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
‘Hard to escape’: Unbearable heat forces Sydney families out of their homes
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Poor building standards and rising energy costs force 30 per cent of Australians to get out of the house during summer, as hot weather takes an increasing toll on physical and mental health. Low-quality homes that do not offer protection from the heat and poorly planned suburbs without trees and shelter from hot weather leave many Australians to suffer heat distress, even during milder summers. ... More than 2000 people were surveyed between December 2021 and March 2022 by Sweltering Cities. ... The survey found renters were more likely to live in hot homes that lacked airconditioning or proper windows, blinds and insulation. One-third of NSW renters said they had asked their landlord to make changes to cool their homes, yet only 11 per cent agreed. Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said too many homes lacked sufficient protection to maintain safe indoor temperatures – ideally around 18-23 degrees.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hard-to-escape-unbearable-he…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change, Health, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.Coming clean on living with a hoarder
Danny Katz The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Once, [my wife] came home with four perfectly good Bentwood dining chairs that she found on a nature strip; she said she almost didn’t see them there because they were hidden behind a half-filled removalist truck.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/two-minu…
# Australia, Home.‘Can that be legal?’ UK tenants forced from their homes by soaring rents
Shanti Das The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Private renters already struggling with food and fuel prices are being hit hard as landlords raise prices in London and nationwide. Margaret Perry wants to buy a house one day. But the increases in her energy, water and council tax bills over the past few weeks have dented her ability to save. Then, on Easter Monday, her landlord called to say the monthly rent on her shared house was going up by £500. ... Campaigners say greater protection is needed – including caps on rent increases in line with median wage rises, or a three-year freeze on increases for existing tenants.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/apr/23/meet-the-tenants-b…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Where will they go?: Women say affordable housing is difficult to find after evictions
Jared Weber (No paywall)From Michigan ... The eviction notices for some residents of a local apartment complex started arriving early last summer, just as the federal government’s moratorium was about to expire. But neither Carmelleta Smith, Rosalind Johnson nor Tenille Buckner had ever fallen behind on rent, even as rates consistently rose in recent years at BLVD West — a south Lansing apartment complex across the street from the new McLaren Greater Lansing hospital. ... The eviction notices have left the three women with few options: fighting their cases in eviction court or trying to find affordable housing that fits their needs elsewhere — which offers limited choices.
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2022/04/20/evicte…
# International, Eviction, Welfare, Women.Older single women and victims of domestic violence face increased homelessness as affordable housing falls short, report warns
Tony Ibrahim ABC (No paywall)The Deloitte report, titled 'Commonwealth Social and Affordability Policy Review', cites last year's surge in house prices and rents — up 21 and 8 per cent respectively, and a homelessness rate that's up 41 per cent over the last five years. It identifies older, single women and women fleeing domestic violence as the fastest-growing cohort at risk of homelessness. ... The NSW government is responsible for housing, but [Link Wentworth's chief executive Andrew] McAnulty joined a chorus calling for the federal government to take a leading role. "We've been lacking a national housing strategy for decades within Australia," he said. You can read the report at: [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/552bbddde4b0da214d6d3a2f/t/6232bfd9d554a503b76c340e/1647493085888/220317_Deloitte+Social+Affordable+Housing+policy+review.pdf]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-21/vulnerable-residents-incr…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Homelessness, Housing market, State Government.Have we forgotten the closely connected history of housing and health?
Jules Birch Inside Housing (Paywall)We routinely talk about the relationship between health and housing, but have we forgotten just how close it once was? That was the intriguing question posed by Dr Al Story, professor of inclusion health at University College London, in the final session of this year’s Housing Studies Association (HSA) conference. As he traced how the relationship between public health, homelessness and housing developed from the 19th century to the present day, he outlined a sometimes surprising history with a striking contemporary relevance in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a story that starts with the 19th century Vagrancy Act (now finally scheduled for repeal), but also the gradual realisation of the links between overcrowding, poor housing, contaminated water and disease.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/have-we-forgotte…
# History International, Health, Homelessness, Housing market.What defines a good social landlord isn’t the size
Mark Perry Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The recent announcement of a potential tie-up between Optivo and Southern Housing Group, and the further announcement of Flagship, BPHA and Futures Housing Group, prompted a return of the well-versed debate surrounding mega-mergers and whether the size of an organisation is in any way determinant of its success. There’s very little sketchy or reliable factual evidence to support either position and so the debate continues to provoke strong reactions from different commentators.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/what-defines-a-g…
# International, Public and community housing, Landlords and agents.The end of the National Rental Affordability Scheme has left residents unsure where to turn
Bec Pridham (No paywall)Tenants have been left with "nowhere to go" as a scheme offering affordable housing winds up. Samantha Groves has rented her house in Perth, south of Launceston, Tasmania, for the past two years, where she's made a home for herself and her three children. After an unstable couple of years, the home offered the family a sense of stability. "Moving here changed everything," she said. But now Ms Groves, along with six other households in the development, have been served with vacation notices ... The National Rental Affordability Scheme was established by the Australian government to help bring more affordable private rental homes into the market. It has been in effect since 2008. The scheme provided financial incentives to organisations offering rent at rates at least 20 per cent below market value to people on low and moderate incomes. It expires in 2026, impacting more than 1600 Tasmanian households.
https://www.northernbeachesreview.com.au/story/7705477/residents…
# Australia, Eviction, Affordable housing, Federal Government.