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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
State seizes control of supported care homes over abuse, ‘uninhabitable conditions’
By Jewel Topsfield and Royce Millar The Age (Paywall)The Victorian government has seized control of two supported care homes in Melbourne’s outer north-west after an investigation revealed coercion and abuse of residents, uninhabitable living conditions, forgery of signatures and access to NDIS services being hindered.
https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/state-se…
# Australia, Disability, Housing market.Shore and ore: Two factors driving record rent rises
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Record rent rises across Australia are being driven by two factors: shore and ore. Coastal areas in many regions are home to rocketing rents as a result of city-dwellers pursuing sea changes in places that are less population- and COVID-dense, and trying before they buy. Mining towns, on the other hand, are continuing to surge on the back of strong resource prices.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/shore-and-ore-two-factors-d…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.Property industry slams ‘radical measure’ of extending commercial rent protection
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The property industry has hit back at the extension of protections for commercial tenants in NSW during the Omicron outbreak, warning the intervention threatens the state’s ability to attract investors and hurts landlords.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/property-industry-slams-radi…
# NSW, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents.Australia’s low population growth increases slightly in the June 2021 quarter
Glenn (No paywall)The latest data shows Australia’s population growth increasing slightly in the June 2021 quarter. Glenn analyses the data in relation to COVID-19 and the different drivers of change across the states and territories. [Population, June 2021 Australia 25,739,256 (0.18% annual change; NSW 8,189,266 (0.27% annual change)] (.id informed decisions)
https://blog.id.com.au/2021/population/population-trends/austral…
# Research alert NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Planning and development.Plans for 51-storey London tower with just one staircase put on hold
Robert Booth The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... A property developer bidding to build a 51-storey apartment tower with only one staircase has put its planning application on hold just hours after the Guardian exposed fire safety concerns. On Thursday evening Ballymore had planned to seek approval for one of the UK’s tallest residential buildings close to Canary Wharf in east London, but withdrew its application after fire safety experts branded as “madness” its plan to build more than 400 flats in a tower two-and-a-half times the height of Grenfell with just one staircase. ... Under current building regulations, a single staircase is allowed in tall buildings if they are designed so that residents can “stay put safely in their flats in the event of a fire”. However, fire safety experts believe that is too risky and the government is reviewing provision of escape routes.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/13/plans-for-51-sto…
# International, Minimum habitability standards, Planning and development.Isolating with Covid: Australians grapple with supply shortages and shared houses
Tory Shepherd The Guardian (No paywall)The federal health department has advice on how to manage isolation in a shared house. ...
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/16/isolating…
# Australia, Share houses, Coronavirus COVID-19.NCAT Act Statutory Review Report now available
(No paywall)A review of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 was recently conducted by the Department of Communities and Justice on behalf of the NSW Attorney General. Section 92 provides the Attorney General is to review the Act after 5 years to determine whether the policy objectives and terms of the Act remain valid. You may download the report at: [https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/papers/Pages/tabled-paper-details.aspx?pk=81453&houseCode=la]
https://app.getresponse.com/view.html?x=a62b&m=Btd8iR&mc=I7&s=Nl…
# NSW, Tribunal NCAT.What to know about buying the house you are renting
Kate Dorrell ABC (No paywall)If you're trying to get into the property market, it can be tempting to bypass the search and make an offer on the house or apartment you're already renting. (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/what-to-know-about-buying-the-ho…
# NSW, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.