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
Lyn retired with little super and unable to pay the rent. Her story is not uncommon
Leigh Sales, Kirsten Robb, and Laura Francis ABC (No paywall)Lyn Bailey lived a comfortable life before her divorce, travelling overseas and even putting her four children through private school. She never expected to be staring down the barrel of homelessness. After her divorce was finalised, Lyn thought she would be able to buy herself a unit along the coast of New South Wales with her share of the proceeds from the sale of the family home. The bank told her it would not lend money to someone in their late 50s. "For the first time in my adult life, I had to find somewhere to live to rent," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-30/women-financially-disadva…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Homelessness, Older people, Women.Banning Airbnb and shipping in portable homes considered as housing crisis bites in coastal towns
Rachel Clayton ABC (No paywall)Soaring prices. Low wages. Competition. Desperation. The unaffordable conditions for Australian home buyers are spilling into the rental market for coastal families, and locals say it's destroying the very reason these towns are popular in the first place. Landlords from Byron Bay, Yamba and Noosa to Lorne and Apollo Bay are jacking up rents as the popularity of seaside towns continues climbing while lockdowns roll on in cities.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-28/coastal-families-lose-hom…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing market, Regional NSW, Short-term holiday letting.Investor inspections allowed to go ahead in Sydney, with health orders updated to address confusion
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Property investors in NSW can continue to inspect homes during lockdown, it has been confirmed, with changes made to the stay-at-home orders that many believed prohibited them from inspecting properties in person. The state government tweaked the wording of the public health orders late on Wednesday afternoon, in a bid to clear up industry confusion which resulted in some real estate agents preventing investors from inspecting homes in person. The orders now state it is a reasonable excuse to leave home to inspect an investment property, but previously said a person could only leave home to inspect a potential new place of residence for that person. ... Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said he also felt investors’ inspections had been clearly banned under the orders, and was disappointed to learn they could go ahead amid growing COVID-19 case numbers – especially when investors could turn to virtual inspections and professional building and pest inspections instead. “Health orders have been consistent on that since July,” he said. “Investors really don’t need to be inspecting property at the moment. “I can see a public health argument for someone who needs a home to live in, but it’s not consistent to say someone should be entering someone else’s place of residence and potentially spreading the virus in order to buy property. “Every other industry is making adjustments; it’s pretty wild that the property industry is forging ahead.” Mr Patterson Ross said allowing investor inspections would make it all the more important for agents and landlords to follow restrictions, which should be limited to two one-on-one inspections per week for tenanted properties, under rules in the health orders and tenancy agreements. Large numbers of renters had been unlawfully asked to leave properties during inspections, he said, while others had reported multiple people going through their home at one time. Many renters felt too vulnerable to retaliation to report those doing the wrong thing, he added.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/investors-inspections-allowed-to-…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Privacy and access, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Wilcannia housing crisis hope, as town battles COVID in overcrowded homes
Jonathon Poulson ABC (No paywall)Wilcannia residents have been given the strongest indication yet that progress will be made to ease chronic overcrowding due to a lack of housing in the Indigenous community. The town has been demanding answers from the NSW government for years about what is being done to improve the living conditions of residents. ... NSW Water, Property and Housing Minister Melinda Pavey announced funding for 20 new houses for Indigenous families across the area, including eight in Broken Hill, five in Wilcannia, five in Walgett and two in Lightning Ridge.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-29/wilcannia-housing-shortag…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, State Government.You can’t end homelessness with a temporary bed – people deserve lasting homes
Polly Neate (Paywall)When coronavirus took hold last year, thousands of people sleeping rough were helped off the streets under the “Everyone In” campaign, undoubtedly saving lives. Extra funding and extraordinary efforts by the government, councils and charities meant 37,000 people were found a bed – some in hotels or B&Bs, others in hostels.But you can’t end homelessness with a temporary bed ... (The Independent)
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/homelessness-everyone-in-sh…
# International, Federal Government, Homelessness.Housing markets around the world have seen house prices soar and affordability worsen
Jules Birch Inside Housing (Paywall)News that house prices are rising at their fastest rate since 2004 highlights both the perverse effects of the pandemic and long-term problems with affordability. ... There is evidence of the same pattern emerging in housing markets around the world: annual house price growth across the 38 richest nations has more than doubled during the pandemic to hit 9.4%, according to the OECD. ... The international comparisons above come from an excellent series on global house prices the Financial Times has been running this month, with obvious relevance for what we can sometimes see as our own unique housing crisis.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/housing-markets-around-t…
# International, Housing market, International.“Politics is a question of power – not simply of ideas”. On Scotland’s proposal for rent controls
(No paywall)Last week, announced as part of the power-sharing arrangement between the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens were proposals to introduce rent controls in Scotland. If implemented, this would be the first time rent controls were in place in Britain since the 1970s. Yet this policy didn't drop out of the sky – it was the result of over 7 years of tenant organising spearheaded by Living Rent [Scotland's Tenants' Union]. To discuss what the deal means, how it came about, and what the next steps are GMHA sat down with Living Rent's Gordon Maloney. (Greater Manchester Housing Action)
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.On the street and online this library helps the homeless
Alyssa Robinson (No paywall)While Martin Place fell into an uncharacteristic quiet during Sydney’s lockdown, Tuesday nights have provided a cheerful contrast. Week in and week out, people experiencing homelessness know that’s when they can find friendship, a coffee, a bite to eat – and a good read. The Footpath Library has been providing quality books to people experiencing homelessness since 2003. (South Sydney Herald)
https://southsydneyherald.com.au/on-the-street-and-online-this-l…
# NSW, Homelessness.