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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
After 50 years in Earlwood, ‘cruel’ strata bill threatens elderly couple with homelessness
Caitlin Fitzsimmoms The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)An elderly Sydney couple will be forced from their home of 50 years and face potential bankruptcy after their body corporate voted for upgrades to their building’s windows that they could not afford. Nitsa and Spiros Tzavellas, pensioners aged 78 and 81, are desperately trying to sell their three-bedroom flat before a deadline of mid-August when bankruptcy hearings will resume in court. ... Consumer advocates say the case shows why reform is needed to curb the power of owners’ corporations and strata companies who manage properties under strata title, such as apartments.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/after-50-years-…
# NSW, Strata, Tribunal NCAT, Older people.Does Building Luxury Condos Create More Affordable Housing?
Brian Hanlon, Ned Resnikoff, John Washington and Tara Raghuveer (No paywall)From the United States ... Brian Hanlon and Ned Resnikoff write that building market-rate housing lowers prices for everyone while John Washington and Tara Raghuveer argue that the private sector can’t fix itself. ... The only thing that trickled down to residents like Pat Lucas was a 30-day notice to leave her home of 17 years. ... The most important question is: How can we guarantee that every person has a permanent, safe, accessible home? The answer isn’t zoning changes; it’s social housing. (The Nation)
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/affordable-housing-deb…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development, Race and ethnicity.Washed away
Adam Harvey and Bonny Symons-Brown with photography by Tajette O’Halloran ABC (No paywall)As flood water recedes there is trauma, homelessness and fear about the future. Towns more than 700kms apart now face a similar fate — home to Australia’s flood ‘refugees’. (ABC 4 Corners)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-11/four-corners-flood-invest…
# NSW, Homelessness, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.The dodgy tax deductions landlords are being warned not to claim
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Property investors are being warned to have sufficient and correct records when declaring rental income and deductions as the tax office is keeping a close eye on real estate claims once again. More than 2.2 million Australians hold rental property investments, and they claim as much as $50 billion in deductions each year, which is more than the $48 billion reported in rental income, according to the latest 2018-19 taxation statistics from the Australian government. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) says four key areas will come under particular scrutiny at tax time this year, including rental property income and deductions as well as record-keeping of all claims.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-dodgy-tax-deductions-la…
# Australia, Landlords and agents, Tax.Social housing tenant forced to cook in living room amid Victoria’s ‘broken’ complaints system, report says
Luke Henriques-Gomes and Benita Kolovos The Guardian (No paywall)A social housing tenant was left to cook in her living room while another was forced to shower at public facilities for months, an investigation [by the ombudsman] into Victoria’s “broken” housing complaints system has found. In a report tabled in parliament on Thursday morning, the state ombudsman, Deborah Glass, said the investigation had found a “broken complaint system”, prompting the need for a social housing ombudsman and changes to the law.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/07/social-ho…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Repairs, Health.Better social housing for people with disabilities?
Maggie Korenblium (No paywall)In a few months, the Disability Royal Commission will hold a public hearing on homelessness for people with disability. A key piece of the puzzle is the kinds of housing people at risk of homelessness find themselves in – which means we need to talk about social housing, and especially public housing. Nearly half of the households in public housing include at least one person with disability, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. But the 2018 National Social Housing Survey found that disabled people report less improvement to their life from living in social housing compared to others. (South Sydney Herald)
https://southsydneyherald.com.au/better-social-housing-for-peopl…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Disability.Rent prices expected to grow even more in coming months
Today 2022 9 News (No paywall)Tenant's Union CEO Leo Patterson-Ross explains what renters are in store for after an already tough start to the year.
https://www.9now.com.au/today/2022/clip-cl5bnrhr7000b0jqo1c0u5qq3
# Video NSW, Rent, Share houses, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.‘Stark raving, barking mad’: experts question the building of homes below ‘worst-case’ flood levels in western Sydney
Michael McGowan The Guardian (No paywall)In 2015, Stuart Ayres, the MP for Penrith in Sydney’s west, stood at the site of an old quarry in his electorate and told a journalist to imagine homes “as far as your eye can see”. “There are so many opportunities we can explore,” he told Channel Nine. “Different types of housing, larger homes, smaller homes, and all types of recreational activities will happen there.” Ayres was talking about Penrith Lakes, a 2,000-hectare site owned by a consortium of businesses, including the Kerry Stokes-owned Seven Group through its majority stake in the building materials supplier Boral. Eight years later, just how many – if any – homes will be built is subject to some uncertainty. Penrith Lakes is located around the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain, and has been among the areas inundated in the numerous floods to hit that part of western Sydney in recent months and years. ... In March the planning minister, Anthony Roberts, scrapped a set of flood-risk design principles introduced by his predecessor Rob Stokes only two weeks after it came into force, . He also dropped a set of draft planning rules promoting more sustainable development that some, including the ICA, wanted to include flood risk.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/10/stark-rav…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.