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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
December 2021 News
Shelter NSW (No paywall)Check out the latest housing news from Shelter NSW ...
NSW being left behind in social housing expansion
Housing SEPP is finalised
New report: Scaling Youth Foyers for NSW
Rental Affordability Index (RAI) – beware of averages
Local Organising with Sydney Alliance
Newcastle looks to Finland for Housing First inspiration
Shelter NSW AGM wrap up
Tweed Regional City Action Plan
Shelter NSW on Coffs Harbour radio to talk about the housing crisis
Student Research Paper - Ensuring safe, secure housing options for people leaving prison
Aboriginal Land Planning Framework
Parramatta Road Factsheet
Bays West Place Strategy
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/shelter-nsw-december-2021-ebulleti…
# NSW, Campaigns and law reform.Squalid privately rented homes cost NHS £340m a year, regulator finds
Robert Booth The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Checks on the private rented sector are in “chaos”, the chair of the Commons public accounts committee has said, after the government’s spending watchdog found squalid homes are costing the NHS £340m a year. Nearly 600,000 private rented homes in England, about 13%, have been classed as a serious threat to health and safety, according to the National Audit Office (NAO), while nearly a quarter are “non-decent”. The watchdog said the findings were “concerning” and added that Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities did “not yet have a detailed plan to address the problems that renters face” and lacked understanding on problems plaguing some private tenants, such as harassment and eviction. Evictions are returning to close to pre-pandemic levels ...
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/10/squalid-privatel…
# International, Discrimination, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, Health, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Mould, Short-term holiday letting.Social housing helps economy as well as renters
Greg Ogle (No paywall)Investing in housing helps not only the low-income and those in rental stress but creates jobs to build an appreciating asset. Three reports on housing released last week all reached one conclusion: that governments need to act to make renting more affordable. It was a deluge of data, but worth wading through to find out what is happening for those struggling in the rental market. (In Daily)
https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2021/12/06/social-housing-helps-e…
# Research alert Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Housing: woeful, inadequate, poor outcomes? Take your pick
Annie Hall The Fifth Estate (No paywall)A natHERS energy rating assessor who claims her company has done more assessments for the rating tool than any other company in Australia has launched a powerful critique of the proposed reforms to the National Construction Code. It included an observation that level of knowledge, workmanship and execution of sustainability outcomes would “shock” observers. The latest International Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that the world urgently needs to reduce carbon emissions to avoid a catastrophic future. Yet the proposed reforms to the National Construction Code in 2022 would see new houses built to a very modest if not completely inadequate 7-star rating by 2030, Efficient Living founder Tracey Cools told a recent CSIRO Australian Residential Energy Rating Conference.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/housing-w…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.The best weird property listings of 2021
Ellen Lutton Domain (No paywall)It’s fair to say 2021 was a wild year for real estate, and we’re not even talking about the crazy price rises. From houses that were built by mistake, to underwater blocks of land for sale, there were some absolute pearlers that hit the market this year, highlighting just how bonkers the property market can be, no matter where you live.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-best-weird-property-listings-…
# Australia, Housing market, International.Four out of five first home buyers locked out of most of Sydney and Melbourne
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Three in four properties in Sydney and half in Melbourne are only affordable for the highest earning 20 per cent of first home buyers. That’s based on analysis by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, which looked at both first-home purchase and rental affordability around Australia. It differs from other housing analysis because it looks at affordability by income segment rather than assuming an average or median income. You will find a media release and a link to this report at: [https://www.nhfic.gov.au/media-resources/media-releases/nhfic-releases-housing-affordability-analysis/]
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/four-out-of-five-fir…
# Research alert Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.‘I was squatting’: why asylum seekers so often struggle to find secure housing
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)It took Mariah six months to find her first rental in western Sydney. An asylum seeker from a west African nation, she arrived in Australia in 2018 and has been living in the community on a bridging visa ever since. Initially boarding with a family, she got a job and struck out with a friend, only to discover that the rental market wanted nothing to do with her. “Every real estate agent we applied to said: ‘You are asylum seekers, you don’t have a permanent residency, you don’t have the documents that we are asking for,’” Mariah tells Guardian Australia. “And above all, we don’t have anyone to reference or stand as witness for us.” ... Mariah’s experience is not unique. Asylum seekers routinely experience housing insecurity, homelessness, chronic financial insecurity and the constantly looming threat of eviction from formal and informal tenancies, according to a new report from Jesuit Refugee Services and the University of Western Sydney. You will find a link to the full report at: [https://aus.jrs.net/en/news/new-report-people-seeking-asylum-face-enduring-homelessness-amidst-chronic-financial-insecurity/]
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/12/i-was-squ…
# Research alert NSW, Rent, Homelessness, Landlords and agents, Personal stories, Race and ethnicity.Grenfell delivers yet more horrors. But the guilty still fail to take responsibility
Kenan Malik The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Lying. Refusing to follow rules. Mocking the little people. Deflecting any blame. Not just this government’s response to a Christmas party that “never took place”, but the response of successive governments to the issue of fire safety in buildings. Where the former reveals the depth of hypocrisy and contempt within elite circles, the latter exposes a culture of impunity that has had deadly consequences. Last week, the Grenfell Tower inquiry began its final phase in which it will investigate the role of government policy. Jason Beer, QC for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, declared the department “deeply sorry for its past failures” that had helped create “an environment in which such a tragedy was possible”. You might also check out Grainne Cuff's article entitled: 'Grenfell survivors slam "disingenuous" and "deeply offensive" government inquiry statement' in 'Inside Housing' at: [https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/grenfell-survivors-slam-disingenuous-and-deeply-offensive-government-inquiry-statement-73622]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/12/grenfell-d…
# International, Public and community housing, Minimum habitability standards.