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
Let's make housing a basic right in 2022
Kate Colvin (No paywall)The post-Christmas hangover involves a good dose of financial anxiety for millions of Australians. This time of year is always a financial challenge, but in 2021 more than ever, Australians' household budgets were eclipsed by spiralling housing costs. Paying for a roof over our head is the number one expense for most Australians, the one which contributes the most stress day in and day out, and makes it extremely difficult for many to make ends meet throughout the year, let alone over the holiday period. And with the nation's property market not yet at its peak, and the federal government wilfully neglecting calls for an intervention, it seems there is no relief in sight. (The Singleton Argus)
https://www.singletonargus.com.au/story/7574353/lets-make-housin…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Human rights, Regional NSW.Smoke inhalation kills several in New York apartment block fire
Maria Caspani The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Nineteen people, including nine children, were killed in a fire started by a malfunctioning space heater at a Bronx apartment building in New York City’s deadliest blaze in more than three decades. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, just over a week into the job, confirmed the tragedy in the imposing 19-floor Twin Parks North West building which provided affordable housing units and was home to a Gambian community. ... The 120-unit building in the Twin Parks North West complex was built in 1973 as part of a project to build modern, affordable housing in the Bronx. “Many of these buildings are old. Not every apartment has a fire alarm. Most of these buildings have no sprinkler system,” congressman Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who represents the area, said on MSNBC. “And so the risk of a fire is much higher in lower income neighbourhoods, in the Bronx, than it might be elsewhere in the city or in the country.”
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/smoke-inhalation-kill…
# International, Affordable housing.Spend more on social housing to reduce benefit bill, say peers
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)The House of Lords Built Environment Committee has urged the government to change its approach to spending on housing, as part of a wide-ranging report into boosting housing supply that was published today. The report said a “transition to spending more on the social housing stock” would address the “problem” of many individuals living in expensive private rented accommodation that is subsidised by taxpayers via housing benefit. Housing benefit is currently costing the government roughly £23.4bn per year, the report said. “Particularly given how much money is being spent on housing benefit… I think we thought the government should have a look at whether it’d be better value for money to do a bit more social rent,” the chair of the committee, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, told Inside Housing.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/spend-more-on-social-h…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Home ownership.The Guardian view on the cladding scandal: businesses must pay
Editorial The Guardian (No paywall)As the public inquiry into the disaster continues its examination of the specifics, a parallel process has led to tens of thousands of flat dwellers in England trying to escape a nightmare of their own (the precise number of those affected is unknown). From the United Kingdom ... The same type of cladding used on Grenfell was found on 477 other buildings over 18 metres tall in the aftermath of the disaster, with a full audit of buildings between 11 metres and 18 metres tall that are in need of alterations still incomplete. It is the plight of these unlucky residents, many of them first-time buyers of leasehold properties, that the secretary of state for levelling up and housing, Michael Gove, on Monday pledged to resolve.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/10/the-guardi…
# International, Asbestos, lead, hazardous materials, Housing market.Thousands face huge bills to fix dangerous cladding. Here’s how Michael Gove can help them
Lucie Heath The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... On Monday, Michael Gove stood up in parliament and made a promise that was long overdue: no person living in a building higher than 11 metres in England will be forced to pay for dangerous cladding to be removed from their building. The announcement by the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities is a huge victory for cladding campaigners, but the fight is not over.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/11/victory-fa…
# International, Asbestos, lead, hazardous materials, Federal Government, Housing market.'In a place like prison': voices from institutional asylum accommodation
(No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Institutional accommodation causes harm. It is unsuitable for people seeking refugee protection who desperately need safety, privacy and stability, in order to rebuild their lives in local communities. ... The Government must immediately scrap its proposals and ensure that people seeking safety in the UK are housed safely and with dignity, in the communities which many of them will become part of for years to come.
# Hot topic International, Federal Government, Housing market, Human rights, Race and ethnicity.Omicron outbreak plunges NSW rental market into limbo
Martin Kelly (Paywall)Omicron has frozen rental markets throughout NSW as people put moving plans on hold and shelter in place to avoid catching the virus. Tim McKibbin, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of NSW, said the state’s rental market was in limbo. There was minimal change in rental vacancy rates throughout NSW during December, with renters reluctant to move. “The impact of the omicron variant is being felt everywhere and the residential rental market is not immune,” Mr McKibbin said. The industry expected to see a pause in market activity leading into the festive season, he said. “However, REINSW members are reporting that this usual lull was exacerbated in December because people are hesitant about the future as omicron continues to spread,” Mr McKibbin said. “As a result, many are delaying their plans to move, leaving the market in limbo.” (Financial Review)
https://www.afr.com/property/residential/omicron-outbreak-sends-…
# NSW, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Climate change, poor housing fuelling energy concerns for First Nations communities
Cameron Gooley The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)More than 90 per cent of households surveyed in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory had their electricity disconnected over a 12-month period, according to a new study investigating the link between the problem and extreme temperatures. ... “In other parts of Australia where consumers are protected by the Australian Energy Regulator guidelines, people cannot be disconnected from electricity when life support medical equipment is being used,” the study found. “This protection is not comprehensively applied in remote NT communities.” It also found a link between extreme temperatures and the chances of a home having its power disconnected, leaving researchers concerned Indigenous communities are already feeling the brunt of climate change.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-change…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change.