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
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.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.