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
G15 landlord breached equality duty over eviction case, Court of Appeal rules
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) failed to comply with the public sector equality duty over its decision to continue with eviction proceedings against a resident with a mental health condition, a judge has ruled. The Court of Appeal has quashed MTVH’s possession claim and said the failure of the landlord to review its decision has led to three court cases and the “squandering of scarce resources”. ... The resident has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and treatment-resistant paranoid schizophrenia. MTVH brought a possession claim against the individual following an incident in which they assaulted an employee of Sanctuary, which was contracted by MTVH to provide support at the development. The tenant hit the employee on the side of the face and jaw. The employee had to take six weeks off work as a result of the injury and the incident led to Sanctuary withdrawing support. (G15 is the group of London's largest housing associations. Its members house one in ten Londoners and are the biggest providers of affordable homes in the capital.)
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/g15-landlord-breached-…
# International, Eviction, Tribunal NCAT, Affordable housing, Disability.Greens plan buyback for 20-hectare Bulimba Barracks on Brisbane riverfront
Lucy Stone ABC (No paywall)A $63 million 20-hectare block of land on the banks of the Brisbane River would be bought back from private developers and transformed into affordable housing, a new school and green space, under a Greens pledge announced on Saturday. The Bulimba Barracks site in Brisbane's inner-north was sold by the Department of Defence in 2020 to developers Shayher Group, who are currently seeking amendments to the established masterplan for the site. The developers are planning an 855-home community with a mix of five-storey townhouses and separate houses along with a community hub and green space along the riverfront. But Greens leader Adam Bandt on Saturday says if the Greens have the balance of power in a future minority government, the party will push for the site to be bought back ...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-22/greens-plan-to-buy-back-b…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership.I don't mind being a renter, except for this one thing
Matilda Dixon-Smith SBS (No paywall)I’ve heard the jokes about lawyers, and used-car salesmen. I know what people think of taxidermists. But, seriously, what is it with real estate agents?
https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2018/02/22/…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.Twelve years to sort six boxes. To bin, or not to bin - that is the question
Emma Brockes The Guardian (No paywall)I moved into my present apartment seven years ago, and my six crates of papers moved with me – directly from one closet, where they had squatted undisturbed for five years, to another, where the same fate awaited. For almost two decades, these things have followed me around, and I’ve never had the slightest inclination to go through them. Then last week, in a fit of January decluttering fervour, I decided to reclaim my closet. [Read on]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/21/12-years-s…
# International, Health.Residents in a troubled group of Palmerston rental properties were warned to evacuate if a cyclone struck
Jesse Thompson ABC (No paywall)Families living in a group of troubled affordable rentals in Greater Darwin have been warned they will need to evacuate their homes in the event of a cyclone after teams of engineers identified problems in the homes.The warning was issued to residents of 16 homes in the Palmerston suburb of Johnston. Those homes were built to ease a growing housing affordability crisis for low and moderate income-earners in the Top End.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-23/nt-palmerston-affordable-…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Minimum habitability standards.Reserve Bank likely to confront an inflation problem and rate rise dilemma in 2022
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)Meanwhile, the bad news? ... a household with a $500,000 mortgage will need to find more than a $100 a week in their budget by March 2024 to meet those extra [interest] repayments, and that's assuming commercial banks don't raise rates by more than the RBA.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-24/rba-likely-to-confront-in…
# Australia, Housing market, International.The Sydney suburbs bearing the brunt of the Omicron wave
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Western and south-western Sydney are still bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic during the Omicron wave, accounting for a third of the state’s 650,000 cases since the beginning of December. ... Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said this reflected the demographics of the area and the fact that residents in south-western and western Sydney were doing the right thing and getting tested. “South-western Sydney and western Sydney are very populous and have lots of young people. ... Those populations are doing a lot of the jobs that we need to keep society functioning - they’re critical workers and, therefore, it’s harder for them to limit their movements. Often there are larger household sizes and more intergenerational mixing, and that’s part of the strength and amazing positives about that community. But because of those things, COVID can spread a little bit more easily.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-sydney-suburbs-bearing-t…
# NSW, Families, Health, Work, employment.Co-housing and dementia villages: Social innovations offer alternatives for long-term care
Sarah Tranum The Conversation (No paywall)COVID-19 has amplified existing cracks in the long-term care (LTC) system in Canada. We need socially innovative solutions to help seniors age safely and with dignity. From co-housing to community paramedicine programs, home-based primary care to publicly funded dementia villages, there is hope on the horizon.
https://theconversation.com/co-housing-and-dementia-villages-soc…
# International, Share houses, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Housing market, Older people.