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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
Edwardian morals, Thatcher and bad design – why Britain’s homes are so hot
Phineas Harper The Guardian (No paywall)As Britons swelter in the highest temperatures on record, the UK’s substandard and overheating housing is again under the spotlight. Most British homes are unable to keep residents cool in heatwaves and are cripplingly expensive to heat in the winter. By the numbers, we have some of the worst-performing housing stock in Europe. Our homes are poorly insulated and draughty, have virtually no shading and are badly oriented. How did one of the world’s wealthiest economies end up with houses that are so unprepared for extreme weather?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/20/britain-wo…
# International, Climate change, Housing market.Select committee report on regulating social housing: six key recommendations
Grainne Cuffe Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Select Committee has published the first report on its inquiry into the regulation of social housing. Inside Housing has gone through the detail of the report and outlined six of the committee’s key recommendations on: funding regeneration; stock condition surveys; tenant representation; Housing Ombudsman compensation; systemic failure test; mandating registration with the regulator
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/select-committee…
# International, Public and community housing.Queensland faces dire social housing shortage, audit finds
Judy Skatssoon (No paywall)The Queensland government is failing to effectively manage its social housing register amid a growth in demand that’s threatening to outstrip supply, an audit has found. The state’s audit office looked at whether the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy is effectively managing the needs of Queenslanders who can’t afford the private rental market. A report tabled on July 12 warns that as the private market becomes more competitive, many Queenslanders will struggle to find secure and affordable housing. (Government News)
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/queensland-faces-dire-social-h…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing.NSW to create new statutory Property Services Commissioner
Judy Skatssoon (No paywall)The NSW government will establish an independent statutory Property Services Commissioner tasked with regulating the sector, managing complaints and investigating breaches. (Government News)
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/nsw-to-create-new-statutory-pr…
# NSW, Landlords and agents.The house prices that are still rising: How inflation is blowing out building costs
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Property prices may be falling for the established housing market, but new homes are bucking the trend and have become the canary in the coal mine, as far as inflation goes. Almost every category of building materials has become more expensive. Steel products are leading the way, jumping 42.1 per cent in the year ending March 2022, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-house-prices-that-are-s…
# Australia, Housing market.... homelessness crisis in the United States, and solutions to growing homelessness in Australia.
Connor Dougherty and David Pearson ABC (No paywall)Check out these two reports from ABC's Radio National ...
Connor Doughtery: We discuss the changing face of cities on the west coast of the United States where the housing crisis and increasing homelessness has left hundreds of thousands of people without shelter.
David Pearson: Homelessness in Australia is growing and the problem has been exacerbated by the pandemic and extreme climate events. We discuss some of the strategies necessary to solve homelessness.
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/betweenthelines/13…
# Australia, Homelessness, Housing market, International.Tenants ‘pushed out’ of their homes as private landlords hike rents by more than 20% overnight
Vicky Spratt (Paywall)Tenants have told i they could be forced to move to a new town or city as their rent spirals above runaway inflation. Campaigners and tenants’ unions are calling for emergency rent freezes and warning that landlords are “pouring petrol” on the cost-of-living crisis by hiking up rents across the United Kingdom. (inews.co.uk)
https://inews.co.uk/news/housing/tenants-pushed-out-of-their-hom…
# International, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.‘A big no-no’: Warning after Sydney family bring outdoor charcoal makeshift heater inside
Sarah Keoghan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Six people have been rushed to hospital in Sydney’s west on Tuesday morning after an outdoor charcoal makeshift heater was brought indoors to keep them warm, causing suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/family-rushed-to-hospital-fo…
# NSW, Utilities electricity water gas.