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
The Tories have trampled on renters for too long, and Liz Truss is about to feel their pain
Gaby Hinsliff The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Rocketing interest rates make this a scary winter for anyone with a mortgage, but arguably even scarier for renters. Rents were already on the rise before this crisis, driven by a shortage of properties as tenants streamed back into big cities post-pandemic. When the pressure group Generation Rent surveyed its supporters, it found 45% of those who had been in their current place for more than a year had been asked to pay more, with cut-throat competition for flats sparking bidding wars and even outbreaks of gazumping. But the big difference between now and Black Wednesday, the last time mortgage rates suddenly rocketed, is that this time renters are more directly exposed. The private rented sector has almost doubled since the early 1990s, as social housing dwindled and an army of amateur landlords, property moguls and assorted hustlers moved in to plug the gap.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/14/tories-ren…
# International, Rent, Housing market.Push to end no grounds evictions in NSW
Phoebe Loomes Canberra Times (No paywall)It could become illegal to evict a tenant from their home without a reason in NSW, in a move that may provide stability to about one million renters. The Greens introduced a bill to the NSW parliament on Thursday which could bring an end to "no grounds evictions", where tenants are forced to leave their home without being given a reason. ... Tenants Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross says no grounds evictions continue to undermine renters' ability to maintain a stable home. The advocacy service had been receiving an increasing number of requests from people evicted for no reason, who often had nowhere to go, he told AAP. Renters deserve transparency about why they might be forced to move, he said. You will also find a link to this article at: [https://www.aap.com.au/news/push-to-end-no-grounds-evictions-in-nsw/]
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7940239/push-to-end-no-gr…
# NSW, Eviction, Rent, Housing market, No-grounds evictions, State Government.Liz Truss may ‘betray renters’ and shelve manifesto promise to axe no-fault evictions
Liam Geraghty (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Liz Truss’ government has been accused of “betraying renters” over alleged plans to U-turn on the Tory manifesto promise to stop landlords evicting tenants at will. No-fault evictions, or section 21 evictions as they are also known, allow landlords to evict privately-renting tenants with two months’ notice without giving a reason. They are considered a leading driver of homelessness and recent months have brought a marked increase as the halt on evictions during the pandemic came to an end. (The Big Issue) STOP PRESS: Ella Jessel writes: 'Truss confirms "no-fault" evictions for private tenants will be scrapped' in 'Inside Housing' at: [https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/truss-confirms-no-fault-evictions-for-private-tenants-will-be-scrapped-78540] Also, check out the same story on the BBC at: [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-63024366] and 'National World' at: [https://www.nationalworld.com/news/uk/no-fault-evictions-government-accused-betraying-renters-promised-ban-scrapped-3875387]
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/liz-truss-may-betray-rente…
# International, Eviction, Rent, No-grounds evictions.Short-term rental operators ask for national regulation amid housing crisis
Kirsten Webster ABC (No paywall)Short-term rental operators have called for national regulation of their own industry to become part of the solution to Australia's rental crisis. The industry has been blamed for exacerbating the long-term rental housing shortage and the Australian Short Term Accommodation Association (ASTRA) admits it is feeling the "heat". "Absolutely, there is an issue that needs to be addressed," board director Yoav Tourel said. ... Emeritus Professor of Urban Planning Peter Phibbs was encouraged by ASTRA's position on regulation but believed control should stay within state and local jurisdictions. "A state government approach is more helpful for both sides of the problem," he said. "When you do have state legislation you have got to have an ability to moderate the approach depending on the local council circumstances."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-13/short-term-rental-industr…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing market, Local Government, Short-term holiday letting, State Government.Most casual workers will have to choose between no pay or going to work with COVID-19
Emilia Terzon ABC (No paywall)There are concerns that casual workers who are not entitled to sick pay will feel pressured to hide symptoms of COVID-19 and continue going to work, now that subsidies for most of them are ending. ... "I can't tell my landlord that I've had COVID this week, so I can't pay a week's rent."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-13/casual-workers-covid-paym…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Work, employment.The NSW tree-change towns where rents have soared
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Rapid rent rises across regional NSW have left tenants scrambling to find affordable homes, and left some priced out of their local community. Rents across more than half of NSW regional council areas jumped by at least 10 per cent over the year to September, the latest Domain Rent Report, released on Thursday, shows. However, the pace of rent hikes is easing, and industry figures have reported a slowdown in the extraordinary demand that saw rental vacancies plummet and asking rents soar. Still, there is little sign of any price relief for tenants. ... Tenants in such regional centres were increasingly facing rental hikes and no-grounds evictions, said Ron Maxwell, chief executive of non-for-profit Verto, which runs a tenants’ advice and advocacy service in south west NSW. “We’re seeing among families an increasing risk of homelessness. A lot of vulnerable clients are struggling to keep up,” he said, adding some had been priced out of their local communities. Maxwell said some renters were being handed no-ground evictions, only for their rental to return to the market for a considerably higher rental price.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-nsw-tree-change-towns-w…
# NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, No-grounds evictions, Regional NSW.More than half of NSW MPs own more than one property
Tamsin Rose and Michael McGowan The Guardian (No paywall)More than half of MPs in the New South Wales lower house own multiple residential properties, prompting concerns the state’s politicians are “blind” to record increases in rental prices. Amid a fresh push for reform to the rental market, an analysis of MP disclosure records show landlords are disproportionately represented on Macquarie Street. Of the 93 MPs in the legislative assembly, 54% own more than one property, with more than a quarter listing three or more. ... A longtime advocate for tenants rights in NSW, Patterson-Ross said he believed it was possible MPs were “biased” when it came to rental issues. “It’s clear [that owning properties] can influence their decision making,” he said. Together, 45 Coalition MPs own 82 properties, averaging 1.8 per person. This is slightly higher than the Labor average of 1.7 properties per MP. Also, check out the Tenants' Union's blog at: [https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/citizens-assemblies-and-renting-policy-avenue-fair-rental-reform]
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/14/more-than…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.‘Here’s what’s missing - everything’: No schools and no services but houses keep going up
Jordan Baker The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Clarke family had a house in Kings Langley, but as their brood of boys grew, they needed something bigger. They bought in Sydney’s north-west growth area, where they could afford a brand new home with a surfeit of bedrooms and space. Plenty of other families had the same idea. Within a few years their once sleepy suburb, Marsden Park, became one of the child capitals of Sydney, with more children aged under nine – one in five residents – than almost any other suburb. While there were plenty of homes for all those families and kids, it became clear to Libby Clarke that there wasn’t much else. The public primary was the size of a country school and now has 19 demountables. The closest shops were 20 minutes away; if she forgot milk, it was a 40-minute round trip, often in traffic. Trains came hourly, even at the peak. Narrow roads were choked. The hospital repeatedly promised for nearby Rouse Hill didn’t exist, and still doesn’t. Meanwhile, the population grows exponentially. ... Michelle Rowland, the Labor federal member for the north-west seat of Greenway ... said the problem was due to a long-term failure of different levels of government to coordinate. “Developers, basically, in a lot of aspects, they do have free rein,” she said. “The incentive of the developer is to maximise land use to maximise profit. Which is why you have a lot of residents complaining [about] what normally they’d call overdevelopment, but a lot of it is to do with a lack of trees, a lack of environmental controls, houses are close together, streets are narrow.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/here-s-what-s-missing-everyt…
# NSW, Families, Housing market, Planning and development, Sydney.