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
Why knock down all public housing towers when retrofit can sometimes be better?
Trivess Moore, David Kelly, Ralph Horne & Robert Crawford The Conversation (No paywall)The Victorian government is planning Australia’s largest urban renewal project. The plan is to knock down and rebuild 44 large public housing towers in Melbourne. The government says these towers, built in the 1960s and ’70s, are no longer fit for purpose and will cost more to maintain and upgrade than to replace. Rebuilding will allow 20,000 more people to live on these sites. However, most of the extra housing will be for private renters or owners. It will not add much more public or affordable housing. Rebuilding involves breaking up public housing communities. Many tenants have already been forcibly displaced. Removing stock from the system to make way for future housing reduces the capacity to house people in need amid a housing crisis.
https://theconversation.com/why-knock-down-all-public-housing-to…
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Repairs.Landlord’s secret Facebook post urging investors to band together to collude on price hikes sparks fury
Shannon Molloy news.com.au (No paywall)A jaw-dropping post in a private Facebook group for landlords has sparked fury from a prominent renter advocate, who says it exposes the true nature of Australian property investors. A member of the closed ‘Landlord’s (sic) Victoria’ group shared a post encouraging fellow investors to “be united” by colluding to increase rent prices uniformly. The user complained that properties in suburbs in outer-Melbourne were achieving “low” rents in comparison to “states like Perth”. The man suggested an organised increase of up to $200- per-week to put combined pressure on the market.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/landlords-se…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Jess Hill on the refuge housing supply crisis for those fleeing violence — and how to fix it
Anthony Furci ABC (No paywall)Emergency refuge housing is crucial for women and children escaping family violence. But a shortage of space in emergency refuges is leaving many in the lurch, with nowhere else to go. "It's not a controlled way of leaving. Often, it's an escaping, and it's a going-into-hiding," journalist and domestic violence educator Jess Hill told News Breakfast. "For a long time now, I think refuges have been devalued, as sort of the ambulance waiting at the bottom of the cliff … but the fact is, when women and kids are fleeing, they need to go into a place that is safe." Women's shelters, or refuges, provide safe and secure accommodation for those fleeing domestic and family violence. They are also staffed to support victim-survivors through the next steps in fleeing an abusive situation and to help get them back on their feet.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-23/jess-hill-on-the-supply-c…
# Must read Australia, .Too many bedrooms, not enough homes
Peter Mares Inside Story (No paywall)When government MPs talk about tackling Australia’s housing crisis their mantra is “supply, supply, supply.” Michelle Ananda‑Rajah used the phrase when she was launching new homes in her electorate of Higgins. Backbenchers Graham Perrett and Peter Khalil deployed it in support of the government’s Help to Buy scheme in parliament. The slogan was on the prime minister’s lips as he spruiked new housing measures agreed at national cabinet on 10 May. But the link is not as straightforward as it appears.
https://insidestory.org.au/too-many-bedrooms-not-enough-homes/
# Hot topic Australia, .How we manufactured a housing crisis
Ray Boydell The Fifth Estate (No paywall)If you thought you understood the housing market had to do with supply or planning or immigration you haven’t read this summary of the facts. Try this: if Australians lived the same way they did in the 1950s (in houses of about 100 square metres) the current housing stock could accommodate an additional 30 million people, more than double the current population of 26.7 million. This is a deep dive and one not one of our readers should miss.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/how-we-manufactur…
# Must read Australia, .Australians skipping doctor’s appointments, heating amid housing crisis
Jessica Wang news.com.au (No paywall)A large-scale survey into Australia’s housing crisis has revealed high proportions of Australians hit by rising rents and housing stress are skipping doctors appointment, reducing their energy use – like forgoing heating and airconditioning – and leaving their car at home. Ahead of the first People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis hearing on Thursday, data from 1528 renters, homeowners, and people without stable accommodation found more than one in two respondents (58 per cent) were spending more than 30 per cent of their household budget on housing, placing them in housing stress. The probe was convened by advocacy body Everybody’s Home, and included submissions from dozens of community providers, and advocacy groups. According to April 2024 figures from CoreLogic, median weekly rents increased by 8.5 per cent to $627 year-on-year. The weekly rent in NSW hitting $770 – the highest out of all state and territories.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/australians-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.People's Commission hearing begins into worsening housing crisis
SBS (No paywall)VIDEO: A national campaign is elevating the voices of those impacted by Australia's housing crisis. In a bid to push state and federal governments for solutions, parents and domestic violence survivors were among those who shared their stories on day one of hearings.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/video/peoples-commission-hearing-beg…
# Must read, Hot topic, Video Australia, .Urgent plea for legal shake up to keep families off the streets
7 News (No paywall)VIDEO: Victims of the state's crippling housing crisis have shared their heartbreak and horror stories, at an emotionally charged public hearing. They're calling for an urgent shake up, and legal rethink, to keep struggling families off the streets. After a massive rent hike, Lucie pleaded with her landlords agent. "All I could afford was $750 [a week]... Her reply, was an eviction notice."
# Must read, Hot topic, Video Australia, Eviction.