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
Ray White transforms the rental experience by collaborating with Snug
(No paywall)Rental application and inspection booking platform, Snug.com has formally announced its commercial partnership with Ray White, with the group having now onboarded more than 100 offices to its software platform. Renters can now book inspections and apply for Ray White residential rentals using Snug across participating Ray White offices. (eliteagent.com)
https://eliteagent.com/ray-white-transforms-the-rental-experienc…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.The social housing sector can learn about customer service from Build to Rent operators
Manpreet Dillon Inside Housing (Paywall)Having worked in both sectors, I believe social housing providers could learn about customer service from their counterparts in the Build to Rent world.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/the-social-housi…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Housing market.Bachelor in Paradise star Conor Canning's regret over real estate theft, lies
Lucy MacDonald ABC (No paywall)A former reality television star has told a court that his decision to steal from a former employer and lie to a real estate property board did not result in personal gain — but has "cost him". ... The court heard on Wednesday that Mr Canning stole a database and other intellectual property in 2017 from Ray White and then took it with him to his new employer, Harcourts.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-02/bachelor-paradise-star-co…
# Australia, Landlords and agents.Australian borrowers keep up with home loans as economy recovers, but warning over most indebted: S&P
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Australian mortgage-holders are keeping up better with their repayments as the economy recovers from last year’s pandemic recession, but borrowers with big debts are more likely to be at risk.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-borrowers-keeping-up-w…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Tenant News
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Scammers preying on desperate renters ... and lots more stories
https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?u=29c79d2825cb376b3f0b06385&id…
# Must read NSW, Campaigns and law reform.What you need to know about rent bidding
Riley Brooke Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Right now, a rental crisis is unfolding across much of regional NSW. With so few properties available to rent across many parts of the state, there are often dozens if not hundreds of applicants for every property, and renters are becoming desperate to find a home. We are hearing directly from renters, as well as from regional Tenant Advocacy Services that some agents and landlords are taking the opportunity presented by such a 'tight market' to encourage 'rent bidding' to maximise income and exploit renters. ... We're very concerned about an increase in 'rent bidding', and the role agents and landlords are playing in encouraging it.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/rent-bidding-flourishing-amidst-…
# Must read NSW, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.‘I was sleeping in laybys’: the people who have spent the pandemic living in vans
Simon Hattenstone and Daniel Lavelle The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... For some, living in a van is their culture or a symbol of resistance. But for many others it is the only possible response to our growing housing crisis – and proposed legislation could make life much harder for them. ... Despite the fact that renting or buying property is increasingly unaffordable, the proposed police, crime, sentencing and courts act will create a new offence of “residing on land without consent in or with a vehicle” and make it easier for the police to remove unauthorised encampments on highways. ... The Oscar-winning film Nomadland, about American communities living in vans, shows the toughness of life on the road, but it has also been accused of being somewhat rose-tinted, with landscapes of sublime beauty, and the uncritical depiction of an Amazon warehouse where working conditions have been described by the Trades Union Congress as “dehumanising”. Lots of personal stories of living in vans across the United Kingdom.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/25/i-was-sleep…
# Must read International, Land lease communities, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Housing market, Personal stories.Renters in casual work during COVID-19 need more help to stay at home in lockdowns, tenant groups warn
Elizabth Redman Domain (No paywall)Renters in casual work are likely to have exhausted their savings and need more support to stay at home through coronavirus outbreaks, tenant and landlord groups warn.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/renters-in-casual-work-during-cov…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Regional NSW.