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
Land-lease communities a viable homeowner option
George Cochrane The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The author writes: ‘ …look at “land-lease communities” to possibly obtain your own home. Under the land-lease model, you buy your home and lease the land for up to 90 years. If you are prepared to leave the city, they are relatively cheap, with no stamp duty. Land-lease homes may even be eligible for rent assistance.'
https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/land-lease-com…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Affordable housing.Social housing tenant's black mould nightmare
Jacinta Lee (No paywall)Imagine living in a small unit and breathing in the stench of black mould every day. That’s reality for Jesmond social housing tenant, Dale Foster, who’s been waiting for major structural damage to be fixed for several weeks…fearing for his health. (NBN News)
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2020/12/10/social-housing-tenants-bla…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Repairs, Health, Mould.North Coast Housing Crisis
Dennis Driver (No paywall)The housing crisis on the Coffs Coast has reached tipping point, with some towns experiencing a shortage of rentals. In Bellingen, the community is speaking up and taking matters into their own hands. (NBN News)
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2020/12/13/north-coast-on-flood-alert…
# NSW, Housing market, Regional NSW.Who is liable for a balcony collapse on a residential property? Which case won?
Rita Yousef (No paywall)The accident happened on 15 June 2012. Four people were injured when a balcony collapsed at a rented residential property in Collaroy, on Sydney’s northern beaches. The cause of the collapse was “weathered deterioration of the structural beams and metal fixings”. The property was managed by a real estate agent on behalf of the landlords. The property was leased to a tenant who had lived at the property for about seven years. (Stacklaw)
https://www.stacklaw.com.au/wcw/who-is-liable-for-a-balcony-coll…
# Legal significance NSW, Repairs, Minimum habitability standards.Woman’s nightmare continues ater roof of rental collapses
(No paywall)A renter has told of the horror as the ceiling of her home in Sydney's south-west collapsed without warning. (Nine News)
https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/aussie-womans-nightmar…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Repairs.The evidence is in: Housing First works. Now we need support from government
Steve Douglas Inside Housing (Paywall)From United Kingdom ... ‘Housing First may not be the right option for every homeless person, but it is certainly capable of making an important contribution to ending rough sleeping. To do so it needs government support …
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/the-evidence-is-in-housi…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.‘“We won’t be cash cows”: UK students plan the largest rent strike in 40 years.
Tom Wall The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Student activists are preparing for the biggest wave of university rent strikes in four decades amid growing frustration at heavy-handed hall lockdowns, the prospect of paying for empty rooms and little face-to-face teaching when they eventually return in the new year.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/dec/06/we-wont-be-cas…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Students.Christmas eviction ban introduced in Scotland
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)From Scotland, Lucie Heath writes: ‘A six week eviction ban is to be introduced over Christmas in Scotland . The regulations will prevent eviction orders from being enforced between 11 December and 22 January, with the exception of serious anti-social behaviour cases. In England, the UK government previously issued guidance to court bailiffs asking them not to carry out evictions between 11 December and 11 January.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/christmas-eviction-ban…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.