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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
It was an unprecedented housing crisis that called for an urgent summit, now four years on, it's worse
Alexandra Humphries ABC (No paywall)In 2018, Hobart's showground was at the centre of Tasmania's housing crisis, as people with nowhere else to turn set up camp across the site. ... Fast-forward to 2022, and Mr Gadd believes the situation has worsened. ... Pattie Chugg from Shelter Tasmania, the peak body for housing and homelessness, believes the situation now is quite different to what it was in 2018, due to factors such as population growth, a tight private rental market, the impact of short-stay accommodation, and rising house prices. And, it is being felt right across the state. "It was a stressed market, but now it's super stressed," Ms Chugg said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-12/housing-meeting-crisis-ta…
# Australia, Homelessness, Housing market.The Guardian view on the Grenfell inquiry: a slow march to culpability
Editorial The Guardian (No paywall)In less than two weeks’ time, the final phase of evidence at the Grenfell inquiry will end. These hearings are about how each of the fire’s 72 victims died. ... There is no doubt about the extraordinary quantity of information that the inquiry has placed in the public domain. The question is where all this will lead; whether those people and organisations who bear greatest responsibility will pay any price, beyond the private remorse that several have described, and whether ministers will take steps to ensure such a tragedy is never repeated.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/10/the-guardi…
# International, Minimum habitability standards.A mass migration: record numbers arrive in WA during pandemic
Shane Wright and Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A record number of Australians moved to another state or territory through the second half of the COVID pandemic, with tens of thousands fleeing lockdowns and high infection rates in a demographic earthquake that could reverberate for years. Almost 500,000 people moved interstate in 2021, a 20 per cent increase on the previous record set in 2002, with NSW suffering its biggest net loss of residents to other parts of the country in more than three decades. Despite ongoing border restrictions, people moved en masse to Queensland and Western Australia while regional centres across the country also welcomed new residents from far-flung parts of the nation. ... [And] Housing affordability has been a key issue.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-mass-migration-record-numbers-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Housing market.Revamp of ineffective social housing list could lift building pipeline
Matt Dennien The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Queensland government will review its ballooning social housing register to prioritise support and potentially boost its planned construction pipeline, after an audit office report found a poorly managed system and plans that were unlikely to meet demand driven by cost-of-living pressures. The state’s peak social services body said the report from Auditor-General Brendan Worrall, which has made eight recommendations to overhaul the system, showed it was “not fit for purpose” ...
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/poorly-managed-social…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Federal Government, State Government.Edinburgh Council loses court appeal after evicting homeless refugee family
Danyel VanReenen (No paywall)An elderly homeless and diabetic man has won a court battle against Edinburgh City Council after his family was evicted from temporary housing and denied the right to reapply for accommodation at the start of the pandemic. The Scottish Court of Session has ruled that the Council failed to perform its care-of-duty for 64-year-old Abdelwahab-Kaba Dafaala, and the ruling was upheld again this week following an appeal. “The court’s decision in this case is a welcome one. Not only is it a positive outcome for Mr Dafaalla, it also provides important clarity for those seeking to defend their rights in the future,” said Fiona McPhail, Principal Solicitor at Shelter Scotland. “This is good news for Mr Dafaalla and good news for the rights of homeless people in Scotland.”
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/edinburgh-co…
# International, Homelessness, Local Government.Constance Hall scammed out of thousands of dollars for Perth rental property
(No paywall)Constance Hall has had “the worst school holidays ever.” The famous mummy blogger took to social media this week to detail how she was scammed when applying for a rental property in Perth. Hall said she was bilked out of thousands of dollars last week after the leasing agent she applied through was hacked. ... Both the real estate agent and her bank told her that the majority of funds were not able to be recovered. (Perth Now)
https://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/constance-hall-scammed-out…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.For migrant farm workers, housing is not just a determinant of health, but a determinant of death
C. Susana Caxaj and Anelyse Weiler The Conversation (No paywall)Imagine if, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — before vaccines were available — you had to share a cramped bunkhouse with a dozen co-workers. Imagine if your employer forbid you from having personal visitors, or if you had to ask your boss for permission to visit the doctor. Agricultural workers hired through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program regularly confront these dynamics while they leave their families behind in countries like Mexico and Jamaica for months or even years at a time to work in Canada.
https://theconversation.com/for-migrant-farm-workers-housing-is-…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Work, employment.Ways Australia can address its worsening rental affordability crisis
Emily Hutchinson (No paywall)The rental affordability crisis continues to worsen, with high demand combining with low supply to push prices up and leave many Australians struggling to find a home. ... Leo Patterson Ross is the chief executive of Tenants Union of NSW and said the issue with the current rental market is that housing is not considered an essential need. The dialogue around this needs to urgently change ... Mr Patterson Ross added that government needs to step in to ensure tenants are not unfairly evicted from their homes, that homes are up to standard, and that people with disabilities or those who are elderly can access affordable homes that meet their needs. (realestate.com.au)
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/ways-australia-can-address-it…
# TUNSW in the media, Video Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Disability, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Human rights, Older people.