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
Landlord makes bombshell renting revelation
Chloe Whelan news.com.au (No paywall)A new landlord has shed light on the surprising — and sometimes discriminatory — biases that mean some renters aren’t even considered for a property.
The landlord in Melbourne revealed that 18 prospective tenants had applied to rent out their newly available apartment, but only two had been short-listed for consideration.
“None had offered more than asking (price),” they wrote on Reddit, meaning other factors had been used to determine which applicant would be an ideal tenant — all without the landlord’s knowledge.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/landlords-dr…
# Hot topic Australia, Discrimination, Starting a tenancy, Landlords and agents.People with assistance dogs left struggling to find rentals and aged care in Queensland
Sara Richards ABC (No paywall)Unable to find a place to live, Saoirse has resorted to sleeping in a tent with her assistance dog in training.
The woman in her mid-20s, who asked that her last name be withheld, felt she had no other option after being rejected from more than 30 rental applications in Brisbane within a month.
"I rang up about one place, and it seemed really good," Saoirse said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-07/guide-dogs-discrimination…
# Must read Australia, Discrimination, Starting a tenancy, Disability, Homelessness, Housing affordability.'A single mum like me with 2 kids isn’t at the top of the list for landlords'
Josephine Agostino Kidspot (No paywall)As a tenant with a perfect record renting the same home for 11 years, Julie never imagined she and her two children would become homeless.
But in December, 2021, the sole parent was given an eviction notice for the three-bedroom house she had been renting ever since her daughters, April, 11, and Ella, 8, were born because the new owners were moving into the property.
“I was very worried because I knew there wasn’t much else around,” the 42-year-old from the Bega Valley, NSW, tells Kidspot.
https://www.kidspot.com.au/news/i-had-to-pull-the-kids-out-of-sc…
# Australia, Discrimination, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Young people.Cost of living sees 35,000 Vic households struggle with rental stress, homelessness and overcrowding
Mikaela Ortolan and Nicole Chvastek ABC (No paywall)Brooke Haebich's partner was made redundant the week before Christmas and a medical emergency that saw their six-month-old son airlifted to a Melbourne hospital left the Wangaratta family on the brink of homelessness.
Ms Haebich is just one of the thousands of Australians experiencing financial stress as the cost of living continues to rise.
Despite living in a regional area, she says the cost of rent is a real concern.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-01/rental-costs-rise-regiona…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing affordability.Young Aussies have found a way to get their rent paid for while they go on holidays
Ally Foster news.com.au (No paywall)A group of innovative young Aussies have cracked the code to getting your rent covered whenever you want to jet off on holidays.
Four students currently studying at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have created Nesteek, a new Australia-only rival to Airbnb designed specifically for young renters.
The founders of the platform say so many Gen Z have been excluded from travel as a result of soaring rental prices, rising airfares post-Covid and the cost of living crisis.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/young-aussie…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Blackstone steps up tenant evictions in US with eye on boosting returns
Mark Vandevelde Financial Times (No paywall)Blackstone has filed eviction lawsuits against hundreds of tenants across the US as it winds down one of the real estate industry’s most generous pandemic-era forbearance programmes, in a move that executives say will boost financial returns at the company’s redemption-hit real estate fund.
Court records from Georgia and Florida show that companies owned by Blackstone have commenced legal proceedings against dozens of tenants every month since August, launching more cases in a typical week than the total for the first seven months of 2022.
https://www.ft.com/content/5ac750a5-c454-485d-8974-17627c47ea20
# Must read International, Eviction, Landlords and agents.Our Corporate Landlord Tried To Push Us Out. We Saved Our Homes Through A Community Land Trust.
Guadalupe and Ixchel Hernandez Next City (No paywall)For Los Angeles renters like us, rents are skyrocketing, homeownership is a pipe dream, and bad luck in the form of a medical emergency, a lost job, or a landlord’s whim can push us right into homelessness.
A year ago, a corporate property owner bought the rent-controlled building where we’ve lived for 20 years. They started trying to push us and other longtime tenants out, in an effort to jack up the rents and rake in fatter profits. Like so many of our Koreatown neighbors before us, we expected to be forced out of our homes, out of our neighborhood, even out of Los Angeles entirely.
But we’re still here. In fact, we’ll soon be cooperative owners of the property.
https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/corporate-landlord-los-angele…
# Must read International, Campaigns and law reform, Co-operatives and resident-led housing, Landlords and agents, Strong communities.Will Progressives Ever Make Housing a Top Priority?
Patrick Range McDonald Housing is a human right (No paywall)Housing justice activists have been increasingly pushing for the passage of rent control and the repeal of rent control bans in states and cities all over the country. Rents have skyrocketed the most out of any household expense. The rise of corporate landlords have turned tenants’ lives upside and down. And Big Real Estate has become the most powerful special interest in the United States, with Donald Trump as a prime example. Yet housing still isn’t a top priority for too many progressives. What’s going on here?
https://www.housingisahumanright.org/will-progressives-ever-make…
# International, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.