “crisis”. The NSW government has pledged to launch an Aboriginal Homelessness Sector Growth Project by April, with a goal to help Indigenous organisations run more support programs for at-risk people. ... The program will be aimed specifically at southern NSW, the New England region, and Western Sydney, and the government has promised to engage with local Aboriginal community controlled organisations (ACCOs) to co-design service models.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/crisis-of-aboriginal-homeles…
# NSW, Homelessness, Race and ethnicity.After Ida, How Can Affordable Housing Withstand Climate Impacts?
Alex Williamson (No paywall)When the remnants of Hurricane Ida struck the Northeast in early September, the region was inundated by devastating flash floods. Across four states, the storm killed more than 40 people, caused up to $24 billion in property damage, and knocked out power to 150,000 homes. New Jersey and New York City were hit particularly hard—30 New Jersey residents drowned in their homes and vehicles, and in NYC, 13 residents died, most drowning in their basement apartments. ... What lessons can Ida offer to affordable housing managers and owners whose properties are at risk of extreme weather? (Shelterforce)
https://shelterforce.org/2021/10/14/after-ida-how-can-affordable…
# International, Affordable housing, Climate change, Landlords and agents.End of COVID disaster payments looms large for stressed tenants
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)More tenants could find themselves struggling to pay rent as they emerge from lockdown, faced with losing income support payments before they can fully return to work. With the end of the COVID disaster payment fast approaching, more tenants could find themselves in rental stress or having to vacate a property they can no longer afford, tenant groups fear. ... The looming end of the payment could cause significant problems for those still unemployed or underemployed, said Leo Patterson Ross, the chief executive of the Tenants’ Union of NSW. “It’s very contingent on how [the city’s reopening and businesses] go. We know there is a huge level of unemployment and underemployment at the moment – a lot of people are not doing as well as they were before COVID hit – so we think it’s important to ensure the support continues while there is a need for it,” he said. Throughout lockdown, NSW tenants who’ve lost at least 25 per cent of their income have been protected by an eviction moratorium, as long as they continue to pay at least 25 per cent of their rent. The moratorium is scheduled to end next month and will be followed by a three-month transition period. Landlords have been also able to access up to $4500 in financial assistance – to be passed on to tenants via a rent reduction – or a land tax benefit. That sum would help bridge the shortfall for a tenant paying just a quarter of the rent across much of the city until December, Mr Patterson Ross said.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/tenants-bracing-for-end-of-covid-…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market, State Government.‘The hardest thing you can do’: Why there’s little progress on tax reform
Jennifer Duke and Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Politicians on both sides of the nation’s ideological divide are failing to demonstrate the will, ability or political clout required to overhaul the tax system, experts warn. ... Former Labor leader Bill Shorten took some of the biggest tax changes in years to the 2016 and 2019 elections, including ... The opposition had also promised to halve the capital gains tax deduction and restrict negative gearing to new investment properties as part of a plan to re-balance power in the housing market away from investors. But while many academics and economists were supportive of these proposals, Labor failed to drum up enough support. Now, with Anthony Albanese as Opposition Leader, these tax changes are off the table as the 2022 election looms. For several experts, including former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser and former Treasury secretary Ken Henry, Labor’s decision to backtrack on these changes is fast closing the door on reform altogether. “I have been rather disappointed, to put it mildly, with the Labor Party’s … walking away from the tax measures it took to the last election,” Fraser says. “This certainly dismays me. It will dismay a lot of people who cling rather flimsily, myself included, to having a better, fairer Australian society and tax reform has to be part of that.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-hardest-thing-you-ca…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Tax.