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
Single parents and domestic violence victim-survivors squeezed out of the tight rental market
Libby Hogan ABC (No paywall)When Megan's ex-husband locked her and her children out of their house, the mother-of-two suddenly had no home and no source of income. She said her family had been working and living on the farm in rural Victoria for more than a decade, until her ex-husband became increasingly abusive because of financial pressures. All of a sudden homeless, Megan and her children walked for two hours to reach the nearest police station with nothing but the clothes on their backs. "I just focused on getting the police officer's help … to go back to the house so we could get my son's school uniforms and books," Megan, who is using a pseudonym in this story to protect her identity, said. "And I needed to get my cancer medication as I was getting my nutrients through a feed tube."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-22/rise-in-single-mothers-th…
# Must read Australia, Domestic violence, Rent, Security and safety.‘I just can’t move again’: the Melbourne public housing residents fighting to save their community
Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen The Guardian (No paywall)"If I dwell on what this estate will be, I get miserable and anxious,” says Will Gwynne in one scene of Things Will Be Different. The new documentary captures the Walker Street public housing estate in Melbourne’s inner-city Northcote, where Gwynne lived for five years before it was knocked down to make way for a new mixed development, destroying his home and community. Directed by the Melbourne film-maker Lucie McMahon, Things Will Be Different follows the dying days of Walker Street as Gwynne, a housing activist, and his neighbour Najat, a Moroccan mother of four, prepare for their forced relocation. “The first time I saw the completed film, I just collapsed,” Gwynne tells Guardian Australia. “I was devastated when they said they were going to knock it down. I thought, ‘I just can’t move again.’”
https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/may/13/things-will…
# Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.‘Have been more than fair’: Anthony Albanese responds to tenant’s eviction plea
Samantha Maiden news.com.au (No paywall)Anthony Albanese has broken his silence on his decision to serve an eviction notice to a longstanding tenant, revealing the reason for kicking the man out is all about his “changing circumstances” and his wedding to partner Jodi Haydon. But he’s accused tenant Jim Flanagan, 45, of failing to engage with the real estate agent about resolving the matter after he went public with his plea for mercy. The Prime Minister, who was grilled on the dispute during a breakfast radio interview, also claimed he was giving him a cut price deal that was “half” the going rate for the property.
https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/anthony-albaneses-…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent.Bondi renters issued eviction notice after asking for rent reduction when balcony collapsed
Hayley Taylor 7 News (No paywall)A Bondi man claims he and two other tenants in different units were evicted from their apartment block when they asked for a rent reduction after their balconies were ruled unusable, and one collapsed. The allegations are made in documents lodged with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal by resident and businessman Pius Binder. Binder, 35, said he had been renting his beachside apartment on Brighton Blvd for about four years, when the balcony came away from the wall in October last year.
https://7news.com.au/business/housing/bondi-renters-issued-evict…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, Security and safety, Tribunal NCAT.How an owl and a flying fox may stop the government’s housing reforms
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Soft Paywall)The Powerful Owl and Grey-headed flying fox could derail the Minns government’s signature transport-oriented housing reforms after a Sydney council asked a court to intervene to protect both species. In documents lodged in the NSW Land and Environment Court on Friday, Ku-ring-gai Council claims the government has broken the law in implementing the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) program. The program allows apartment blocks of up to six storeys (or 24 metres if there are shops on the ground floor) within 400 metres of 31 stations nominated by the state government, with another six stations later added.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-an-owl-and-fox-may-stop-…
# Must read NSW, .Sydney private schools defend demolishing houses and units to expand amid the city's housing crisis
Jesse Hyland ABC (No paywall)Andrew Athans was happy living in his rented unit in Sydney's inner west before he was sent into "panic mode" when told he needed to leave to accommodate the neighbouring private school's expansion plans. He lived in the eight-unit block owned by Christian Brothers' High School Lewisham for about two years before he was forced to find somewhere else to live in a tight and increasingly expensive rental market. The building on The Boulevarde in Lewisham and a house behind the block on Denison Road were demolished in December so the school campus could begin redevelopment works. It's one of the latest examples of a private school knocking down residential property to expand as Sydney grapples with a housing crisis.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-15/nsw-sydney-private-school…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent.Addressing the Housing Crisis: Tweed Shire Council's Affordable Housing Strategy
Jeff Gibbs Northern Rivers Times (No paywall)Tweed Shire Council is actively engaging the community to gather insights and solutions for the development of a new draft Affordable Housing Strategy, aimed at addressing the pressing housing crisis in the Tweed region. Declaring a housing emergency in 2021 in response to unprecedented challenges in housing affordability and accessibility, the Council is now focused on formulating a strategy to provide sustainable, affordable housing for the community’s future. The Tweed Affordable Housing Strategy is being developed alongside the Growth Management and Housing Strategy 2041, which identifies areas for housing diversity, including affordable and social housing. Once completed, this strategy will offer clear guidance to Council and community housing providers on unlocking new opportunities for affordable housing.
https://thenorthernriverstimes.com.au/northern-rivers-local-news…
# NSW, Rent.$5 million boost to deliver more homes for South Coast Build to Rent
NSW Government (No paywall)The NSW Government will provide a $5 million boost to deliver an additional 10 dwellings for the South Coast Build to Rent project, helping to increase housing supply and deliver more rental housing. The NSW Government will provide a $5 million boost to deliver an additional 10 dwellings for the South Coast Build to Rent project, helping to increase housing supply and deliver more rental housing. The additional $5 million in funding increases the NSW Government’s investment in the project to $35 million – delivering a total of 60 dwellings. As part of Landcom’s design and planning for the Bomaderry site, it became evident additional dwellings could be delivered for a small increase in funding. The additional funding will allow delivery of new architecturally designed homes for approximately 130 people.
https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/5-million-boost-to-deliver…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.