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
Rental bond hack to ensure your money isn't 'held to ransom'
Stewart Perrie Yahoo News (No paywall)Renters are being warned about a little-known rule when it comes to getting your bond back. Many Aussies who end their tenancy will wait until all the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed before they officially request their bond. Hopefully, if there's nothing wrong with the property you're leaving, you should be all fine and the money will be returned. However, if there are issues then you could find yourself in a bit of bother. NSW Tenants Union CEO Leo Patterson Ross told Yahoo Finance "timing is everything" for the bond application.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/rental-bond-hack-to-ensure-you…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Bond, Rent.Australia's housing crisis impacts regional refugee communities
Jesmine Cheong ABC (No paywall)Refugee Khorsand Yousofzai vividly remembers the day he fled Afghanistan, leaving behind his family and the career he built in professional soccer. As the US withdrew and the Taliban took over in August 2021, the crowds at the Kabul airport meant his family couldn't say goodbye as he boarded the plane. "That moment was really scary for us and everyone," he said. "Everyone wanted to get into [the] airport and go outside Afghanistan."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-02/housing-crisis-afghan-ref…
# Must read NSW, Discrimination, Rent.‘Patronising’: Real estate slammed for ‘Tenant of the Month’ award
Brielle Burns news.com.au (No paywall)A real estate agency has come under fire after one of its franchises introduced a “degrading” and “highly patronising” award for tenants. Ray White issued an apology after a franchise presented a pair of tenants with a “Tenant of the Month” award, given to those who are a “pleasure” to deal with. “To qualify, rent must always be paid on time, your home must be well presented (and) be a pleasure to deal with,” a social media post reads. The initiative was slammed online after it was shared to a renters Facebook group, with many likening it to a ‘participation’ award. “A ‘Tenant of the Month’ award, What (is) next, (a) leash and collar,” a social media user who shared a photo of the award wrote.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/patronising-…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent.How ‘squatter’s rights’ delivered a Sydney home to one man
Michaela Whitbourn The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It was a modest fibro cottage in Sydney’s south that eventually sold for an immodest $1.5 million. But beyond the predictable tale of sky-high property prices was a legal mystery about its ownership. This is how one man became its owner under so-called “squatter’s rights”, otherwise known as adverse possession. NSW Supreme Court Justice Francois Kunc examined reams of evidence and laws dating to the 1830s in a decision that paints an intriguing portrait of the former owner of the lucrative Gymea Bay property.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-squatter-s-rights-delive…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Queenslanders call for changes to income eligibility for social housing, with 20,000 homeless
Lawrence Jeffcoat ABC (No paywall)In the back of a station wagon, Jaki Rose prepares for the workday. This isn't where she thought she'd end up. The 58-year-old was a married stay-at-home mum to four, but then in 2019 her relationship broke down. For the past 18 months she's been living out of her car. "I couldn't afford the rent," she says. Driving from car park to car park in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, Jaki — who works as a chef — has lately been parking up at a local boat ramp. She's one of 20,000 people in Queensland who are homeless.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-02/queensland-housing-stress…
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.Victorian premier calls for housing summit less than a year after landmark statement
9 News (No paywall)Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has called a housing summit next week for more ideas to solve the crisis, less than a year after Labor's landmark housing statement. After a tense sitting week, opposition leader John Pesutto led a mass-walkout during parliamentary question time today, which left the Greens Party to the floor. The scenes in parliament distracted from what appeared to be an admission that former Premier Daniel Andrews' decade-long housing roadmap isn't up to the job.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/victorian-premier-jacinta-alla…
# Hot topic Australia, .Home for a time
Aishah Kenton and Tessa Flemming ABC (No paywall)During the past year, photographer Aishah Kenton set out to discover what share housing looks like today. What she unearthed was a reinvention of the share house. Not only a home for now, but potentially forever. In 2021, home ownership fell by 14 per cent for Australians aged between 25 and 29 when compared to that same age group in 1971. 2023 marked Flatmates.com.au’s busiest year on record as more people turned to share housing. And as Kenton saw, the share house is increasingly being embraced as an alternative to traditional home ownership and nuclear households.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-04/home-for-a-time-looking-a…
# Must read Australia, Share houses.Tenants unable to make minor changes to rentals in Tasmania despite government plans for law change
Adam Holmes ABC (No paywall)If Jenna Lovell was home alone, she would need to make sure she had a container of water filled up. That is because her condition, hypermobile spectrum disorder, makes it impossible to turn on certain types of taps. "All of the taps had that T-cross four-point turning head on it," Ms Lovell said of her former home in Hobart. "It got to the point where I didn't have enough strength and stability in my hand to be able to turn that style of tap on or off." Her condition became more severe over time, while the taps became progressively stiffer. Even devices that sit over the top of the tap were difficult to use.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-07/tasmania-minor-modificati…
# Must read Australia, Discrimination.