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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Nearly 1,000 homes destroyed in Colorado wildfire, three feared dead
ABC (No paywall)Nearly 1,000 homes have been destroyed, hundreds more have been damaged, and three people are missing and presumed dead in the United States as a wildfire burns through neighbourhoods in the state of Colorado, a local official has said. ... The wind-whipped wildfire charred entire neighbourhoods in a suburban area between Denver and Boulder. An overnight dumping of snow and frigid temperatures Saturday compounded the misery of hundreds of Colorado residents who started off the new year trying to salvage what remained of their homes. ... The wildfire broke out unusually late in the year, following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow until the overnight snowfall. Scientists say climate change was making weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-02/nearly-1k-homes-destroyed…
# International, Climate change, Housing market.The Bill for My Homelessness Was $54,000
Lori Teresa Yearwood The New York Times (Paywall)Debt is a hidden burden for Americans experiencing homelessness. ... My descent into homelessness felt as though it happened in the blink of an eye. It was as if one moment I was standing in a meadow next to my horses, stroking their manes, and the next I was lying inside...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/29/opinion/debt-homelessness.html
# International, Homelessness, Personal stories.Public housing isn't 'dodgy' or something to be embarrassed about, it's home
Julia from Bendigo, Dja Dja Wurrung country ABC (No paywall)I grew up on a street where everyone knew your name. We were always in and out of each other's houses, grabbing a snack or a toy. All the kids played together after school until the streetlights came on and Mum called us in for dinner. Friendships were forged and mischief was made. It wasn't until I got to high school that I noticed alarm bells would ring when I told people where I lived. Their faces would change from a smile to a concerned look, as if I had given them bad news. You see, I grew up in public housing. (Heywire)
# Audio Australia, Public and community housing, Personal stories.When the bank asked if I was pregnant, my home loan pre-approval was withdrawn — and it shouldn't have happened
Ashlynne McGhee ABC (No paywall)The house across the road was for sale and we were keen, but we had to renew our mortgage pre-approval that had expired a day earlier. I rolled through the answers: No, our incomes hadn't changed; no, we didn't have a new credit card, and then this: "You haven't fallen pregnant?" ... The Human Rights Commission is pretty clear on this. "It is unlawful to ask for information about whether a person is pregnant or intends to become pregnant," it told me in a statement. "Providers of goods and services must not discriminate against their customers on the grounds of pregnancy or potential pregnancy." [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-30/banks-mortgage-home-loan-…
# Australia, Discrimination, Home ownership, Women.Apartment buildings race to retrofit electric vehicle chargers
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Strata committees of many apartment buildings across Australia are racing to install electric vehicle-charging systems in their garages even though many still have no electric car-owners – or, at most, just one. “We know electric vehicles are coming and we can’t ignore that ...”
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/apartments-racing-to-retrof…
# Australia, Strata, Climate change.Up on a roof: why New Zealand’s move towards greater urban density should see a rooftop revolution
Kate Pickles The Conversation (No paywall)New Zealand has historically been a suburban land. Famously characterised as a “quarter-acre pavlova paradise”, the domestic ideal has long been a single dwelling on a full section. But that is changing fast. With soaring house prices and homes in short supply, medium-density development is set to fill urban and suburban horizons. Combined with a growing awareness of ecological sustainability, it seems Kiwis may soon be looking up to those green spaces they once looked at through backyard windows.
https://theconversation.com/up-on-a-roof-why-new-zealands-move-t…
# International, International, Planning and development.How to save on your home energy bills in 2022
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Australians are still spending thousands of dollars a year on electricity and gas despite lower energy prices and greater efforts to reduce power consumption at home. Australians spent an average of $335 per quarter on electricity and $234 per quarter on gas in 2021, according to Canstar’s latest Consumer Pulse Report, which was based on a survey of more than 2000 Australians. While bills were down in previous years – as a fall in wholesale costs continues to drive energy prices down – it’s still a hefty sum, with about a third of people feeling they were not getting a good deal and almost 90 per cent actively trying to use less electricity and gas wherever possible. So, how can you save on your energy bills in 2022?
https://www.smh.com.au/property/living/how-to-save-on-your-home-…
# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.The Premier versus the pandemic: Omicron tests the incurable optimist
Deborah Snow and Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)In this article you find the following quote: '[Perrottet] ... nominates housing affordability as a key challenge – “Australia can’t be a country where we can’t house our children” ...'
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-premier-versus-the-pande…
# NSW, Housing affordability, State Government.