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
Not ‘desirable’ tenants: mother of five told to lie about number of children when applying to rent accommodation
Joe Hinchcliffe The Guardian (No paywall)A mother of five says she was told to lie about how many children she had in order to secure rental accommodation, as the peak body for carers in Queensland says the state government has an “ethical and moral obligation” to intervene in the market.
In its submission to an inquiry examining a Greens proposal to freeze rents, Carers Queensland said the Logan family with five children – two of whom are registered with the NDIS – received no prior warning before they were issued with a rent increase of $170 a week.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/06/not-desir…
# Australia, Eviction, Families, Home, Homelessness, Housing affordability.Greens push tough new rules for landlords
Tom McIlroy Australian Financial Review (Paywall)Landlords would face a two-year freeze on rents and a ban on no-grounds evictions under tough new minimum standards for tenancies proposed by the Greens.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/greens-push-tough-new-rules…
# New policy announcement Australia, Eviction, Rent, Federal Government, Landlords and agents.Why Australia needs to do more to protect tenants' data
AHURI AHURI (No paywall)Large data breaches recently in Australia have been caused by cyber hacking of data, but the legal collection and use of data, particularly rental data, from people is of concern too. Not only can tenants' personal data be hacked and/or leaked, it can also be used to manipulate them, or even to discriminate against them.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/why-australia-needs-do-m…
# Hot topic Australia, Privacy and access, Housing market, Tenant databases.Proposal that would have restricted Airbnb short-stay housing voted down by Albany council
Briana Fiore ABC (No paywall)Some councillors at a West Australian tourist destination have tried to restrict short-term rentals to affluent areas along the coast, reserving inner-city properties for permanent residents.
But the overall City of Albany council last night voted down a motion that would have deemed areas hugging the shoreline such as Middleton Beach and Emu Point as "suitable" locations for hosting short-term accommodation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-14/airbnb-accommodation-prop…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Short-term holiday letting.So your landlord wants to put your rent up? Here's why and what you can do
Isabelle Lane SBS (No paywall)Rising rents in many parts of Australia are putting pressure on households already struggling with the cost of living.
Rents have risen in all eight state and territory capital cities over the past year, data from Domain’s September 2022 rental report shows.
Rents in the combined capitals soared by an average of 12.8 per cent for houses and 16.7 per cent for units year-on-year in September.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/so-your-landlord-wants-to-pu…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent.THE OBVIOUS ANSWER TO HOMELESSNESS: and why everyone's ignoring it
Jerusalem Demsas The Atlantic (No paywall)When someone becomes homeless, the instinct is to ask what tragedy befell them. What bad choices did they make with drugs or alcohol? What prevented them from getting a higher-paying job? Why did they have more children than they could afford? Why didn’t they make rent? Identifying personal failures or specific tragedies helps those of us who have homes feel less precarious—if homelessness is about personal failure, it’s easier to dismiss as something that couldn’t happen to us, and harsh treatment is easier to rationalize toward those who experience it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/01/homelessnes…
# International, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Human rights.UK rental market: I’ll give you 24 months’ rent, a present and a CV. Please can I be your tenant?
Megan Agnew The Times (No paywall)As landlords cash in on an acute shortage of homes by asking for record sums, those competing for the keys will try anything
Whenever a listing goes online, the phone at the letting agency Martyn Gerrard rings off the hook.
For some rentals on its website, 40 prospective tenants are fighting for the right to move in — in 2018 the ratio was five to one. Some make offers before seeing the property, others write personal statements explaining why they are the perfect fit.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/490848e8-78b6-11ed-8f77-a37cd…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Veterans Sue VA, City of LA for Failure to Provide Adequate Housing
Sarah Hall Invisible People (No paywall)Earlier this month, officials announced that veteran homelessness dropped 11 percent between 2020 and 2022. But Los Angeles, once called the homeless capital of the US, seems to have missed the memo.
In a lawsuit filed on behalf of 14 veterans experiencing homelessness against the Department of Veterans Affairs, attorneys for the plaintiffs say that the VA’s Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System’s (VAGLAHS) plans for the West Los Angeles Medical Center (WLA) and Community Living Center Campus are woefully inadequate.
https://invisiblepeople.tv/veterans-sue-va-city-of-la-for-failur…
# International, Homelessness, Strong communities.