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
Rain and floods spark black mould warning as victims beg for national standard
Laura Mayers and Rosanne Maloney ABC (No paywall)A family's "nightmare" run of illnesses linked to black mould are part of a wider problem that experts say is adding to fears for the vulnerable during the pandemic. ... Mr Smith, the director of environmental and occupational hygiene company SCAADA Environmental Consultant Services, was determined to find the cause of his family's illnesses. "I opened the re-investigation into the house myself … there was 8,000 times the international standard of mould spores located within our ducted-heating vents. And underneath our sub-floor we had around 40,000 times greater than what the international standard for mould should be. I moved my family out of the house and we never returned." ... "We see so regularly … it's an issue for renters," Mr Smith said. "Real estate agents sometimes just paint over the top of the mould, or they scrub it, so you can't see it." A 2018 Tenants Victoria Biotoxin Inquiry report notes that mould "is an extremely common issue faced by tenants, be it in private or public housing" — however, there are no laws to address the problem. Tenants Victoria has long argued that legislated minimum health, safety and energy efficiency standards for rental properties in the state's Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA) would address many of the issues faced by tenants.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-20/black-mould-warning-after…
# Australia, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, Mould.Build-to-Rent-to-Buy Initiative Launched for At-Risk Women
Phil Bartsch (No paywall)A breakthrough social housing initiative to explore pathways to home ownership for at-risk and vulnerable women has been unveiled. The innovative concept is aimed at developing a build-to-rent-to-buy model to provide women with the ability to transition from renting to ownership. It will involve the identification of potential sites in the Australian Capital Territory and investigate an appropriate funding model. If the pilot proceeds, construction could begin later this year and eventually lead to creating a potentially generational impact for vulnerable and at-risk women and their families throughout Australia. (The Urban Developer)
https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/build-to-rent-to-buy-…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Women."For four days my bedroom didn't drop below 30 degrees": Rosa rents in Perth, she says tenants should have the right to a 'healthy home'
Geoff Hutchinson ABC (No paywall)Rosa Hicks rents in South Fremantle and over the course of the summer she has been tracking the temperature in her bedroom. During Christmas, she told Geoff Hutchison her bedroom didn't not drop below 30 degrees for four days. One in three Australians are renters and Rosa argues it's time for minimum standards to ensure tenants have healthy housing - keeping them warm in winter and cool in summer. (ABC Radio Perth Drive) You also can read Rosa's story in an article by Kate Leaver entitled: 'Should landlords be responsible for keeping tenants cool as Perth swelters through record heat?' at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-22/perth-heatwave-leaves-renters-sweltering/100773520]
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/perth/programs/drive/hot-rentals-ne…
# Audio Australia, Rent, Health, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards.No Name Lane mural transforms crime hotspot in Port Macquarie neighbourhood
Alexandra Jones ABC (No paywall)A community is tackling neighbourhood crime with art in Port Macquarie, or Guruk, as it's known in the Gathang language of the local Birpai people. No Name Lane connects two cul-de-sacs in Guruk's west and used to be a dark, overgrown alley that had become a hotspot for vandalism, violence and drug use. It's now been transformed with a colourful, spray-painted mural celebrating Birpai culture. "People didn't feel safe walking through here, and the alternative was going quite a lengthy way around," said Community Housing Ltd's Steve Neale, who spearheaded the project. ... After consultation with Aboriginal elders, the local council, community groups and residents, the laneway has been cleaned up and the fencing decorated with a design incorporating the seven totems of the Birpai people: an eagle, kangaroo, crab, stingray, three bass, two dolphins and a shark.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-23/birpai-laneway-mural-no-n…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Neighbours, Regional NSW.Rental affordability a ‘growing concern’ as prices skyrocket
Eliza Bavin (No paywall)It is becoming increasingly difficult for Aussie renters to find a home and the experts warn the problem will get worse. Find out which capital cities to avoid. ... [And] rental affordability is a growing concern, particularly for lower-income households. (yahoo!finance)
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/rental-affordability-growing-c…
# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.The story explained: the Social Housing Regulation Bill
Peter Apps Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The government has long-standing plans to increase what is known as consumer regulation in the social housing sector. This means the powers of the regulator to oversee the services provided to residents and intervene if they are not good enough. The existing Regulator of Social Housing has been working up plans to implement this for some time, but bringing it into force requires legislation. That is what the Social Housing Regulation Bill is for.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/the-story-explai…
# International, Public and community housing.Loud loos: the court case that ruled flushing at night was anti-social
The Guardian (No paywall)An Italian couple spent 19 years trying to silence their neighbours’ toilet habits. They complained that they couldn’t get a good night’s sleep after their neighbours installed a new bathroom. The supreme court in Rome ruled that the sound of flushing coming through the wall exceeded the legal limit by three decibels … What is the point? Well, it’s about noisy neighbours, and human rights, and the ECHR protecting the right to respect for a person’s private and family life, and their home and their correspondence.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jan/19/loud-loos-t…
# International, Home, Human rights, Neighbours.Tower twice Grenfell’s height planned nearby with single staircase
Robert Booth The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... A new apartment skyscraper with just one fire escape staircase is being planned just a few hundred metres from Grenfell Tower in a move that survivors of the disaster have called “shocking”. The proposed tower would be around twice the height of Grenfell and accommodate hundreds of households, but it will rely on the same “stay put” strategy that failed on 14 June 2017 contributing to deaths, according to planning documents. That means that under current building regulations it will require only a single escape staircase.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/20/tower-twice-gren…
# International, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.