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
We Must Recognize That the Eviction Crisis Is Also a Public Health Crisis
Nitakuwa Barrett Orsak Truthout (No paywall)The mental health impacts of eviction and the threat of eviction are severe for tenants.
For the past several years I’ve worked with a tenants’ rights organization in Austin, Texas, focusing on the intersection of housing and health. Mold and pests are among the most common reasons tenants organize to improve their housing conditions. These both have the potential to cause illnesses, including asthma, allergies and rashes. Tenants also organize for fair housing practices, which include preventing evictions.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/25-03-2023/inside-the-radical-p…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Health, International.Inside the radical plan to build ‘the new state house’ and change renting forever
Duncan Greive The Spinoff (No paywall)Not content with transforming KiwiSaver, Simplicity is now planning to out-build Kāinga Ora. Duncan Greive meets a pair of of unlikely revolutionaries trying to fix housing – a task which seems impossible, even for the state itself.
In September of 2020, a builder named Shane Brealey sat down and typed out a manifesto. It set out “initial thoughts on how we might combine to disrupt the New Zealand housing sector.” He set out an immodest target. “We have the potential to become the second largest home provider after the Crown,” he wrote. Brealey believed he had discovered what he described as the “holy grail” of housing: the ability to build “fast, cheap and high quality”, the three crucial attributes of which only two are usually believed to be possible.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/25-03-2023/inside-the-radical-p…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Affordable housing, International.Through the roof? Housing and the cost of living
James Goddard House of Lords Library (No paywall)This article explores the impact of cost of living pressures on housing costs. Higher inflation, interest rates and rents, coupled with a decline in average real-terms earnings, have increased housing costs for many people. Evidence suggests that the impact is being felt across all housing tenure types, but that tenants in the private and social rented sectors have been most adversely affected.
Statistics from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ ‘English housing survey 2021–22’ showed that 4.6 million households (19%) rented privately. Private renters spent a third of their household income on rent, the highest percentage spent on housing of any tenure type.
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/through-the-roof-housing-and-…
# Research alert International, Rent, Housing market, International.What’s affordable housing? Depends who you ask. Crossbench MPs want a legal definition
Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Defining what makes housing affordable will be key to legislating the government’s $10 billion housing fund after Greens and crossbench senators made their support for the bill contingent on a list of demands.
The government needs the Greens and two other crossbench senators to pass the legislation after the Coalition announced it would oppose the bill. On Tuesday, the Greens and Jacqui Lambie Network senator Tammy Tyrrell refused to rule out blocking the bill unless their demands were met.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-s-affordable-housin…
# Hot topic, Legal significance Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing affordability.Rent caps on the table as Queensland confronts housing crisis
Nick Gibbs The New Daily (No paywall)Limits on rent increases could be on the agenda for Queensland as a new report shows the extent of the housing crisis.
Of 150,000 households under housing stress, about 100,000 would typically be eligible for social housing, a report commissioned by the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) says.
This figure is almost four times the social housing wait list of about 27,000.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/qld/2023/03/20/rent-caps-o…
# Must read, Hot topic, New policy announcement Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Insight: Season 2023 Episode 4 Housing Stress
SBS SBS (No paywall)Is keeping a roof over our heads killing Aussie dreams, and can we fix it?
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/news-series/insight/insight-2023…
# Hot topic, Video Australia, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, Housing market.Australia’s high court to rule on compensation claims for poor housing in remote community
Sarah Collard The Guardian (No paywall)Australia’s highest court is deciding whether to award compensation to public housing tenants for disappointment and distress over dilapidated and poor housing, in a case their lawyers say could have ramifications for tenants around the country.
Residents in the remote community of Ltyentye Apurte or Santa Teresa, 85km south-east of Alice Springs, lead by claimants Enid Young and the now deceased Mr Conway, have been engaged in a series of long-running legal battles with the Northern Territory government over the poor housing, with the supreme court and court of appeal finding in their favour.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/16/australia…
# Must read, Hot topic, Legal significance Australia, Aboriginal renters, Rent, Regional NSW.The housing and homelessness crisis in NSW explained in 9 charts
Paul Miller The Conversation (No paywall)Whatever the result of the New South Wales election on March 25, rising housing stress is a problem the new state government will have to confront.
Soaring rents and an extraordinary lack of rental vacancies are intensifying housing stress in Sydney and elsewhere. Many low-income households are spending well over 30% of their income on housing costs.
The numbers of people seeking help are pushing social housing and homelessness systems to the brink.
https://theconversation.com/the-housing-and-homelessness-crisis-…
# Must read, Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market.