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
Floods, storms and your tenancy
(No paywall)Renting in Queensland and affected by floods and storms? If you want to leave or want to negotiate rent, here’s what to do.
https://www.rent.com.au/blog/queensland-floods-storms-tenancy
# Australia, Rent.Fairer housing should mean those who have, help those who have not
Jenny Smith The Age (Paywall)The prospects of those struggling in Victoria’s increasingly unaffordable rental market has just dimmed, considerably. The small Social and Affordable Housing Contribution, to be paid by developers, would have funded 1700 new social and affordable rental homes a year and made an enormous difference to Victorian families in desperate need of a home. But the contribution was vigorously opposed by the development industry – and ultimately defeated. The need for this housing is stark when you know that in 2020-2021, 64,570 Victorians came to homelessness services seeking help to access medium or long-term accommodation, but only 8988 were housed. Many of those who miss out are women and children fleeing family violence. And rental affordability in Victoria is getting worse.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/fairer-housing-shoul…
# Australia, Domestic violence, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing market, Women.Tweed River caravan park residents devastated by muddy mess from 'biblical' flood near Queensland border
Tara Cassidy ABC (No paywall)Tweed Ski Lodge Caravan Park resident John Rawlings is still reeling from the devastation of this week's flood on the Tweed River just south of the Queensland border. He has lived in the caravan park for more than a decade but has never seen anything like this flood. "It's an absolute disaster area … it's been biblical, epic," he said. "Water came up to my window, I copped it bad, lost most of my material things in my life." Volunteers have spent much of today cleaning out his home and belongings in an effort to save what they could.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-05/tweed-caravan-park-devast…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Regional NSW.More families facing homelessness as SA rent prices soar and vacancy rates plummet
Rebecca Puddy and Sara Tomevska ABC (No paywall)While most dread the daily grind of house chores, Jenna dreams of placing her hands in sudsy dishwater in her own kitchen and hanging her children's clothes to dry on the line. Their rental lease expired in early January, and now they have nowhere to call home. Instead, Jenna's family have moved around South Australia's Riverland, staying at friends' houses and caravan parks. ... They are just one of many families living through Australia's private rental crisis – where a perfect storm of increased demand and low vacancies is pricing many out of the market. They are staying at a friend's house for now, but the constant uncertainty and expense of moving is wearing the family down. Next month, Jenna said she was planning on pitching a large tent for the family to stay in along the edge of the River Murray. ... Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute managing director Michael Fotheringham said Australia's housing woes had been a long time coming, but COVID-19 had made things worse. "The housing challenges we have today have taken a generation or more to develop — they're not going to be fixed this week," Dr Fotheringham said. ... "Rental vacancies all over the country have fallen through the floor — virtually every part of the country had below one per cent vacancy rates late last year," he said. "During 2020 we saw a whole lot of stock that had been on short term lending platforms like Airbnb moved into the private rental market for 12-month leases but in the second half of last year and into this year a lot of it has gone thundering back into short term lending because the cash return is potentially much stronger."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-07/sa-holder-housing-crisis/…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Insurance giants back planning debate as flood costs mount
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Insurance giants IAG and QBE are calling for a debate about the planning and development of housing in flood-prone areas, as the industry faces a long-term rise in costs from natural disasters.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/insurance-gi…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Planning and development.Rebuild or relocate? Australians face painful dilemma as floods become the new normal
Amanda Gearing and Conal Hanna The Guardian (No paywall)Residents cleaning up their mud-soaked homes in Queensland and NSW say they have reached ‘crunch time’.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/07/rebuild-o…
# Australia, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development.London housing association strikes £50m deal to fund 131 build-to-rent homes
Stephen Delahunty Inside Housing (Paywall)Large London housing association Peabody and house builder Redrow have agreed a £50m deal to deliver 131 build-to-rent homes. The development at Pontoon Reach in the Royal Docks, east London, will include a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments. ... The homes will make up part of the Pontoon Reach development, which will offer 295 new homes, including 42 affordable rent and 53 shared ownership homes to be managed by Peabody. The build-to-rent apartments at Pontoon Reach are anticipated to be available from summer 2022 and form part of the wider £314m regeneration of the Royal Docks.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/london-housing-associa…
# International, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market.Northern Ireland to give £200 to households struggling to meet energy costs
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)The Northern Ireland Executive has announced that from next week it will begin making one-off payments of £200 to households struggling to meet rising energy costs. ... Roughly 280,000 people in receipt of specific benefits will automatically receive the £200 payments, which will be made through existing payment channels.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/northern-ireland-to-gi…
# International, Utilities electricity water gas.