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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
The ACT Is Trying To Make Landlord References Legal, So Every Canberran Owes Tom Cashman A Beer
Lavender Baj (No paywall)Every renter in Canberra owes comedian Tom Cashman their gratitude because a new motion being introduced in the ACT Legislative Assembly could soon see prospective renters be able to ask for landlord references. (Junkee)
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents, State Government.Housing Market Interventions and Residential Mobility in the San Francisco Bay Area
Urban Displacement Project (No paywall)From California ... To address the housing affordability crisis and mitigate displacement and exclusion, policymakers must pursue not only preservation of unsubsidized affordable housing, but also bolder initiatives such as social housing – the provision of rental or homeownership units affordable at a moderate income or below, run by a public or nonprofit entity. Matching the urgency of the housing crisis would require wide implementation and investment. [This website certainly is worth checking out]
# Research alert International, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, No-grounds evictions.Investors Are Buying Mobile Home Parks. Residents Are Paying a Price.
Sophie Kasakove The New York Times (Paywall)From the United States ... Across the country, corporate landlords are expanding manufactured housing portfolios and driving up rents, pushing longtime residents out. When Sarah Clement moved to the Golden Hills mobile home park two years ago, she felt like she had won the lottery. After years of squeezing into one-bedroom apartments with her, her 7-year-old son finally settled into his own bedroom, his toys splayed out in the yard and his school just at the edge of the park. Ms. Clement loved the friendliness of her neighbors and getting to watch the sun rise over the scrubby mesa to her east and set behind the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to the west. ... But just six months after she moved in, the plot of land and all of the stability and comfort that came with it seemed suddenly ripped out from under her. The Colorado couple that owned the park for years had put it up for sale.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/27/us/mobile-home-park-ownership…
# International, Land lease communities, Landlords and agents, Personal stories.We need to talk about the rent
Charles Firth (No paywall)As the Liberal Party desperately searches for a new minority group to attack, while the Labor Party desperately ducks and weaves its way to unexpected defeat this election, there is a glaring topic that is front of mind for 32% of the population. We need to have a national conversation about renting in Australia. Of course, we won’t. To say Australia’s political system is captured by the propertied classes is an understatement. Of the 227 politicians currently serving in Federal parliament, 212 own at least one house. Put another way, the housing affordability crisis that currently besets 32% of Australian voters who rent their home, doesn’t affect 94% of our politicians. Not only that, but 58% – 133 members of the Federal parliament – own more than one house. Albanese owns 3, in case you’re wondering. (The Shot)
https://theshot.net.au/economics/we-need-to-talk-about-the-rent/
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Tax.Can good rental history substitute for a house deposit? Young Australians struggle with home ownership dream
Fiona Blackwood ABC (No paywall)Missy Harwood grew up thinking that — like for her parents before her — home ownership in Tasmania was an achievable dream. Now she is losing faith. ... But the 30-year-old mother of two has some ideas about how to make home ownership a reality. She would like banks to recognise rental history as evidence of the capacity to service a home loan, rather than requiring increasingly larger deposits.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/rental-history-instead-of…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Understanding what attracts new residents to smaller cities
Akshay Vij, Ali Ardeshiri, Tiebei Li, Andrew Beer and Laura Crommelin AHURI (No paywall)A new report released today, undertaken by researchers from The University of South Australia, RMIT University and The University of New South Wales, examines key drivers of migration flows and settlement patterns across Australia, and identifies key barriers to and opportunities for greater population decentralisation. Migration and settlement patterns in Australia are driven by a combination of factors relating to population size, location, economy, amenities and the environment. In the next 50 years, Australia’s population is predicted to double. Much of this growth is expected to be concentrated in major metropolitan centres that are already struggling to provide the requisite infrastructure needed to support their populations. More dispersed population growth strategies could help alleviate some of these urban pressures. Check out the AHURI News at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/news/Extreme-weather-events-impacting-where-people-choose-to-live-report]. Check out the AHURI Brief at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/Floods-and-the-future-for-housing-insurance]
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/375?utm_source=Z…
# Research alert Australia, Health, Planning and development.‘Tackling the climate crisis could lead to less social housing,’ warns NHF boss
Stephen Delahunty Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Kate Henderson told the NHF’s Housing Finance conference in Liverpool last week that while the financial and development challenges posed by the climate crisis could lead to less social housing, “nobody wants that to happen”. Speaking on Thursday during a session on the need to embed climate and nature-related risks and opportunities in all financial decision-making, the NHF chief and other panellists discussed the need to reduce emissions, fuel poverty and investing in homes and neighbourhoods to improve the health and well-being of residents. Despite the challenges ahead, Ms Henderson described it as “a massive opportunity”.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/tackling-the-climate-c…
# International, Public and community housing, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change, Health.‘We’ve got no dignity’: life in poor-quality temporary accommodation
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... New figures obtained by 'Inside Housing' reveal the proportion of homeless families in London placed at risk because of hazards in their temporary housing. Lucie Heath meets the people struggling and explores what councils plan to do about it.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/weve-got-no-dign…
# International, Homelessness, Personal stories.