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
Even with the eviction moratorium, landlords continued to find ways to kick renters out
Matthew Fowle and Rachel Fyall The Conversation (No paywall)Millions of renters in the U.S. lost a key protection keeping them in their homes on Aug. 26, 2021, with a Supreme Court ruling ending a national moratorium on eviction. The federal stay on evictions was put in place during the coronavirus pandemic to protect renters falling behind on monthly payments and therefore in danger of needing to stay at homeless shelters or with friends or relatives. This pandemic response was designed to keep tenants in their housing, prevent overcrowding in shelters and homes, and reduce the spread of COVID-19. ... we studied the housing experiences of low-income renters during the coronavirus pandemic. Our research found that even when a ban on evictions was in place, landlords still had ways to force, or at least encourage, renters to leave. Indeed, these so-called “informal evictions” – in which landlords harass tenants out of their homes – may even have increased as a result of the stay on evictions.
https://theconversation.com/even-with-the-eviction-moratorium-la…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, Coronavirus COVID-19.'Absolutely neglectful’: Labor says Wilcannia COVID housing too late
Cameron Gooley The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Thirty new motorhomes will open in the far western NSW community of Wilcannia so COVID-19 positive people won’t have to isolate in overcrowded housing, a move Labor says should have happened weeks ago. The homes will be on Wilcannia’s campervan site by Monday, weeks after the town recorded its first COVID-19 case. More than 60 per cent of Wilcannia’s population is Aboriginal, considered more at risk from the virus, and concerns about the ability of people to isolate in the community’s overcrowded housing have been mounting. The announcement comes days after a leaked letter from a respected local Aboriginal health organisation raised the alarm over the “chaotic” government response to an unfolding “humanitarian crisis” in Wilcannia. ... Labor has urged the state government to prepare similar accommodation options for other remote communities, ready to be rolled out as soon as they begin to record cases. It is also urging the Coalition to invest more money in remote housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/absolutely-neglectful-labor-…
# Hot topic NSW, Aboriginal renters, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Short-term holiday letting, State Government.Thirty motorhomes for Wilcannia to help residents isolate during COVID outbreak
Callum Marshall, Bill Ormonde and Andrew Schmidt ABC (No paywall)Thirty motorhomes will be set up in Wilcannia in far-west New South Wales to help the community safely isolate during its frightening COVID outbreak. About 10 per cent of the population has now tested positive for COVID, with 77 cases recorded in the town. ... The temporary accommodation option is planned to be operational from September 6 and will be located at the council-owned campervan site in Wilcannia. Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the site had access to power, water and waste disposal.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-01/wilcannia-covid-outbreak-…
# Hot topic NSW, Aboriginal renters, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Short-term holiday letting, State Government.Social housing in New South Wales - Contempoary Analysis
Emma Barnes, Thomas Writer and Chris Hartley (No paywall)In advance of the June 2021 NSW Budget, the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW commissioned the Centre for Social Impact at the University of NSW to examine the NSW Government’s commitments to develop additional social housing. The report demonstrates that, though there are more than 51,000 applicants for social housing at present, NSW Government commitments between 2016 and 2026 amount to just 9,386 additional dwellings. It also finds that expenditure on social housing per capita in NSW declined between 2017-18 and 2019-20 and that social housing as a proportion of the total housing stock has declined from 5% in 2012 to 4.7% in 2020. (St Vincent de Paul Society) Read the full report at: [https://www.csi.edu.au/research/project/social-housing-in-new-south-wales/]
https://www.csi.edu.au/research/project/social-housing-in-new-so…
# Research alert NSW, Public and community housing, Homelessness, State Government.Understanding discrimination effects in private rental housing
Sophia Maalsen, Peta Wolifson, Dallas Rogers, Jacqueline Nelson and Caitlin Buckle AHURI (No paywall)A new report released today, undertaken by researchers from The University of Sydney examines discrimination across age, gender, race and indigeneity in existing policy, law and practice in Australia’s private rental sector, including the impact of informal tenancies and the increasing role of digital technologies. The research finds there is a growing number of informal and shared tenancies, increasing the potential for discrimination. Informal tenants have few renter’s rights and those in share-housing can also face discrimination by other tenants, including via little-regulated digital technologies. The report also examines the role of digital housing technologies in mediating discrimination across the rental system. At present, they reflect the power imbalance between landlords and tenants, however international examples show they can be used to support tenants. You can read the full report at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/363/_nocache?utm_source=ZohoCampaigns&utm_campaign=AHURI+News_+Maaslen+363_+01.09.2021&utm_medium=email]
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#inbox/WhctKKWxdNWwjSxhjD…
# Research alert Australia, Discrimination, Rent, Share houses, Housing market, Older people, Race and ethnicity, Women.Delay to removal of flammable cladding from NSW apartment buildings
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A state government project to remove flammable cladding from apartment towers has been put on hold until next year, with the NSW Building Commissioner blaming the COVID-19 lockdown for the delay. Some 239 apartment buildings – most of which are in Sydney – housing thousands of residents have been deemed high-risk and are under orders to remove combustible cladding.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/delay-to-removal-of-flammabl…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.NI government extends longer eviction notice periods until May 2022
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)Amid the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the Northern Ireland Assembly passed legislation requiring private landlords to give tenants a 12-week notice period before seeking a court order to begin eviction proceedings. Previously, renters in the region were only entitled to a four-week notice period – half the standard in the rest of the UK. The longer notice period rules were due to expire on 30 September, but communities minister Deirdre Hargey today announced that they will stay until 4 May 2022 following a review.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/ni-government-extends-…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Aussie home values surge 18 per cent, but can it last?
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australian home values rose 1.5 per cent in August, according to data released today by CoreLogic. They are now up 18.4 per cent over the past year – the fastest annual pace of growth since the late 1980s. ... So, why are prices rising so fast? Can it last? And what hope is there for first time buyers looking to get into the market? Business reporter Clancy Yeates joins Jess Irvine to discuss.
https://www.smh.com.au/please-explain/aussie-home-values-surge-1…
# Audio Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.