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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.
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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
For one type of home, the property downturn is deeper than the rest
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)More expensive homes are bearing the brunt of the property downturn, with new data showing prices are falling fastest at the upper end of the market. Price falls that began for higher-end homes in Sydney and Melbourne earlier this year have accelerated and spread, as rapidly rising interest rates curb borrowing power and put downward pressure on prices.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/for-one-type-of-home-the-pr…
# Australia, Housing market.This Conservative leadership contest could have a profound impact on housing
Jules Birch Inside Housing (Paywall)Even though neither candidate in the Conservative leadership race have much to say about housing policy, the results of the election could profoundly impact us ... Liz Truss would cut red tape for housebuilding at the same time as she would scrap the “Stalinist housing targets” introduced by her own party and boost community rights to object to homes that create the red tape in the first place.
Rishi Sunak would put a stop to building on the green belt, highlighting the 60 square miles lost to development since 2014 while ignoring the 60,000 square miles that are left and the fact the green belt has doubled in size since 2014. Those contradictory ideas reveal next to nothing beyond a need to appeal to well-housed Conservative members, but neither candidate has said anything so far about social housing, affordable housing or private renting.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/this-conservativ…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market.What can you buy for Australia’s median house price?
Melissa Heagney The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The median house price across Australia’s capital cities is now $1,065,447, and a budget that size will stretch further in some parts of the country than others. Depending on the location, and the amount of renovation required, buyers might be looking at a home just a few kilometres from a CBD, or much further afield.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/what-can-you-buy-for-austra…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.The most tightly held suburbs in Sydney: good luck buying into these areas
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Sydney’s most tightly held suburbs have been revealed, and home owners in a mix of waterfront neighbourhoods and more affordable locales are most likely to hold on to their homes the longest.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-most-tightly-held-subur…
# NSW, Housing market, Sydney.Nothing private about this house
Tenants’ Union of New South Wales and Legal Aid NSW (No paywall)This is the seventh episode in our series called “Renting Matters”, which explores all aspects of tenancy and other living arrangements in NSW. This series is a joint project between the Tenants’ Union of New South Wales (“TU”) and Legal Aid NSW. In this episode, “Nothing private about this house”, Bridget from the Community Legal Education Branch speaks to guests about social housing – what is it and how is it different to living in a private rental the laws that apply and where to get help if you have a problem. Bridget speaks to Lehana, a Solicitor at Tenants' Union of NSW. Bridget also speaks to Arthur about his experiences living in social housing over many years. There is useful information in this episode about how community workers can help clients in these living situations.
https://legalaidnswcle.podbean.com/e/nothing-private-about-this-…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Rent.A bad dream’: Documentary shows how some older women end up homeless
Cara Waters The Age (Paywall)Linda Thompson had worked all her life and was blindsided when her partner came home one day to their house in Brighton and said they had no more money. “It’s like a lot of things in life,” the 73-year-old says of becoming homeless five years ago. “I never thought this could happen to me; it wasn’t even on my radar.” ... She is one of 10 women featured in Under Cover, a documentary by Australian director Sue Thomson screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival that looks at Australia’s housing crisis, particularly how it affects women aged over 55.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-bad-dream-document…
# Australia, Homelessness, Older people, Personal stories, Women.Renters shiver below minimum healthy temperature 17 hours a day in winter, report finds
Josephine Lim and Evelyn Leckie ABC (No paywall)Wearing multiple layers of clothing and going to bed early is one of the many ways Ada Fitzgerald-Cherry keeps warm in her Canberra share house. It's a little depressing but often when I get home from work in the afternoon, I just get straight into bed because it's cold," Ms Fitzgerald-Cherry said. “My housemate who works from home full-time, he soaks his hands in hot water before he starts work.” In attempts to keep warm by using heating, her daily energy bill has jumped from $3.80 a day in the summer to $12.70 a day in winter. “The house just leaks energy, the floors are cold, the ceilings are cold, there's condensation on the windows, it's like trying to heat a cardboard box.” Ms Fitzgerald-Cherry's experience is not unique, with a new report revealing the health and hip pockets of renters were being put at risk by substandard homes across Australia. Tenant advocacy organisation Better Renting tracked temperatures in 75 rental homes from all states and territories in June and July. The report found renters were spending three times more in energy to warm up their dwellings than home owners with energy-efficient properties in the same suburbs. Also, read Stephanie Convery's article entitled: 'Australian rental homes colder and more damp than WHO safety standards' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/16/australian-rental-homes-colder-and-more-damp-than-who-safety-standards] Read Kate Burke's article entitled: 'Rentals more likely to give you the winter shivers' in 'Domain' at: [Rentals more likely to give you the winter shivers] Read Sezen Bakan's article entitled: '"Barely coping": Australian renters freezing in cold homes' in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/08/15/renters-home-cold-temperature/] Read Michael Di Iorio's article entitled: 'It’s Official: Aussie Rentals Get Too Cold & Mouldy In Winter For Safe Human Living' in 'Pedestrian' at: [https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/australian-rentals-too-cold-not-safe/]. Read the full report by Better Renting entitled: "Cold and costly' at: [https://www.betterrenting.org.au/renter_researchers_winter_22] Also, check out Elissa Goldstein's article from ABC Everyday entitled: 'These DIY window insulation tips will keep the cold air out of your house this winter' at: [https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/diy-window-insulation-tips-draught-proofing-winter-cold-house/101173968]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-16/renters-shiver-below-mini…
# Australia, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Health, Minimum habitability standards, Mould.Tenants can take OCs to NCAT over defects
Jimmy Thomson (No paywall)Tenants have the legal right to take their owners corporations to a NSW Tribunal to force them to fix faults in common property, an NCAT Appeals panel has ruled, but they should not be expected to do so.
# Legal significance NSW, Repairs, Strata, Tribunal NCAT.