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
Christchurch landlords responsible for 'uninhabitable' house where child contracted serious heart disease fail to pay $38,000 fine
Anna Leask (No paywall)A Christchurch couple ordered to pay more than $38,000 to their tenant after a child living at their "uninhabitable" and "unsanitary" property contracted rheumatic heart disease may face further legal action after failing to hand over a single cent. And shocking new details have emerged about the state of the house, including the tenants, because of water damage in the property, were getting electric shocks from the television when it rained. In October Anne and Roger Stocker were found guilty of multiple breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) relating to an East Christchurch house they had rented to a Pasifika family. After the child's diagnosis, an investigation found that the house was not healthy or safe and was not compliant with national requirements. It was mouldy, leaky and was in such poor condition the Tenancy Tribunal ruled it "should never have been made available for residential tenancy purpose". (NZ Herald)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christchurch-landlords-responsible…
# International, Rent, Tribunal NCAT, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards, Mould, Race and ethnicity.Giving ex-prisoners public housing cuts crime and re-incarceration – and saves money
Chris Martin, Eileen Baldry, Patrick Burton, Rebecca Reeve, Rob White, Ruth McCausland and Stuart Thomas The Conversation (No paywall)“Going home” is a classic metaphor for exiting prison. But most people exiting prison in Australia either expect to be homeless, or don’t know where they will be staying when released. Our recent research for AHURI (the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute) shows post-release housing assistance is a potentially powerful lever in arresting the imprisonment–homelessness cycle. We found ex-prisoners who get public housing have significantly better criminal justice outcomes than those who receive private rental assistance only. The benefit, in dollars terms, of public housing outweighs the cost.
https://theconversation.com/giving-ex-prisoners-public-housing-c…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness.More interest rate hikes are coming, and housing affordability is about to get crunched
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)Tuesday’s interest rate rise means homeowners are now going to have to deal with something they have not had to deal with for more than 11 years. Not only that, but there is also the prospect of mortgage repayments never again being as low as they are now. It means housing affordability is going to become much worse.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2022/may/05/mor…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.A Landlord ‘Underestimated’ His Tenants. Now They Could Own the Building.
Ronda Kaysen The New York Times (Paywall)When a new landlord bought their building in the Bronx and threatened to raise rents and kick them out, tenants banded together. They never expected how far they might get: the chance to buy their apartments for $2,500 each.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/realestate/tenants-eviction-p…
# International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents.‘Homes aren’t safe’: Western Sydney prepares evacuation shelters for hot summers
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Councils in western Sydney are planning to set up heat refuges for residents forced out of their homes by extreme heat, as part of a plan to prepare for dangerously hot summers. The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils has also called for heatwaves to be treated as seriously as fires and floods.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/homes-aren-t-safe-western-sy…
# NSW, Local Government, Planning and development.With high prices and soaring rents, what are political parties promising to do about housing?
Daniel Ziffer ABC (No paywall)f the great Australian dream is the security of owning your home, the election campaign might feel like waking late to discover the alarm on your phone has been ringing loudly for some time. There are a lot of problems in housing. For people who rent, vacancies are at record lows just as Australia re-opens borders largely shut since the COVID pandemic took off in 2020. For people paying mortgages, the Reserve Bank has just lifted rates and is set to keep doing so, making mortgage repayments more expensive. For people trying to buy, prices are cooling after rocketing up in recent years, but higher interest rates will reduce what banks can lend you.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-09/political-parties-electio…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.Despite property booms across Australia, safe and secure housing remains out of reach for many
Felicity James and Tobias Jurss-Lewis ABC (No paywall)For those with a stake in the housing market, the past few years have probably been a dream come true. Many Australian towns and cities have ridden a housing boom – but what about those who have been left behind?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-08/australia-housing-and-ren…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing market.Landlords face higher mortgage repayments. Will renters share the pain?
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)Landlords are facing higher mortgage repayments after the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate for the first time since 2010. But what does that mean for renters? ... Better Renting executive director Joel Dignam said landlords charge as much rent as possible based on the advice of their property managers. He said this means rents are already so high that landlords have little room to take them higher.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/05/04/renters-i…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.