ADVICE OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD
Tenants Advice & Advocacy Services have limited availability over the holiday period. The Tenants' Union will operate a Tenancy Advice Hotline from Wednesday 18/12/2024 until Wednesday 8/1/2025 (excluding weekends and public holidays). The hours of operation are 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.
Get advice on: (02) 8117 3750 or 1800 251 101
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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
The Mayor Who Sees Airbnb as an Agent for Good
Joao Lima Bloomberg (No paywall)People in many cities around the world blame Airbnb Inc. for driving up rents and contributing to housing shortages, as tourists take homes once used by locals. Mayor Rui Moreira of Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city, sees how the growing short-term let market can drive urban regeneration. In areas that are already strained, the city forbids creating new short-term rentals — unless it’s a house that’s abandoned. But there are areas where short-term rentals can grow, Moreira, 67, said in an interview in his office in the town hall. Tourism can help regenerate cities, he said.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-06-14/porto-mayor-s…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Most Tory and Labour voters back rent controls – but neither party has a pledge
Vicky Spratt inews.co.uk (No paywall)A significant majority of Conservative and Labour voters support rent controls, according to exclusive polling carried out for i – but neither party has included such a pledge in its manifesto. Overall, seven in 10 – 71 per cent – of people said they supported the introduction of rent controls in England, so that rents in the private sector do not rise by more than the national inflation rate. According to the Ipsos poll, 69 per cent of those who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election said they supported rent control. For 2019 Labour voters, the figure was 79 per cent.
https://inews.co.uk/news/majority-tory-labour-voters-back-rent-c…
# Hot topic International, .NZ property: Demand for rentals is plummeting - what it means for tenants
Newshub (No paywall)Rental prices in Aotearoa have remained unchanged in May, according to Trade Me's latest Rental Price Index. The index, released on Tuesday, showed the median weekly rent in Aotearoa remained stable at $650. It comes after a strong uptick in rental supply - up 26 percent in May when compared with a year ago. Demand has also continued to fall for the seventh consecutive month - down 30 percent when compared with the same time last year.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/06/nz-property-d…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Evicted mother who felt 'hopeless' finds new home
Emily Ford BBC (No paywall)A woman who became homeless when she was evicted, after reporting a mould issue, has found a new home for her family. Chloe Bloomer, 31, said she felt "hopeless" when her landlord handed her a section 21 notice in March 2023. The Bournemouth mother-of-two said she and her partner became street homeless after a battle with her landlord. Now, she has found a private home to rent for her family and is urging other renters to be careful. Ms Bloomer raised issues about the poor condition of her privately rented home, as she had concerns of the impact it could have on her now four-year-old daughter, who has type 1 diabetes.
# Must read International, Rent.Evictions plague renters across the country. In Greensboro, a grassroots group is pushing the city to fund a solution.
Marielle Argueza Triad City Beat (No paywall)Courtroom 215, located in Greensboro’s Guilford County Courthouse, can feel like a machine, spitting out judgments as quickly as fresh eviction cases are filed. For those unfamiliar with the civil court system, it can be daunting, especially without legal help navigating the process. Unlike criminal court, where defendants have a right to an attorney if they cannot afford one, there is no federally upheld right to counsel in civil cases. It’s all dependent on the city or county.
https://triad-city-beat.com/evictions-plague-renters-across-the-…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Where can you afford to rent?
Nael Shiab CBC (No paywall)Canada is in a rental housing crisis, with affordable homes disappearing at an alarming rate across the country. According to a CBC News analysis of over 1,000 neighbourhoods across Canada’s largest cities, less than one per cent of rentals are both vacant and affordable for the majority of Canadian renters. To gauge the extent of the rental housing crisis, CBC News combined 2021 census data with the most recent findings from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s rental market survey, conducted in October 2023. If you needed to find a home to rent, could you?
https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/features/2024/rentals-affordabil…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Starting a tenancy.What does the NSW budget 2024-25 mean for renters
TUNSW Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The Tenants' Union of NSW has dived into today's NSW budget announcements, looking for the key measures that will significantly impact renters. These are our initial thoughts, we will add to this page as we gather more detail. There may be errors we will rectify as they are identified. What Government delivered
Investment in public and community housing, investment in Homes NSW... We applaud the government’s commitment to increasing housing stock and improving repairs and maintenance for public housing through investment of $5.9bn for Homes NSW to deliver:
https://www.tenants.org.au/news/what-does-nsw-budget-2024-25-mea…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media, Legal significance NSW, Public and community housing, Rent.NSW budget to deliver 30,000 new homes, promising historic investment in social housing
Isobel Roe ABC (No paywall)New South Wales will make the biggest single investment in social housing in the state's history, spending $5.1 billion to build 8,400 new and refurbished social homes, with a significant proportion to go to women and children fleeing domestic violence. Labor's 2024-25 budget, which records a $3.6 billion deficit, has promised 30,000 new homes all up through several new housing schemes, including a build-to-rent program for essential workers and the sale of public land to developers. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said his "must haves and not nice-to-haves" budget "carefully absorbs" a $11.9 billion hit from a loss in GST revenue, rather than creating "misery" by making cuts to services.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-18/nsw-budget-government-to-…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing.