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
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.New commissioner for NSW Fair Trading
(No paywall)The newly-appointed NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Natasha Mann will aim to strengthen protections for consumers in the wake of COVID-19.
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/new-commissioner-for-nsw-fair-…
# NSW, NSW Fair Trading.Where swapping the suburbs for the city pays off
Fleur Morrison Domain (No paywall)Melbourne is bursting back to life after two years of lockdowns and restrictions – and it’s not just the culture luring people back to the city. Property experts say the affordability of apartments in inner Melbourne will also be a powerful incentive for buyers choosing between the city and the suburbs.
https://www.theage.com.au/property/living/where-swapping-the-sub…
# Australia, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Labor’s proposed $10 billion social housing fund isn’t big as it seems, but it could work
John Quiggin The Conversation (No paywall)The centrepiece of Labor’s election program so far is its A$10 billion social housing policy, officially called the Housing Australia Future Fund. In the first five years the fund would be used to build 20,000 social housing properties for people on low incomes - 4,000 of the 20,000 for women and children fleeing violence and for low income older women at risk of homelessness; 10,000 “affordable” housing properties; $200 million for the repair, maintenance and improvements of housing in remote Indigenous communities; $100 million for crisis and transitional housing for women and children fleeing violence and for low income older women at risk of homelessness; $30 million to build more housing and fund specialist services for veterans who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Although needed, its a far short of the 100,000 extra social housing units we would have had if social housing been growing in line with total housing in recent years, a gap that is climbing by 4,000 homes a year.
https://theconversation.com/labors-proposed-10-billion-social-ho…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Domestic violence, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Homelessness.“Living with Covid” – not so easy if you’re in an aged care home!
Sarah Russell (No paywall)What was Scott Morrison’s plan when he decided Australians should “live with Covid”? Did he give any thought to the impact this would have on older people living in aged care homes? Sarah Russell reports on the plight of our most vulnerable. Many aged care homes are not designed to cope with an airborne virus. Without good ventilation, Covid has spread like wildfire in aged care homes. (Michael West Media)
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/living-with-covid-not-so-easy-if-…
# Hot topic Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Older people.