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
How changes to embedded networks present an opportunity to decarbonise our apartment buildings
Liam Wallis The Fifth Estate (No paywall)From January 2023, new apartment buildings in Victoria seeking to operate an embedded network must use 100 per cent renewable electricity and generate at least 5 per cent from on-site renewable energy such as solar and or geothermal energy.
With 29 per cent of Australians living in either apartments or townhouses, embedded networks are integral to achieving cost effective, carbon neutral outcomes through an apartment building’s lifecycle.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/energy-lead/energy/how-changes-to-…
# Australia, Climate change.Honolulu County’s eviction mediation program was a resounding success
Ray Kong Hawai'i Appleseed (No paywall)To stave off mass evictions brought on by large scale job loss resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Hawaiʻi created rent relief programs that helped tenants and landlords cover rent shortfalls, and Governor David Ige made multiple executive proclamations to put a temporary moratorium on evictions.
In 2021, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature passed Act 57 to establish a pre-litigation landlord-tenant mediation program for the purpose of preventing an onslaught of evictions once the eviction moratorium ended in August of 2021.
https://hiappleseed.org/blog/honolulu-county-eviction-mediation-…
# Research alert International, Eviction.NSW Govt Has Launched A Survey Asking Whether Renters Should Be Allowed Pets And Let’s Fkn Goooo
Isabella Corbett Pedestrian (No paywall)I don’t want to get my fellow pet-owners too riled up but the NSW Government has launched a survey asking folks whether landlords should allow renters to keep a pet. Bit of a bloody no brainer, if you ask me.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/nsw-government-pet-friendly-renta…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Pets.Gold Coast single mum who left abusive partner forced to lie to get rental after 50 rejected applications
Matthew Quagliotto 7 News (No paywall)For new mum Maggie, it must have seemed like the end of two unimaginable ordeals.
The 28-year-old had just been approved for a rental after spending the second and third trimesters of her pregnancy desperately hunting for a home on the Gold Coast.
https://7news.com.au/business/housing/gold-coast-single-mum-who-…
# Australia, Discrimination, Homelessness.Mould, ripped carpets, rent hikes, then eviction: WA renters’ darkest times
Holly Thompson WA Today (No paywall)A Perth woman has been given a handwritten note telling her that, after seven years in her home, her lease will be terminated because the owner is “taking a different direction” with the property.
But Norelle Robinson believes the eviction is a retaliation after she spoke out about issues with the rental on Nine News Perth in October.
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/mould-ripp…
# Australia, Eviction, Homelessness, No-grounds evictions, Personal stories.Landlords v renters: Who’s on the hook for flood damage costs?
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)Many homes around Australia have been drenched by floods this year, and sorting out who’s paying for the flood damage can be confusing.
Insurance Council of Australia data released in September shows that in 2021-22, insurers paid out $6.41 billion from more than 380,000 claims, which was $3.9 billion more than the previous 12 months.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/11/04/flood-damage-rente…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, .‘Portable bonds’, stricter eviction laws promised for NSW renters
Mary Ward The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)enters will be able to directly transfer their bond over to a new property and eviction rules will be tightened, the state opposition has promised if they win office at next year’s NSW election. NSW Labor said it would move to reduce the number of renters facing “double bond” – needing to pay bond to secure a new rental before receiving the bond refunded from their previous home – by having the bond board directly transfer from one property to another. The opposition is also promising reform that would require landlords to identify a reason from a set list of reasonable grounds to end a lease, amid reports of tenants being evicted from properties for trying to enforce their contractual rights or dispute exorbitant rent rises. ... Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the NSW Tenants Union, said his organisation supported the introduction of rental bond transfers, with a similar scheme already implemented in Queensland. “The issue of ‘double bonds’ is encouraging people to take out very high-interest loans to pay their bond,” he said, adding he was very concerned by this growing personal loan market, which largely preyed on people already facing financial hardship. Patterson Ross said the organisation was also in strong support of clearly outlined grounds on which a landlord can end a lease, with such requirements in place in Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT. Without a list of set reasons why a person can be evicted – including the landlord wanting to move back into or renovate the property – he said eviction was being too often used as retaliation for complaints about excessive or unlawful rent increases. Also read the article entitled: 'Renters in NSW would be able to transfer bond between properties under Labor election proposal' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/06/renters-in-nsw-would-be-able-to-transfer-bond-between-properties-under-labor-election-proposal]. Read Farid Farid's article entitled: 'Labor promises 'fairer' NSW rental market' in 'St George & Sutherland Shire Leader' at: [https://www.theleader.com.au/story/7970680/labor-promises-fairer-nsw-rental-market/?cs=2265]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/portable-bonds-stricter-evic…
# NSW, Bond, Rent, No-grounds evictions.‘It’s going to get worse’: Larger rental crisis looms as vacancies hit record lows
Melissa Heagney The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Tenants are facing the toughest rental market ever in Australia with rental vacancy rates falling to another low in October, new data shows. The market, already in crisis across the country, is expected to worsen as the new academic year begins in a few months, experts say. ... In Sydney, it fell to a record 1 per cent, while Melbourne dropped to a record 1.1 per cent. A balanced market is considered to be about 3 per cent. Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said conditions were worsening. ... Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said renters were making up to 100 applications for a home unsuccessfully, sometimes after receiving a no-grounds eviction with a set end date. “It pushes people into quite unsafe environments,” Patterson Ross said. “They have to compromise on location but also on the quality and the size, and that can mean people are placing themselves in harm’s way in order to keep a roof over their head because there just aren’t the options available to them. “This is really a very risky way to run an essential service.”
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/it-s-going-to-get-worse-lar…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Families, Housing affordability, Housing market.