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
Greening the greyfields: how to renew our suburbs for more liveable, net-zero cities
Peter Newman, Giles Thomson, Peter Newton and Stephen Glackin The Conversation (No paywall)Our ageing cities are badly in need of regeneration. Many established residential areas, the “greyfields”, are becoming physically, technologically and environmentally obsolete. They are typically located in low-density, car-dependent middle suburbs developed in the mid to late 20th century. Compared to the outer suburbs, these middle suburbs are rich in services, amenities and jobs. But the greyfields also represent economically outdated, failing or undercapitalised real-estate assets. Their location has made them the focus of suburban backyard infill development. Unfortunately, the current approach typically cuts down all the trees and creates more car traffic as resident numbers grow. A new kind of urban regeneration is needed at the scale of precincts, rather than lot by lot, to transform the greyfields into more liveable and sustainable suburbs. It calls for a collaborative approach by federal, state and local governments.
https://theconversation.com/greening-the-greyfields-how-to-renew…
# Australia, Federal Government, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.The deadly consequences of rental evictions in WA
Jesse Noakes (Paywall)As a homelessness crisis unfolds around the country, the Western Australian government has undertaken to review tenancy laws to finally remove ‘no grounds’ rental evictions. (The Saturday Paper)
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2022/07/30/the-d…
# Australia, Rent, No-grounds evictions.Tenants’ privacy rent asunder
Mackenzie Scott The Australian (Paywall)Eight housemates in inner Brisbane say they feel as though they are living in the Big Brother house after their landlord installed CCTV cameras inside their home without notice.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TA…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Rent, Landlords and agents.Housing shortage has made landlords increasingly picky about tenants, leading to a lack of pet-friendly rentals
Jack D Evans, Selina Green and Leon Georgiou ABC (No paywall)The rising number of no-pet rental properties is placing pressure on local animal shelters as people are forced to choose between their furry friends and a place to live. Katrina Twilley, operating coordinator at the South East Animal Welfare League, said she had seen a rise in the number of pets being handed over. The kennel has been at full capacity the past few years, something Ms Twilley attributes to the scarcity and price of rental properties. She says winter is also a factor, as it is traditionally a slow time for animal adoptions.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-28/pets-not-welcome-rental-p…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Pets.Landlord must pay back fortune made on tenant's 800-mark deposit, court rules
Abi Carter (No paywall)If you’re renting in Germany, you’re almost always asked to put down a deposit (Kaution). But if you stay in the same house or apartment for a long time, what happens to that money? In one recent case, it made the landlord a small fortune - and now the renter wants it back. ... A small bond from 1960 - 400 euros or so, but now worth 115,000 euros. (I am expat)
https://www.iamexpat.de/housing/real-estate-news/landlord-must-p…
# International, Bond, Public and community housing, Rent.Renters struggling to compete in private rental market as prices rise in Melbourne’s south-east
Kate Ashton ABC (No paywall)Sarah Keating is on a race to find a rental property before her two-year-old son outgrows his cot. The 21-year-old single mum is currently living with relatives in Melbourne's outer south-east. She shares a room with son Ryder, but soon the two of them won't fit. "I'm trying to look for somewhere bigger to start our life and our family so that he has his own room, I have my own room," she said. "I just can't find anywhere. "My son can't sleep in my bed every night with me. He needs his own bed."
Ms Keating said she has been looking for a two-bedroom place in Melbourne's outer south-east — suburbs like Dandenong, Pakenham, Officer, Beaconsfield, Noble Park and Clyde — for now about six months and has been applying for up to 30 places a month. She has some family and community support, a casual job where she works three days a week, plus Centrelink. "I just keep getting emails saying I'm unsuccessful," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-29/renters-struggle-to-compe…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness.Consumers warned of looming 'nightmare' as AEMO reports record wholesale electricity costs
Daniel Mercer ABC (No paywall)Millions of Australian households have been warned to brace for savage hikes to their power bills after prices in the country's biggest electricity market rocketed to their highest levels on record. In a report released today, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said wholesale power costs soared to unprecedented levels in the three months to June 30 amid the crisis engulfing the energy system.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-29/aemo-reports-record-whole…
# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.Revised plan for Blackwattle Bay revealed after fierce backlash
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)About 1200 units in towers up to 35 storeys will be built on the old Sydney Fish Market site at Blackwattle Bay under revised plans the NSW government prepared in response to fierce backlash against an earlier proposal. The government’s development arm, Infrastructure NSW, on Thursday published an updated plan to redevelop the site of the fish market – which will eventually be shifted to a $750 million building at the head of the bay. The original proposal had triggered widespread opposition from the City of Sydney council, local MPs and residents of the Pyrmont peninsula. The government has earmarked Pyrmont for more intensive development.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/revised-plan-for-blackwattle…
# NSW, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.