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
Make Renting Fair
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)As you know, we relaunched our Make Renting Fair campaign with two forums last year, exploring alongside our community: what can we do to build a fairer renting system? What can we learn from successes overseas about how we can organise renters and win? We heard from organisers from the group behind the Berlin expropriation campaign, Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co, about how they’ve organised renters in their communities, built power, and earned incredible successes. Then we heard from organisers from Renters United, an advocacy group that organises renters and campaigns to make renting in Aotearoa (New Zealand) better for everyone. ... Now, we're hosting our first organising meeting for 2022 ... {Read on]
https://mailchi.mp/tenants.org.au/make-renting-fair-making-a-com…
# Must read NSW, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.The renter who asked for his landlord's references
Max Chambers ABC (No paywall)When comedian Tom Cashman had his rental application approved for an apartment in Sydney, he decided to run an experiment. The property wasn't his top pick, so he put a request to the real estate agent before deciding whether to sign the lease. ... Mr Cashman also received [an] email. His application – which had already been approved – had now been withdrawn. ... As a comedian, he has a sizeable social media following and he decided to share the story with his followers on TikTok and Twitter. One of those who saw the video was Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the Tenants' Union of NSW. He said renters in Australia face serious competition when they look for a home and they don't have much power to make demands of landlords. ... He said it's a good idea for tenants to ask landlords for a reference but warns it could be a risky request. He would like to see a formal registration scheme set up to force landlords to get a licence from state bodies, pointing to similar schemes in countries like Scotland. ... or listen to the same story under the title 'A renter tries to flip the script' at: [https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/a-renter-tries-to-flip-the-script/13738800] (ABC RN Breakfast) Here's the same story in the 'Sydney Morning Herald'. Go to : [https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/renter-s-application-revoked-after-asking-for-landlord-reference-20220204-p59tvp.html] Here's the same story from 'Junkee'. Go to: [https://junkee.com/landlord-reference-reasonable-real-estate-institute/321035]. Again, check out the video at: [https://twitter.com/theprojecttv/status/1489517053295964163?t=ebNgHc9ZrCK4LWdRGuML0g&s=19]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-04/the-renter-who-asked-for-…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio, Video NSW, Rent, Landlords and agents.Omicron rips through remote Aboriginal communities, as leaders say governments' COVID response 'too late'
Bridget Brennan and Kirstie Wellauer ABC (No paywall)As much of the nation begins to look beyond a summer of rising infection rates and hospitalisations, the pandemic has just arrived at the doorstep of many remote Aboriginal communities. ... After testing positive last week, [Ronika Adams, from the remote community Palumpa in the Northern Territory] has had to isolate in a two-bedroom house with 11 other people — and the women and children in the house have one mattress between them. ... Dozens of people in the tiny community have tested positive ... This is the stark reality that Aboriginal health organisations warned of two years ago when the pandemic was declared: many small communities don't have the resources to tackle widespread outbreaks.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-04/omicron-covid-19-infects-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market, Race and ethnicity.In northern NSW, housing instability is becoming a health risk
Tamsin Rose The Guardian (No paywall)In the already Covid-stretched hospitals of northern New South Wales, health workers are struggling with another growing pressure caused by the pandemic. House prices have soared in Byron Bay and surrounding areas since Covid lockdowns and work-from-home inspired many to flee the city for a sea or tree change. And while the impacts on buyers or renters in the area have been well documented, hospital workers say it’s having far-reaching effects on the community’s health. ... Tenants’ Union NSW head, Leo Patterson Ross, said he had noticed a jump in the number of renters in the area asking for advice. 'Many people had reported being served “no grounds” evictions before the properties were relisted for more money, pricing them out of a community they once called home. We’ve seen double-digit rent increases year-on-year for a couple of years in some areas. It has this really ongoing widespread effect and what it boils down to is that there’s just not enough homes that are actually affordable to the communities that need them.' ... Homelessness NSW chief executive, Katherine McKernan, said “'f you’re in unstable housing, you’re more worried about where you’re going to sleep in a week’s time than going to the doctor and getting yourself taken care of.'
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/06/in-northe…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Health, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, No-grounds evictions, Regional NSW.‘To get out is an absolute struggle’: landmark study sheds light on Australians sleeping rough
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)Jorey would remain homeless for nearly 20 years. His story overlaps with thousands of others who have experienced homelessness, and a new report from the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness and the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia (UWA) has brought them together. Released on Monday, the report, titled Ending Homelessness in Australia: An Evidence and Policy Deep Dive, draws on surveys collected from 20,953 people who have come into contact with homelessness services across Australia over the past 10 years. Joint the webinar for the launch at: [https://www.csi.edu.au/events/ending-homelessness-in-australia/]
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/07/to-get-out-is-an…
# Australia, Discrimination, Health, Homelessness.Housing demand is driving rent up. Here are your options when faced with a rent increase in Queensland
Michelle Gately ABC (No paywall)Could you stretch your budget to meet an extra $120 a week in rent? When Yeppoon woman Brandi Gilligan's landlord proposed a 30 per cent increase, she tried to find a new rental within the family budget. But the alternative is just as difficult for families in regional Queensland who are trying to move in a market where vacancy rates are just tipping above zero. The bad news for tenants is that Queensland, like most states, does not have regulations limiting how much landlords can increase rents by. ... The chief executive of advocacy group Tenants Queensland, Penny Carr, said ... "Tenants are pretty scared to lose their tenancy and what they're doing is trading off their rights to try to secure the tenancy in a more ongoing way. ... The Australian Capital Territory probably has the most robust regulation of rent increases across the country, and they require a landlord to apply to the tribunal if a tenant doesn't agree to a rent increase that is over the CPI (Consumer Price Index). It's the landlord who has to make the argument."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-03/rent-increase-rules-expla…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.Private rented sector white paper to be published in the spring
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... A “landmark” white paper outlining new regulations for the private rented sector will be published in spring, the government has confirmed. n a separate Levelling Up White Paper, published by ministers today, the government confirmed that its long-awaited proposals outlining changes to the private rented sector will be published within the next few months. ... It will also set out how the government intends to end Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, a pledge that was first made by former prime minister Theresa May in 2019. Ministers said they will also “explore” the idea of a national landlord register and “set out plans for a crackdown on rogue landlords”.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/private-rented-sector-…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.What’s wrong with Australian mortgages? They’re fixed for shareholders, not home owners
Richard Holden The Conversation (No paywall)If you’re paying off a mortgage – or aspiring to – imagine if you didn’t have to worry so much about rising interest rates. That’s already the reality for US home buyers. Unlike in Australia, most mortgages in the US have a fixed-interest rate, locked in for 30 years. ... So why don’t Australian lenders offer 30-year fixed-rate mortgages too, like their US counterparts?
https://theconversation.com/whats-wrong-with-australian-mortgage…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, International.