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
ACT govt proposes insulation standards to help make Canberra rental homes more energy efficient
Brittney Levinson Canberra Times (Paywall)In the peak of Canberra winter, Jessica McConnell and her three housemates did everything they could to keep their Deakin rental house warm.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7501924/canberra-renters-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.The cost of renting and buying in Time Out’s coolest Australian suburbs
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Buying or renting a home in some of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods sounds costly, but the reality might not be as expensive as you think.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-cost-of-renting-and-buying-in…
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Private islands for sale in Queensland going cheap, but lifestyle has its challenges
Sally Rafferty ABC (No paywall)Eager buyers trying to get a foot on the property ladder could snap up a tropical island for the price of a one-bedroom apartment in Sydney, a real estate agent says. ... Around Australia, private Islands have been snapped up in the past 12 months for as little as $320,000.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-11/private-islands-for-sale-…
# Australia, Housing market.Holiday home rent on NSW South Coast skyrockets more than 30 per cent
Jessica Clifford ABC (Paywall)The price of taking a holiday on the New South Wales South Coast has skyrocketed, with a week’s accommodation costing up to $22,000.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-13/holiday-home-rent-on-nsw-…
# NSW, Regional NSW, Short-term holiday letting.When renters organise, we can win!
Make Renting Fair Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)We're bringing you the second in our event series today, 11th of November, this time hearing from Renters United in Aotearoa! Today is the day when the protections for renters in NSW that have been in place throughout this latest lockdown will be ending. But why should we accept a return to a pre-COVD 'normal'? Why can't we push for a better, fairer renting system? Come along, hear about Renters United's successful renter organising, and bring your thoughts, questions and ideas about what it looks like to Make Renting Fair.
https://www.facebook.com/events/844601686215689/?acontext=%7B%22…
# NSW, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.How our cities work: essential lessons from lockdown
Matt Wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)As Melbourne and Sydney roar back to life it might be tempting to forget all about the lockdowns of 2021. But the pandemic drew attention to vulnerabilities in our two biggest cities that often remain invisible. It would be foolish to ignore them. Cities are always marked by differences of wealth and income. But the lockdowns shone new light on stark geographical inequalities in Melbourne and Sydney. ... The pandemic has drawn attention to where our essential workers live. Holloway found that in Sydney it’s mostly in the city’s west and south-west, while in Melbourne, the highest proportion of essential workers reside in the north and west growth areas on the city’s outer edges. These locations also recorded a high share of infections during this year’s Delta outbreak. Sydney’s west and south-west also experienced the most stringent lockdown restrictions. A key reason for the high concentration of essential workers in those places is the cost of housing. A growing share of essential workers on middle and lower incomes has had little choice but to locate in outer metropolitan growth areas where housing is more affordable.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/how-our-cities-work-…
# NSW, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Housing market.Privacy Commissioner cracks down on rental sector: What landlords can and can't ask
Anne Gibson (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Landlords mainly owned one to two properties "and there will be some who don't get the message", he warned. Property owners can't ask tenants for information on personal characteristics protected under the Human Rights Act. That includes asking about relationships or family status, political opinion or religious or ethical belief, colour, race or ethnicity, physical or mental disability or illness and age except whether the tenant is over 18. Nor can landlords collect information about employment status or whether someone is unemployed, on a benefit or on ACC, sexual orientation or gender identity, whether tenants have experienced or suffering current family violence, spending habits like asking for bank statements showing transactions, employment history or social media URLs. (New Zealand Herald)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/privacy-commissioner-cracks-…
# International, Privacy and access, Rent, Landlords and agents.With Cases Piling Up, an Eviction Crisis Unfolds Step by Step
Sophie Kasakove The New York Times (Paywall)From the United States ... In Indianapolis, eviction courts are packed as judges make their way through a monthslong backlog of cases. In Detroit, advocates are rushing to knock on the doors of tenants facing possible eviction. In Gainesville, Fla., landlords are filing evictions at a rapid pace as displaced tenants resort to relatives’ couches for places to sleep or seek cheaper rents outside the city. It is not the sudden surge of evictions that tenants and advocates feared after the Supreme Court ruled in August that President Biden’s extension of the eviction moratorium was unconstitutional. Instead, what’s emerging is a more gradual eviction crisis that is increasingly hitting communities across the country, especially those where the distribution of federal rental assistance has been slow, and where tenants have few protections.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/07/us/evictions-crisis-us.html
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Tribunal NCAT, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Housing market.