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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 housing dream that became a nightmare - and isn’t over yet
Ross Gittins The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)If you think the rich are getting richer, you’re right – but maybe not for the reason you think. It’s mainly the rising price of housing, which is steadily reshaping our society, and not for the better. We know how unaffordable home ownership has become, but that’s just the bit you can see, as the Grattan Institute’s Brendan Coates outlined in the annual Henry George lecture this week, “The Great Australian Nightmare”, a magisterial survey of housing and its many implications.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-housing-dream-th…
# Australia, Rent, Families, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Rent Freeze: A Victory for Tenants’ Rights
Rosie Hampton (No paywall)This week, the Scottish government announced a rent freeze across the private and socially rented sectors, accompanied by an eviction ban, until March 2023. Whilst there is much in the coming legislation that will need to be scrutinised, two things are immediately clear: the rent freeze will take immediate effect, and that this is a mammoth victory for tenants’ rights across Scotland. This is the outcome of coordinated, relentless, and inspiring tenant action throughout the country, and it exemplifies the power we have when we organise together. Living Rent members have been at the forefront of this fight, having demanded rent controls since our beginnings in 2014. (Bellacaledonia)
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2022/09/15/rent-freeze-a-victory-f…
# Must read International, Eviction, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association (NATSIHA) launch
Julie Collins, Minister for the Department of Social Services (No paywall)I am delighted to be here as Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness at the launch of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association (NATSIHA). As the first and only national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing in Australia, NATSIHA will be undertaking vital and welcome work. We know that housing issues and homelessness are pressing problems for many Australians, and have a disproportionate effect on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
https://ministers.dss.gov.au/speeches/9121?utm_source=miragenews…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Federal Government, Landlords and agents.Yolngu women celebrate opening of Galiwin'ku women's space after 10 year push for a shelter
ABC (No paywall)For Bettina Danganbarr, it's hard to believe this day has finally come. A safe place for Yolngu women seeking refuge in her community – the Galiwin'ku Women's Space – has officially opened after 10 years of advocacy and careful negotiation. "It means a lot, I'm a bit still in shock but I think it's starting to hit me because everybody's here," Ms Danganbarr said. "It's a special day not just for me but for the community."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-16/nt-yolngu-womens-safe-spa…
# Australia, Domestic violence, Homelessness, Race and ethnicity, Women.Australian sprawl: why developing our way to affordable housing could backfire
Joe Hinchliffe The Guardian (No paywall)Greenfield development – that which takes place in previously undeveloped areas - is being held up as a pillar of the state government’s efforts to address south-east Queensland’s housing crisis. But those at the coalface say it will do nothing for the region’s growing homeless population, while others advocating renters’ rights identify a number of more meaningful reforms. And some economists and planning experts say it will have no impact on reducing house prices. ... Karyn Walsh, the CEO and founding member of not-for-profit organisation Micah Projects, said newly constructed outer suburbs lack transport, health and training services as well as employment opportunities needed by disadvantaged and vulnerable people. ... [Tenants Queensland’s Penny Carr said] 'Queensland rent reforms, due to come into effect next month, failed to protect tenants from no-grounds evictions due to a loophole around fixed-term agreements which was leaving renters in a state of permanent instability.'
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/16/australia…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing market, No-grounds evictions, Work, employment.Crisis for landlords as one in 12 tenants pays reduced rent
Melissa Lawford (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... One in 12 tenants has had their rent reduced to help them beat the cost-of-living crisis. Buy-to-let investors are haemorrhaging rental income as soaring inflation and rocketing energy bills hammer renters’ finances. Nearly one in 12 tenants (8pc) said their landlord had given them a temporary rent reduction in the last six months, according to research by Shawbrook Bank, a mortgage lender. A further 5pc said their landlord had temporarily frozen their rent. Experts warned that Britain’s soaring rental prices are now hitting a ceiling of affordability as the cost-of-living crisis deepens. (The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buy-to-let/crisis-landlords…
# International, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Those caught in housing crisis need a system that's accountable
Paul Hunt (No paywall)From New Zealand ... The stories that emerged from some Rotorua emergency and transitional housing last week are alarming. But they come as no surprise to those who have experienced the sharp end of the housing crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand – whether as individuals or whānau in desperate need of shelter, or social service providers trying to respond to an ever-increasing need. We are facing a housing crisis rooted in decades of neglect and system failure. The crisis exposes a failure of human rights and democracy. For years, democratic institutions with the responsibility to anticipate and tackle emerging crises failed to do their job. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/129879978/those-caught-in-housin…
# International, Tribunal NCAT, Homelessness, Housing market, Human rights.Vested interests can’t be allowed to dictate Queensland’s response to the housing crisis
Ben Smee The Guardian (No paywall)About six years ago, the Brisbane city council sought to forcibly remove a growing number of homeless people staying underneath the Go Between and Kurilpa bridges in South Brisbane. A few years later, the Queensland government placed a series of large boulders under the Kurilpa Bridge to prevent rough sleepers from returning. Government policy on housing – and this is true everywhere, not just in Queensland – has always treated elements of the problem as unsolvable; the only thing to do is to move it out of sight.
The Queensland government’s announcement this week of a housing summit has been driven partly by excellent recent reporting about the plight of homeless people in inner Brisbane. But as debate turns to solutions, homeless people and the working poor have again been shifted out of view. The sorts of ideas being championed by media outlets and politicians – releasing more land in the boondocks – make it clear that neither is prepared to push for an effective solution: one that takes policy out of the hands of developers, real-estate agents and other vested interests.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/18/vested-in…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.