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
Real estate agent's 'excessive' demands for inspection: 'Need to chill'
Carly Bass (No paywall)An angry tenant has hit out at their real estate agent for issuing a lengthy list of demands ahead of a routine inspection. The Newcastle, NSW, resident argued that "people should not have to be degraded and mistreated" just because they're "not a homeowner" and questioned whether or not the requests were acceptable. The 23-year-old shared screenshots of an email they received outlining what's expected of them during the inspection. But they are "not usual or acceptable demands," Leo Patterson Ross from The Tenants’ Union of NSW told Yahoo News Australia, and they "potentially breach the tenancy agreement". (yahoo!news)
https://au.news.yahoo.com/real-estate-agents-ridiculous-demands-…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Privacy and access, Landlords and agents.Our most pressing economic challenge is soaring power prices, and the government needs simple solutions, fast
David Speers ABC (No paywall)The most immediate challenge the government faces is soaring energy prices. This was the biggest surprise in the budget — and not a pleasant one. The budget forecast electricity prices to rise a total of 56 per cent over the course of this financial year and next. It forecast gas prices to rise by a total of 44 per cent over the same period. This is the sharp end of the inflation problem, where it becomes painfully real, particularly for those on the lowest incomes. Households will end up paying hundreds of dollars more every quarter on these forecasts. Also, listen to ABC Radio National's Breakfast 'Can the govt do anything to stop 50% electricity rises?' at: [https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/can-the-govt-do-anything-to-stop-50-electricity-rises-/101578064] Read the article by David Crowe and Mike Foley entitled: '"Zero space for delay": Labor hunts for curbs on power price surge' in 'The Sydney Morning Hearld' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/zero-space-for-delay-labor-hunts-for-curbs-on-power-price-surge-20221026-p5bt5m.html]. Read David Crowe's opinion piece entitled: 'Albanese’s election promise to bring down power bills comes back to bite Chalmers' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-s-election-promise-to-bring-down-power-bills-comes-back-to-bite-chalmers-20221026-p5bt9f.html]. Read Alexandra Smith's article entitled: '"Labor has put up white flag": Kean to demand relief as energy bills soar' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/labor-has-put-up-white-flag-kean-to-demand-relief-as-energy-bills-soar-20221026-p5bt91.html]. Read Sarah Ferguson's article entitled: 'Mark McGowan says federal colleagues should look to Western Australia as budget forecasts surge in energy prices' from ABC's 7.30 at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-26/730-mark-mcgowan-wa-gas-reservation-budget-energy-prices/101581612] Read the article by Adam Morton and Peter Hannam entitled: 'Threaten Australian gas companies with export limits to rein in domestic prices, former ACCC boss says' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/27/threaten-australian-gas-companies-with-export-limits-to-rein-in-domestic-prices-former-accc-boss-says].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-27/budget-pressing-economic-…
# Audio Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.Some councils still rely on outdated paper maps as supercharged storms make a mockery of flood planning
Mark Ellis The Conversation (No paywall)Whole towns and cities are seemingly locked into more frequent and severe flooding. Business-as-usual development continues despite extreme weather and sea-level rises due to climate change. While some local councils have online mapping, others are still using outdated paper maps. Repeated floods across eastern Australia have prompted the Planning Institute of Australia to call for a framework to update flood mapping to take climate change into account.
https://theconversation.com/some-councils-still-rely-on-outdated…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development.Michael Gove reappointed as housing secretary
Jack Simpson Inside Housing (Paywall)New prime minister Rishi Sunak picked Mr Gove for the job of secretary of state for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities this afternoon as part of his cabinet reshuffle. The appointment is a return for Mr Gove, who spent 10 months in the role between September last year and July this year. He was eventually sacked by prime minister at the time Boris Johnson, just days before the PM announced his own resignation. ... The Social Housing Regulation Bill was put before parliament under Mr Gove’s watch, while the Renters Reform Bill was also published during his time as housing secretary. The white paper importantly included a plan to scrap ‘no-fault’ evictions.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/michael-gove-reappointed-as…
# International, No-grounds evictions.Medibank and Optus hacks spark warning over identity theft risks from former victims
Rebecca Trigger ABC (No paywall)Sarah believes the way her identity became hijacked wasn't something she could have foreseen. While living in Melbourne, she sent a photo of her licence to a real estate agent applying for a lease, and that image was somehow then uploaded into a gallery of property photos featured on that agent's website.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-27/identity-theft-warning-af…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Landlords and agents.Cat wandering ban at Tasmania's new Huntingfield housing development due to endangered bird species
Adam Holmes ABC (No paywall)One of the biggest housing developments in Tasmania for decades has achieved federal environmental approval but with a major catch — residents will need to prove their pet cats will stay on their property. The presence of the critically-endangered forty-spotted pardalote in a neighbouring reserve meant the second and third stages of the 470-lot Huntingfield development needed to be considered by the Commonwealth.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-19/huntingfield-development-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, Pets.My house has been flooded, what's the first thing I need to do? Here are the do's and don'ts of the big clean-up
ABC (No paywall)We all know the saying: if it's flooded, forget it. But the dangers don't end when the flood waters recede. The damage it leaves behind is sometimes obvious, but it's what you can't see that can be just as dangerous: water contamination, exposed power lines, gas leaks and more. Here are some of the do's and don'ts in the immediate aftermath of a flood. ... It may look like it's "just water", but there's a lot more lurking in those murky depths. Polluted flood waters can cause wounds, infections, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis as well as ear, nose and throat infections. [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-21/what-to-do-in-the-afterma…
# Australia, .As the cost of living bites, a homelessness crisis on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula is worsening
Margaret Paul ABC (No paywall)Victoria's Mornington Peninsula is known for being a popular holiday destination, a place where people can spend tens of millions of dollars on clifftop mansions in its more exclusive areas. Hidden from that rosy view are the 1,000 people who, the council says, are sleeping rough in tents and cars along the peninsula every night. Wilbur is one of them. ... The 25-year-old has been homeless for about two years, since he had to move out of his parents' place at Safety Beach. He's been living in a tent on the Rosebud foreshore, about 90 kilometres south-east of Melbourne's CBD, for about six months. Working four days a week at a local cafe and living with mental illness, Wilbur said he worked hard to have a positive attitude to being homeless, because it was the only way to get by.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-25/homelessness-increasing-i…
# Australia, Homelessness.