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
Four in 10 new apartment buildings have major defects: NSW Building Commissioner
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Almost four in 10 new apartment buildings in NSW have serious defects, costing an average $331,829 per building to fix, a new survey has found, although resolutions are rare. Waterproofing (23 per cent) was the most common major defect followed by fire safety (14 per cent), while almost one in 10 buildings had structural and enclosure defects, which can include anything that protects homeowners from the elements, such as the roof or the facade, according to new research by the Strata Community Association NSW. A survey of 1400 strata managers of residential buildings of four storeys or higher built in the past year was completed as part of a joint initiative between the Office of the NSW Building Commissioner and the state’s peak strata body.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/four-in-10-new-apartment-building…
# NSW, Repairs, Strata, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.‘I’d rather be on the street’: Homeless face return to unsafe rooming houses
Jewel Topsfield The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Dean Drommel would rather sleep rough than go back to living in a rooming house. Mr Drommel, one of the homeless Victorians from 2159 households currently put up in a hotel, is worried he will once again be referred to a private rooming house when lockdown ends and government funding is cut. "When you live in a rooming house and you go out to the shops and come home and the door has been kicked in and all your stuff’s been taken, it gets a bit much. You’re always on edge. I’d rather be on the street than going into a rooming house and getting into fights.” Mr Drommel is also worried about the spread of COVID-19 at rooming houses. “I’ve been hearing about it lately; ‘this place has got COVID, go and get tested’.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/i-d-rather-be-on-the-st…
# Australia, Boarders and lodgers, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.Priced out of Lewisham: the bus driver who beat the bailiffs to stay in his borough – video
Bruno Rinvollucri, Charlie Phillips and Katie Lamborn The Guardian (No paywall)When Anthony Brathwaite was told he and his two children were no longer eligible for council housing in Lewisham, south-east London, and was offered a property he could not afford outside the borough, he decided to fight back. Having left a council property that was in his name after his marriage broke down, Brathwaite was housed in temporary accommodation for two years. When the council reassessed his case it ruled he had made himself intentionally homeless, and as a result was not eligible for council housing. After offering him a property outside the borough that cost more than half his pay as a London bus driver, Brathwaite decided to fight the eviction with the help of his union, campaign groups and local people
https://www.theguardian.com/society/video/2021/oct/05/priced-out…
# Video International, Eviction, Public and community housing, Campaigns and law reform.The Tech That Slumlords Hate
Ethan McLeod (No paywall)Housing activists, officials and researchers are deploying new tools to empower tenants, spotlight negligent property owners and curb evictions in U.S. cities. The first words on the sign — “VACANT PROPERTY” — posted on the front door of a boarded-up rowhouse in Baltimore’s Upton neighborhood may overstate the obvious: The two-story brick home, its front steps sandwiched between tall weeds and a pile of garbage, clearly hasn’t been inhabited for some time. But the QR code sitting in the sign’s bottom right corner is a window to a trove of more expansive information about this building. ... Several new tools are aiming to confront opaque systems that tend to benefit property owners at neighbors’ and tenants’ expense. Some, like Baltimore’s QR code program, boost transparency and help the public hold property owners and landlords accountable. Others are advocate-led projects that aim to shine a spotlight on serial evictors, ward off the long-dreaded eviction cliff of forced displacement, and help tenants weather the huge spike in rents affecting cities nationwide. Think of this as the flip-side to the flurry of “proptech” innovation aimed at real estate investors and developers ... (Bloomberg CityLab)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-07/tenants-use-n…
# Must read International, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, Affordable housing, Campaigns and law reform, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards, Planning and development.Victoria's new $500m Homebuyer Fund will see the government own part of up to 3,000 homes
ABC (No paywall)Victoria is launching a $500 million fund to get homebuyers into the market, in exchange for a share in the property. Treasurer Tim Pallas said the Victorian Homebuyers Fund (VHF) is expected to help about 3,000 residents buy a home. ... Under the plan, would-be homeowners need to have a 5 per cent deposit, with the government able to kick in up to 25 per cent of the value of the home. They do not need to be first homebuyers, but cannot currently own a property. "They'll be able to buy homes with the help of the Victorian government, which will be an equity partner in the purchase," Mr Pallas said. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians will be able to apply for the fund with only a 3.5 per cent deposit.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-08/victoria-announces-500m-h…
# Audio Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, State Government.Tablelands caravan park residents say council order will leave them homeless
Phil Brandel ABC (No paywall)Long-term residents at a Tablelands caravan park are facing homelessness after being told to leave by the end of next month, when the local council puts the park up for commercial lease. In late 2020, the Tablelands Regional Council (TRC) made the decision to "get out of the caravan business" and put Lakeside Caravan Park in Yungaburra and the Malanda Falls Caravan Park up for commercial tender.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-08/homeless-tablelands-carav…
# Australia, Eviction, Land lease communities, Homelessness.Call to improve energy efficiency in homes
Norman Hermant ABC (No paywall)
The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) wants to see low-income homes undergo an energy transformation. It's released a report on the economic impact of the proposed National Low-Income Energy Productivity Program, which would retrofit 1.8 million energy inefficient homes. (ABC AM)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/adelaide/programs/am/call-to-improv…
# Audio Australia, Utilities electricity water gas, Minimum habitability standards.Rent to buy: The scheme younger Australians are using to fight high prices
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)Younger Australians who never thought they had a chance of owning a home are getting a foot on the property ladder through rent-to-buy schemes. The industry has a chequered history, with many people in the past losing deposits when they failed to follow through with their intended purchase.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2021/10/10/rent-to-buy-home/
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.