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
Scottish councils to get extra £16m for ‘rapid rehousing’ of homeless people
James Wilmore Inside Housing (Paywall)Under the Scottish administration’s Rapid Rehousing Transitions Plans, local authorities have introduced five-year schemes to help people facing homelessness find permanent housing quicker. Announced today, the new £16m funding will see £8m awarded in 2022/23 and a further £8m in 2023/24. The package includes £6.5m for the Housing First pathfinder initiative, which helps people with multiple and complex needs. This brings the total spending on rapid rehousing to £53.5m, according to the government.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/scottish-councils-to-g…
# International, Homelessness, Local Government.How racism impacts homeless people
Kate Youde Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... During the first national lockdown last year, one charity found that some young homeless people in London were prevented from accessing support. “You need to be bedded down to then be picked up by an outreach team,” says Jo Bhandal, campaigns, policy and research lead at LGBTQ+ youth homelessness charity Akt. “We were finding disproportionately that some of the young Black men that we support were being moved on essentially [by] police, which was then preventing them from being picked up by StreetLink.” Ms Bhandal says this highlights some of the challenges people of colour, and particularly Black people, can face when experiencing homelessness. Black people are nine times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by the police in England and Wales.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/how-racism-impac…
# International, Homelessness, Race and ethnicity.SA Health defends decision to quarantine homeless Aboriginal people in tents on oval
Shari Hams ABC (No paywall)South Australia's health department has defended the decision to quarantine Aboriginal homeless close contacts in tents on a Port Augusta oval. Chinnery Park Oval was set up for the facility in a partnership between SA Health, SA Police and Aboriginal health service Pika Wiya.
A staff member at a sobering-up centre in Port Augusta tested positive to COVID-19 last week, sending about 35 people into isolation. All close contacts isolating at the site have tested negative thus far.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-05/homeless-covid-isolation-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Race and ethnicity.House dust from 35 countries reveals our global toxic contaminant exposure and health risk
Cynthia Faye Isley, Kara Fry and Marl Patrick Taylor The Conversation (No paywall)Everyone’s home gets dusty, but is yours the same as house dust in China or the US? Researchers around the world have united to capture the world’s first trans-continental data on household dust. ... The study shows it doesn’t matter whether you live in a high or low income country, are rich or poor – we’re all exposed to contaminants via dust. ... Australia has concerning levels of arsenic and lead contamination in house dust. One in six Australian homes exceeded the US Environmental Protection Agency acceptable health risk. Arsenic exposure can increase cancer risk and cause problems to respiratory health and immune function. Lead can affect children’s brain and nervous system development, causing behavioural and developmental problems. It’s clear lead mining and smelting activities cause high lead levels in dust for local communities. But the study shows inner city areas are equally affected, commonly from legacy sources like emissions from the leaded petrol era, or peeling lead paint in homes.
https://theconversation.com/house-dust-from-35-countries-reveals…
# Research alert NSW, Asbestos, lead, hazardous materials, International.Report from the future: Aotearoa New Zealand is looking good in 2040 – here’s how we did it
Thomas Nash The Conversation (No paywall)Housing for all ... Anger at the divide between property owners and renters culminated in a general rent strike in 2024. The government responded with new financial rules ending the treatment of housing as an asset class. Kāinga Ora, Māori organisations and councils have undertaken a massive public housing construction effort. Most new housing is now public infrastructure rather than private homes built to store individual wealth. Public ownership has expanded, in particular for entities that provide core services such as transport, energy and water. In 2024, the government worked with councils to focus plans on quality universal design housing. Since the new building code was adopted in 2025, all new homes have high standards for energy efficiency and accessibility. Higher density apartments line public transport routes in the main centres, with terraced homes in smaller towns. Structural timber has replaced concrete and steel in many construction projects.
https://theconversation.com/report-from-the-future-aotearoa-new-…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.China’s Evergrande halts trading after ordered to tear down apartments
Jan Dahinten The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Chinese developer shares tumbled following local media reports that China Evergrande Group has been ordered to tear down apartment blocks in a development in Hainan province. Evergrande halted trading in its shares. ... The government of Danzhou, a prefecture-level city in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, asked Evergrande to tear down 39 illegal buildings in 10 days, Cailian reported on Sunday, citing a document from the local government. You can read the same story at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-03/china-evergrande-shares-halt-detb-crisis/100735938]
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/china-s-evergrande-hal…
# International, Housing market, Planning and development.‘Storm clouds gathering’ for Sydney and Melbourne property markets
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Melbourne house prices and Sydney apartment values eased at the end of the biggest boom year in three decades, prompting economists to warn a downswing has begun in these two major property markets.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/storm-clouds-gathering-f…
# Australia, Housing market.Sydney and Melbourne property values slow to lowest levels in a year
Jennifer Duke Domain (No paywall)The nation’s two biggest capital cities recorded the slowest property price growth in the nation at the end of 2021, with both Melbourne and Sydney recording falls for some homes.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sydney-and-melbourne-proper…
# Australia, Housing market, Regional NSW.