ADVICE OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD
Tenants Advice & Advocacy Services have limited availability over the holiday period. The Tenants' Union will operate a Tenancy Advice Hotline from Wednesday 18/12/2024 until Wednesday 8/1/2025 (excluding weekends and public holidays). The hours of operation are 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.
Get advice on: (02) 8117 3750 or 1800 251 101
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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
Perrottet government works to convince building commissioner to stay
Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Perrottet government hopes to convince NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler to reverse his decision to resign over concerns about former fair trading minister Eleni Petinos now that she has been sacked from the role. Chandler’s shock resignation last month was triggered in part by issues with Petinos and her office, which were laid bare in a damning letter that was referred to the corruption watchdog and has since been made public.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/perrottet-government-works-t…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.I’m living in a house-share at 65 – there are a lot of people in the UK like me
Anonymous The Guardian (No paywall)In days gone by I would have been offered a one-bedroom council flat, but not any more. I'm a 65-year-old man living in a house-share near Salford, Manchester. I’ve been here for four years, maybe five – who’s counting? – and I share with four others. More and more over-60s are finding themselves in situations like mine. According to one flat-sharing site, there’s been a 239% increase in 55- to 64-year-olds looking for house-shares since 2011.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/24/living-in-…
# International, Share houses, Housing market, Older people.Nearly 6 months on, flood victims are still waiting to be housed. This is what Australia must do to be ready for the next disaster
Mark Maund, Kim Maund and Thayaparan GajendranAssociate Prof The Conversation (No paywall)
This year’s floods in South-East Queensland and Northern New South Wales devastated communities. The NSW flooding was on “a scale never seen before”. More than 5,000 homes were left uninhabitable. Many residents had nowhere else to go. The NSW government promised to provide temporary housing in the form of 2,000 modular homes. But delivery has been held up by the need for planning approval amid community divisions over some sites. Flood victims’ continuing struggle to find suitable housing long after the February-March flooding subsided has exposed a critical gap in our plans for recovery from natural disasters. The planning system should be reformed to include temporary housing that provides effective options in the short term (weeks) through to the long term (years). Australia needs to develop a permanent reserve of temporary housing. In developing this resource, governments must work with communities to avoid the conflicts over temporary housing sites we’re now seeing.
https://theconversation.com/nearly-6-months-on-flood-victims-are…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market, Planning and development.Stumped for good strata advice? Where you can find it
Jimmy Thomson (Paywall)It’s one of the many ironies of apartment living that the people at the bottom of the totem pole – the tenants – generally get the best advice. Just search online for tenants.org and you will get straight to the Tenants Union website for your state. There you will find all the fact sheets, information, advice and forms you need to negotiate the often murky waters of residential tenancy laws. We often advise landlords who are in dispute with their tenants to consult their Tenants Union website because that’s where they will find the facts of rental life laid out in simple terms. You will find the same story in 'Flat Chat' at: [https://www.flatchat.com.au/good-strata-advice/]
https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/stumped-for-good-str…
# Australia, Rent, Strata, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Public housing tenants win exemptions from moving but legal action from others looms
Ian Bushnell (No paywall)Most public housing tenants considered for exemptions from being relocated to new homes as part of the renewal program have been allowed to stay in their current premises. But those who have had their application denied have not given up fighting the move, with some considering legal action.
https://the-riotact.com/public-housing-tenants-win-exemptions-fr…
# Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Estate renewal.New strata scheme reporting requirements
NSW Fair Trading (No paywall)All NSW strata schemes now need to report key information online annually. If you’re on a strata committee, your scheme can take steps now to prepare. Find out more. (Services NSW News)
https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/strata/annual-re…
# NSW, Strata, State Government.Sydney council to hire anti-development ‘advocate’ despite low building rates
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Waverley Council will hire a $100,000-a-year community planning advocate to help residents fight development proposals, despite an internal report finding the Waverley local government area had one of the lowest building rates in Sydney. In what will be a litmus test for other councils considering the move, Labor Mayor Paula Masselos said the role would help correct an “imbalance” between developers and the community, which was causing “the rapid destruction of our built environment”.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-council-to-hire-anti-…
# NSW, Landlords and agents, Local Government, Planning and development.‘I’m sounding a bit like a Liberal’: Councils pursue massive cash grab
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Several NSW councils are making audacious bids to increase rates as the cost of living soars, but the moves have proved controversial within their own ranks. City of Canada Bay Council in Sydney’s inner west voted last week to consult the community on a plan to hike rates by 32.52 per cent over the next four years – 20 per cent more than the projected “rate peg” set by the independent regulator.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-m-sounding-a-bit-like-a-li…
# NSW, Local Government, Tax.