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
Pensioner says he has nowhere to go after developer buys up Queensland homes to make way for apartments
Eden Gillespie The Guardian (No paywall)Sandwiched between high-rise blocks stands a nearly 100-year-old Queenslander that has served as a pensioner’s home for the past decade. Now, the 65-year-old is being evicted by a developer to make way for yet another tower. “I’ve lived there for 10 years, it’s become home,” Bernie Maloney says. “It’s disappointing to get tossed around.” ... In January, property developer Goldfields Group bought Maloney’s home and three of the other remaining Queenslanders on the street. ... He’s also won the support of the Brisbane Renters Alliance, who have launched a civil disobedience campaign to resist forced evictions. “We are now living through a housing crisis. 10,000 Brisbanites are homeless, over 50,000 Queenslanders are on the public housing waiting list [and] over 15,500 Queensland children are victims of housing stress,” a spokesperson from the Brisbane Renters Alliance said.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/17/pensioner…
# Australia, Eviction, Homelessness, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Public housing revamp to squeeze North Richmond estate
Rachel Eddie The Age (Paywall)The public housing estate in North Richmond will be redeveloped to squeeze another 800 homes on the site, potentially doubling the population in one of Melbourne’s most densely populated estates. Leaked briefing notes seen by The Age show the Andrews government plans to add the social and affordable homes while improving services and safety at the site, which surrounds Victoria’s first safe injecting room, as part of its $5.3 billion Big Housing Build.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/public-housing-revam…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Estate renewal.Displaced Ukrainians stuck without access to Medicare, rental assistance, or right to work on visitor visas
Tom Canetti SBS (No paywall)Ukrainians who have come to Australia after fleeing their war-torn country have found themselves stuck in limbo without access to Medicare or the right to work due to restrictions on their visitor visas (subclass 600). Displaced Ukrainians are waiting for the federal government to grant temporary humanitarian visas (subclass 786), which would allow holders to work, study and access Medicare for three years. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced on 20 March plans to make the visa available, but it still hasn’t come to fruition, meaning displaced Ukrainians have been completely dependant on not-for-profits for food and accommodation since their arrival.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/displaced-ukrainians-stuck-w…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Homelessness, Welfare, Work, employment.‘Never seen a market like this’: The downside of a tree-change hotspot
Sarah Webb Domain (No paywall)House rents across Brisbane have soared to a record high of $500 a week, the steepest annual increase in the city’s history. Domain’s latest Rent Report revealed prices jumped 14.9 per cent – or $65 - in the 12 months to March, and 4.2 per cent for the quarter, as experts warn the Sunshine State capital could be heading for a rental crisis.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/never-seen-a-market-like-th…
# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Home aged care staff at ‘breaking point’, as most miss out on Coalition’s $800 bonus
Christopher Knaus The Guardian (No paywall)Australia’s home aged care providers facing ‘abysmal’ turnover rates as rising stress and poor pay take their toll
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/15/home-aged…
# Australia, Federal Government, Older people, Welfare.“A better way of doing suburbs”: How eco villages can help the cost of living
Andrew Sadauskas The Fifth Estate (No paywall)At a time when the cost of living is rising faster than wages, a community on the southern outskirts of Adelaide is demonstrating how to combine arts, permaculture and sustainability with affordable living.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/a-better-…
# Australia, Strata, Affordable housing, Climate change, Older people.Meet the Brisbane couple who claimed two major prizes at the BAFTA Game Awards
Alex Brewster ABC (No paywall)A Brisbane couple has turned the dreaded experience of moving house into two BAFTA awards. Wren Brier and Tim Dawson are part of a small team that created Unpacking, a part block-fitting puzzle and part home-decoration game, in which players are invited to create a satisfying living space while learning clues about the life they are unpacking.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-15/unpacking-brisbane-baftas…
# Video Australia, Starting a tenancy.Housing concerns jump to new high as election campaign kicks off
Michael Bleby (Paywall)Politicians of both sides need to take measures to address the looming housing supply crunch, the country’s largest property lobby group says. ... The lack of affordable housing for purchase and concerns about insufficient supply have risen to their highest-ever level as a federal election looms, according to the Property Council’s quarterly survey of industry sentiment. (Australian Financial Review)
https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/housing-concerns-jump-to…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.