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
Insurers pledge to stop billing tenants for accidental property damage in 'huge win for renters'
Amy Bainbridge and Lucy Kent ABC (No paywall)Insurance companies have committed to changing their policies around landlord insurance, after consumer groups and the ABC helped to expose the issue earlier this year. In September, the ABC revealed a couple from Horsham in regional Victoria had been sent a bill for $78,000 after an accidental fire at their rental property last year. Shortly afterwards, the landlord's insurer, GIO — which is owned by Suncorp — dropped its claim for payment. However, the story and campaigning by consumer advocates has prompted wider changes.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-01/insurance-companies-to-st…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Mounting pressure on the Federal Government to solve the housing crisis
Raise the rate for good (No paywall)With decades of surging rents and inadequate investment in new public and community housing, it’s getting harder for people relying on income support payments to find an affordable home. A new report written by the City Futures Research Centre for the ACOSS/UNSW Poverty and Inequality Partnership with National Shelter and Mission Australia shows how the lack of investment in social and affordable housing by the Federal Government has created the current housing and rental crisis and adds to mounting pressure on the Federal Government to step in to solve it.
https://raisetherateforgood.good.do/PIPhousingreport/emailMP/
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Campaigns and law reform.The Guardian view on Britain’s renters: neglected and cash-strapped
Editorial The Guardian (No paywall)... for the millions of Britons who will never come close to earning enough money to own a home, insecure rented accommodation has become a way of life. As the supply of social housing has steadily dwindled, their interests have been grievously neglected.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/01/the-guardi…
# International, Rent, Housing market.Shoalhaven Homeless Hub left without a home - in the middle of an accommodation crisis
Jessica Clifford ABC (No paywall)Hundreds of homeless people could be left without basic services if the Shoalhaven Homeless Hub is unable to find an alternative premises by Australia Day. The hub has been operating in its central Nowra location since 1994, however the landlord has indicated they would like the house back next year. Supported Accommodation and Homelessness Services Shoalhaven Illawarra (SASSHI) manager Lesley Labka said the main issue was a lack of rental properties in central Nowra and high rental prices.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-11/shoallhaven-homeless-hub-…
# NSW, Rent, Homelessness, Regional NSW.Thursday Island residents blame public service for chronic housing, disease problems
Jemima Burt ABC (No paywall)Thursday Island is a pulsing hub of public service servicing the Torres Strait, but underneath all that administration and bureaucracy there is a festering problem. ... Waiben's original inhabitants, the Kaurareg people, were forcibly removed to Moa Island the early 1920s, but the island remains an important service centre for Torres Strait Islanders – who make up about a quarter of Thursday Island's population. ... The result is widespread homelessness and overcrowded housing among Thursday Island's Indigenous populations, with government housing occupying more than half of the island. Health authorities say the situation has led to the region having the highest rate of rheumatic heart disease in the country – a condition with links to overcrowded housing. While many public servants are offered subsidised rent, local people are being forced to pay mainstream rent in an inflated and unrealistic economy.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-30/public-service-drives-hom…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Health, Housing market.Towards a Youth Homelessness Strategy for Victoria
Tom Alves and Christian Roggenbuck AHURI (No paywall)Young people are a significant group experiencing homelessness in Victoria. Compared to older cohorts, young people have distinctive pathways into, and experiences of homelessness. To effectively meet the needs of young people a youth-specific homelessness strategy is required in Victoria. Read more at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/news/A-Youth-Homelessness-Strategy-is-needed-to-support-the-unique-needs-of-young-Victorians]
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/professional-services/Towards-…
# Australia, Homelessness, Young people.States disagree on access features for new housing – and open the gates to confusion, especially for trades
Jane Bringolf The Fifth Estate (No paywall)In December the Building Ministers’ Meeting will finalise the section of the National Construction Code relating to basic easy access features in all new homes. The decision to include these features, referred to as the Silver standard, was made in April this year. But this is not a done deal. Contrary to the spirit of a national building code, New South Wales and South Australia are refusing to adopt the Silver standard. They say it costs too much.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/states-di…
# Australia, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.Millions of Australians paying more for rent now than ever before
Jennifer Bechwati (No paywall)We're talking about real families and real people whose incomes cannot keep up. (7 News)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxf1fmHF6ss&ab_channel=7NEWSAust…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing affordability.