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
Sydney property sellers make paper profits of up to $2.3m after buying the COVID dip
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Lucky homeowners who bought property in the uncertainty of the pandemic’s early days are reselling their homes, making huge gains without lifting a finger while there is little else on the market.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-property-sellers-make-pape…
# NSW, Housing market.‘Insufficient’: Audit Office lashes lack of climate planning in NSW
Peter Hannan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW Audit Office has released a scathing report on the government’s ability to cope with the effects of a heating climate, finding critical assets and services had yet to conduct risk assessments, such as for the state’s $50 billion public housing portfolio. ... Among the gaps identified was the failure of the Land and Housing Corporation, which holds $50 billion of social housing assets to conduct a review. Projections for “significant increases in the number of heatwaves” mean it will get harder to limit the risk of heatstroke and other poor health outcomes for residents, the report found.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/insufficient-a…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, Climate change, Health, Planning and development, State Government.Tenants' Union NSW welcomes extension of moratorium and an increased Residential Tenancy Support Payment
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The Tenants' Union NSW welcomes the NSW Government's announcement the current eviction moratorium will continue until 11 November. This sits alongside an increase of an additional $1,500 to the available Residential Tenancy Support Payment, taking the available maximum payment to $4,500 to help reduce rents for struggling households as NSW's lockdown continues. Once the moratorium lifts, transitional protections will be put in place to ensure renters are able to negotiate a reasonable payment plan, and are protected from eviction for any debt built up during the moratorium period.
https://www.tenants.org.au/news/tenants-union-nsw-welcomes-exten…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, State Government.Social housing residents struggling with ‘inadequate food’ and ‘overpolicing’ in hard lockdown
Eden Gillespie SBS (No paywall)Residents in a social housing estate in Sydney have complained about overpolicing and inadequate food supplies after 104 homes were plunged into hard lockdown, following the detection of four positive COVID-19 cases in the building. Ms Saffaa, a disability support worker and artist, was about to leave for work last Thursday when her building was swarmed by health workers in PPE and police officers. “Someone stopped me and asked me if I was a resident. I said yes and they said, ‘Well, the building is under lockdown, you can't leave’,” Ms Saffaa told The Feed. Ms Saffaa lives in Common Ground Towers, a social housing estate in Camperdown. The building is run by Mission Australia, with residents having experienced long-term homelessness and insecure housing.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/social-housing-residents-st…
# Hot topic NSW, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19.Social housing residents form Action Group after ‘over-policed’ hard lockdown rollout
Eva Baxter (No paywall)Mission Australia’s Common Ground social housing facility in Camperdown was placed into lockdown from 8AM on Thursday 2 September for 14 days until Wednesday 15 September after four tenants tested positive to COVID-19. Common Ground residents formed an Action Group to ensure they are properly supported. Common Ground Action Group criticised the lockdown rollout as over-policed, heavy handed, intimidatory and demeaning. “The people of Common Ground have a history of being treated differently with regards to our social status as being ‘vulnerable,’” the group said. “We are a vulnerable group coming from diverse backgrounds, many with a history of trauma however we also see this as a position of strength, versatility and as a group we identify as proud survivors of institutional trauma. “We will not tolerate harassment or disempowerment by anyone including Mission Australia, local Police authorities or RPA hospital staff.”
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2021/09/social-housing-residents-fo…
# Hot topic NSW, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19.Catherine Hill Bay home
(No paywall)A retired coal miner is locked in a david and goliath battle to save his home of more than 60 years, from the wrecking ball. 77-year-old Joey Warren's Catherine Hill Bay home is set to be demolished to make way for a new housing development - but he says he's not going anywhere. (NBN Television)
https://www.facebook.com/nbntelevision/videos/384738586383010/
# Audio NSW, Eviction, Heritage listings, Protected tenants, Regional NSW.Victoria to offer rent relief payments
Rachel Eddie The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Victorians struggling to pay rent because of the pandemic will be assisted with a one-off $1500 grant paid directly to their landlords. Renters will need to have lost at least 20 per cent of their income as a result of the pandemic, since May 27 this year, and need to spend at least 30 per cent of their pay on rent. Singles will need to earn less than $62,860 and couples will need to earn no more than $94,300. People will also need to have less than $2000 in savings. Almost $45 million will also be added to fund emergency hotel accommodation for people experiencing homelessness, in a program extended until June 30 next year. You can also pick up this story on ABC PM at: [https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/vic-covid-cases-climb-as-libs-head-for-leadership-spill/13529660]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-on-track-for-f…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Essential workers face rental stress right across Sydney
Kate Burke and Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Sydney’s housing affordability crisis is leaving essential workers – the ones keeping Sydney going during lockdown – struggling to keep a roof over their heads, new analysis shows. Not one suburb in Sydney would be considered affordable for essential workers like aged-care nurses, supermarket managers and factory workers, a comparison of Domain rental data and the latest median salary data from the Australian Taxation Office shows. ... Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said unaffordable rents had seen Sydneysiders compromise on the location and quality of their housing and had left more people in overcrowded homes. ... “People are living in converted garages, in dodgy apartment buildings with illegal conversions, and all because we haven’t set up our housing system to house Australians, we’ve set it up as an investment [opportunity].”
https://www.domain.com.au/news/essential-workers-face-rental-str…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Families, Housing affordability, Housing market.