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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
Rental stress, cost of living pressures forcing Tasmanians into cars as winter approaches
Adam Langenberg ABC (No paywall)Tracey Ransley had no choice but to leave the house she'd lived in for more than a decade when her landlord proposed raising the rent by $90 a week. ... Unable to find a new rental, the 53-year-old was evicted from her Rokeby home last month and is now living in her car with her two dogs, parked in her friend's driveway. "She lets me have a shower there and do my washing and when it's too cold she lets me stay inside and have a sleep, but it's hard," she said. Living in her car is "hard" and "scary" for Tracey, a diabetic with high blood pressure and chronic arthritis. Also, read Kate Ferguson's article entititled: 'WA housing crisis forces Exmouth workers to sleep in their cars' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-16/exmouth-housing-crisis-forces-people-to-sleep-in-car/101068440]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/rental-hikes-force-tasman…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Women, Work, employment.Housing crisis? Look over there – a puppy!
Michael Pascoe The New Daily (No paywall)The Australian housing crisis has entered the catastrophe stage for the third of Australians not already in their own home, yet it has taken until the last week of the official campaign for the politicians and most media to get a little excited about it. And what they are excited about is a relative distraction, a sideshow that will have marginal impact of debatable worth and go nowhere towards solving the underlying problem.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2022/05/18/housi…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Desperate tenants are turning to crowdfunding to pay for housing amid Australia’s rental crisis
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)The unbearable costs and instability of the rental crisis are pushing more people towards crowdfunding for accommodation, with housing-related appeals on one of Australia’s biggest fundraising platforms more than quadrupling over the past year. ... Kate Colvin, a spokesperson for housing advocacy organisation Everybody’s Home, said the increasing number of fundraisers for housing costs were “not at all surprising”, and called on the winner of Saturday’s federal election to invest in social housing. “Renters on low incomes have been cast to the wolves of the housing market, without enough income to compete, and without policy from the federal government to do anything to address the huge shortfall in supply of affordable rentals,” Colvin said. “The top priority for whoever forms government this weekend is to provide more homes that low waged workers and others on low incomes can afford so that everyone has a home.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/19/desperate…
# Australia, Repairs, Affordable housing, Federal Government.Coalition super housing policy likely to inflate prices by increasing demand, analysts say
Peter Hannan The Guardian (No paywall)Here's more articles on the Federal Elections ... The Coalition’s twin-pronged housing policy is likely to push up property prices to the benefit of existing homeowners, with only modest effects on increasing supply, market analysts say. Also, read Steven Hamilton's article entitled: 'Super for housing or the government as a co-owner: how Liberal and Labor home-buyer schemes compare' in The Conversation at: [https://theconversation.com/super-for-housing-or-the-government-as-a-co-owner-how-liberal-and-labor-home-buyer-schemes-compare-183113}. Read Paul Karp's and Josh Butler's article entitled: 'Coalition minister concedes plan to allow first homebuyers to access super will push up house prices' in The Guardian at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/16/coalition-plan-to-allow-first-homebuyers-to-access-super-will-jack-up-house-prices] Read Michael McGowan's article entitled: 'Dominic Perrottet downplays Coalition’s bid for first-home buyers to access superannuation' in The Guardian at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/16/dominic-perrottet-downplays-coalitions-bid-for-first-home-buyers-to-access-superannuation]. Read Clancy Yeates' article entitled: '"Aussie" John Symond backs super-for-housing scheme' in The Sydney Morning Herald at: [https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/aussie-john-symond-backs-super-for-housing-scheme-20220516-p5alnl.html]. Read Charlotte Grieve's article entitled: '"Debilitating effect": AustralianSuper boss hits out at PM’s housing plan' in The Sydney Morning Herald at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/debilitating-effect-australiansuper-boss-hits-out-at-pm-s-housing-plan-20220516-p5aln1.html] Read David Crowe's opinion piece entitled: 'Morrison ignites superannuation culture war in final stretch' in The Sydney Morning Herald at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-ignites-superannuation-culture-war-in-final-stretch-20220516-p5alu9.html] Read John Collett's opinion piece entitled: 'First home buyer super plan is election window dressing' in The Sydney Morning Herald at: [https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/first-home-buyer-super-plan-is-election-window-dressing-20220516-p5alnu.html] Read Elizabeth Redman's article in Domain entitled: 'Are you better off parking your savings in super or in property?' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/are-you-better-off-parking-your-savings-in-super-or-in-property-20220517-p5am4p.html]
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/16/coalition…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.'I'm homeless in a tent with 2 kids under 2... even though I've got savings' The Queensland mum has been left homeless by the rental crisis.
news.com.au (No paywall)For the past two years, Sushannah, her husband and two young daughters lived comfortably in a rental property in the regional Queensland town of Roma. But that suddenly changed last month, when their landlord unexpectedly announced that he was selling the home – forcing the young family onto the streets. "We’ve got the money to move into a rental, we've got that. The problem is this rental crisis - there is no affordable housing… even if there’s housing that’s affordable, it’s extremely competitive,” the 20-year-old mum-of-two shared on TikTok. (kidspot)
https://www.kidspot.com.au/news/im-homeless-in-a-tent-with-two-y…
# Video Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing market.A Massive Expansion in Public Rental Homes Could Literally Pay for Itself
Alex Hemingway (No paywall)From Canada ... Public investment in below-market rental housing could leverage private-sector development to secure housing for all. This idea is being floated to address British Columbia’s housing crisis — and should be taken up everywhere ... The housing crisis sometimes feels beyond our control, but a massive effort to build below-market-priced, publicly owned rental homes is a policy option that’s achievable, affordable, and at our fingertips. (Jacobin)
https://jacobinmag.com/2022/05/public-nonprofit-rental-housing-b…
# International, Public and community housing, Housing market.Rising cost of living dragging Canberrans below poverty line in what many call Australia's most affluent city
Isaac Nowroozi ABC (No paywall)According to the ACT Council of Social Service's latest report, nearly one in 10 Canberrans are living below the poverty line, challenging the perception of a "well-off" and "rich" national capital. Caroline, who moved back to Canberra last year to be closer to her daughter, is one example. Since moving to the ACT, Caroline has struggled to find a job and to consistently have a roof over her head. .... She has since found emergency accommodation, but before that she was forced to live in her car for months. ... Peta Stamell managed to buy her own place, but says she chose to live in share houses for about 15 years so she could afford it. ... Ms Stamell believes that affordable housing is a basic human right and wants reform that helps lower prices. "The problem with the Australian housing market is that its success is determined by how much equity it makes investors, not by how well it houses people, which is ridiculous," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/act-service-providers-wor…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Families, Homelessness, Housing market, Women.Whose responsibility is mould in a rental home and how should a tenant deal with it?
Antonia O'Flaherty ABC (No paywall)What are renters' rights when health-threatening mould takes hold in the property they occupy? The landlord, right? Well, that depends. Relentless rain and high humidity in Australia's east have created the perfect conditions for mould to spread rapidly in dampened homes. ... Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) chief executive officer Antonia Mercorella and Tenants Queensland CEO Penny Carr said it largely depended on what caused the mould to grow in the first place. [Read on]. Also, read the article by Matt Webber, Tara Cassidy, and Alexandria Utting entitled: 'Mould allergies, infestations on rise amid persistent wet weather, flooding' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/wet-weather-flooding-mould-allergies/101060432]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-18/tenants-impacted-by-mould…
# Video Australia, Rent, Mould.