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
Most people just want a roof overhead and a place to call home
David Hayward The Age (Paywall)Today we have released our interim report for public comment and discussion. We have recommended that all public and community housing be overseen by a single regulator for the first time. We have recommended a new set of standards for the new regulator, including minimum property standards, fire safety, health and cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tenants. These standards would also cover tenancy management and the way providers work to sustain people’s housing versus pushing them out and refilling properties. With a new regulator and new standards, we have recommended the creation of funded tenancy advocacy services that build people’s capacity and guide people through issues like maintenance, repairs and complaints. Complaints would go to a new independent mechanism that aims to resolve issues and conflict through mediation rather than lawyers. We have proposed these changes with one overriding intent: to place tenants at the centre of the social housing system because each social housing property is someone’s home. This purpose would be enshrined in an amended Housing Act. If we do this, many other things will start to change for the better.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/most-people-just-wan…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing, Repairs, Human rights, State Government.‘Housing is a human right’: Review calls for social housing regulator
Jewel Topsfield The Age (Paywall)An independent review of Victoria’s social housing system has recommended all public and community housing be overseen by a single regulator and tenants’ needs be enshrined in legislation. The review’s interim report found there should be a greater focus on the tenants who live in Victoria’s 85,000 social housing properties. “Many social housing tenants have negative experiences,” it says. These included a lack of responsiveness to maintenance requests, concerns about safety – including drugs and criminal behaviour – and tenants feeling they were badly treated or their voices ignored. The review, commissioned by the state government following its landmark $5.3 billion investment in social housing last year, recommended amending the Housing Act and Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities to protect and safeguard the interests of current and future tenants.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/housing-is-a-human-r…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing, Repairs, Human rights, State Government.Renting story collection - share your story
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)I'd like to share this email with you ... We've been relaunching Make Renting Fair over the past few months, and we're so grateful that you're coming with us on that journey.
https://mailchi.mp/tenants.org.au/make-renting-fair-making-a-com…
# NSW, Campaigns and law reform, Personal stories.Australia standing proud — and increasingly alone — as property haven for international criminals
Nathan Lynch (No paywall)Australia has been one of the world’s leading laggards when it comes to blocking money laundering through the holy trinity of lawyers, real estate agents and accountants. In refusing to pass its promised Tranche 2 laws, Canberra has made it abundantly clear that Australian gatekeeper professions are open for business. Any kind of business. ... And watch the story on YouTube entitled: 'Launder your money through Australian real estate!'. (Michael West Media)
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/australia-is-increasingly-isolate…
# Australia, Housing market, International.Why we clutter, and what to do about it
Jane E Brody The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Many of us took advantage of the long, lonely hours of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns to cleanse our closets, drawers and cabinets of clothing from a bygone era, packaged foods long past their expiration dates and files no longer relevant. At first, I was among them and enthusiastically tackled the low-hanging fruit: ill-fitting dresses and suits, shoes I could no longer walk in, hundreds of empty plastic and glass containers. It did feel good initially, but I soon lost interest in decluttering and lacked the mental and physical energy to tackle what remained. ... Check over 'Decluttering tips'.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/why-we-c…
# International, Home.‘Sprint at full speed’: Evergrande races to revive projects
Bloomberg News The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)China Evergrande Group said it has resumed construction at most of its housing projects as authorities push the debt-laden developer to pay migrant workers and deliver apartments. Nearly 92 per cent of Evergrande’s property projects have so far restarted, compared with just about 50 per cent at the beginning of September, according to a company statement released Sunday night. The number of workers involved in the projects that have resumed building has risen 31 per cent from September to 89,000. “As long as we do a good job in restarting work, production and construction, we’ll be able to deliver houses to buyers, resume sales and operations and pay off debts at all costs,” the statement cited Chairman Hui Ka Yan as saying at a company meeting.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/sprint-at-full-speed-eve…
# International, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Push for cooler rooftops to put ceiling on rising temperatures
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Roofs across most of Australia are set to burst with pops of colour as governments of every hue are lobbied to mandate lighter roofs on new homes as a weapon to battle the impacts of global warming. A number of groups are pushing for the change as part of the updating of the National Construction Code (NCC), which could make cooler roofs mandatory by September 2022.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/push-for-cooler-rooftops-to…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, Planning and development, State Government.How did I survive care and being homeless? I was luckier than the sharp, funny kids I grew up with
Daniel Lavelle The Guardian (No paywall)My first time at rock bottom came early. I was an infant when my mum fled with me and my brother to a refuge, to escape violence at home. This period of fear was brief, but it left an indelible mark. The chaos and trauma from these years manifested in my flailing limbs during desperate temper tantrums, in which my mum would hear every epithet I could think of while her whole bookcase crashed down our stairs. {read on]
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/dec/28/how-did-i-s…
# International, Health, Homelessness, Personal stories.