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
COVID-19: Lockdown support for Australian Capital Territory renters
(No paywall)COVID-19 restrictions are in force for the Australian Capital Territory and in place until Thursday, 2 September. If you rent in the ACT, here’s where to get tenancy support. (rent.com.au)
https://www.rent.com.au/blog/australian-capital-territory-lockdo…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.COVID-19: Tenancy support for South Australian tenants
(No paywall)COVID-19 restrictions were recently in force for South Australia. If you rent in SA, here’s where to get tenancy support. (rent.com.au)
# Australia, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Senior housing crisis on the horizon
Daniel Smith (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Peter Dalton was 90 years old when he discovered he needed to find a new place to live. The former school teacher had spent the past 20 years renting a house in Torbay, Auckland. But when the owner returned due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it meant his accommodation was no longer an option. So Dalton was forced to compete with others for somewhere to live. He wanted to find a self-contained unit in his community on Auckland’s North Shore, but that was impossible. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125689179/senior-housing-crisis…
# International, Rent, Affordable housing, Older people.Exiting prison with complex support needs: the role of housing assistance
Chris Martin, Rebecca Reeve,Ruth McCausland, Eileen Baldry, Pat Burton, Rob White and Stuart Thomas AHURI (No paywall)A new report released today, undertaken by researchers from The University of New South Wales, University of Tasmania and RMIT University examines policies and programs relevant to the housing pathways of ex-prisoners with complex support needs in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, including what criminal justice costs and benefits result from current housing assistance settings. The research finds ex-prisoners with complex support needs who receive public housing have better criminal justice outcomes than comparable ex-prisoners who receive private rental assistance only. It also finds in dollar terms, housing an ex-prisoner in a public housing tenancy generates, after five years, a net benefit of between $5,200 and $35,000, relative to the cost of providing them with assistance in private rental or through homelessness services.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/361/_nocache?utm…
# Research alert Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Health.Homeless in a bush camp, told to move on, but with a lack of affordable housing there's nowhere to go
Wiriya Sati ABC (No paywall)As property and rental prices soar in regional areas along the New South Wales coast, a housing shortage has pushed many into homelessness. In a state forest on the NSW Mid North Coast, a group of people have found a community who look out for each other and their camps, but now they have been told they must move on.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-21/lack-of-affordable-housin…
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Pets, Regional NSW, Short-term holiday letting.Push to reinstate Victoria's COVID-19 eviction freeze as Tenant Victoria lockdown survey reveals rental pain
Neelima Choahan ABC (No paywall)Trevor Hines works full time, but he and his family have just $150 left to live on after paying rent this week. Like many Melburnians, the hospitality manager has no work during the lockdown and his only income is $750 in COVID-19 disaster payments. ... And he is not alone. Tenants Victoria, the peak body for the state's renters, conducted a snapshot survey of renters from July 28 to August 3 — just after the fifth lockdown ended. Of the 684 respondents, 69 per cent said they had been financially impacted due to the 12-day lockdown in July 2021. The report has renewed calls for the state government to reintroduce a safety net for renters, including rent relief grants to support renters and landlords and suspending evictions during any COVID-19 lockdowns.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-21/renter-stress-covid-lockd…
# Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, State Government.New NSW laws set to allow more apartment owners to keep pets
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)TV presenter and dog owner Scott McGregor plans to celebrate Tuesday’s change in the law about keeping pets in apartments by bringing home a puppy to keep his – currently illegal – miniature fox terrier Jimmy company. ... The laws that come into effect this week mean bylaws that unreasonably forbid the keeping of pets in strata buildings will be invalid.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/new-nsw-laws-set-to-allow-more-ap…
# NSW, Strata, Pets, State Government.Vaccinating the most vulnerable in our society
Mary McCarthy ABC (No paywall)When it comes to vaccinating the most vulnerable, a Sydney hospital has found that taking the vaccines directly to them dramatically increases the uptake. Every Thursday, big crowds of homeless people and people living in social housing gather at a pop-up vaccination clinic in inner Sydney spurred on by the outbreak that is growing around them. (ABC 7.30 Report)
https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/vaccinating-the-most-vulnerable-in-o…
# Video NSW, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.