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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
New pet-friendly strata laws about to bite
Jimmy Thomson (No paywall)A change in NSW strata law that comes in next week will radically alter the default position on pets in NSW strata schemes, bringing relief to pet owners and some certainty to strata schemes confused by recent legal decisions on pet ownership. From August 24, any by-laws that unreasonably prohibit owners from keeping pets will be invalid and unreasonable delays in reaching a decision on whether or not to accept pets will be taken as approval. However, there will be provisions to protect residents for whom the presence of animals in the block would “unreasonably interfere” with their health or wellbeing. (Flat Chat) You will find the new regulation at: [https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/sl-2021-464]
# NSW, Strata, Pets, State Government.Locked down neighbours complain about kids using chalk on driveway
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Neighbourhood tensions are rising among Sydney’s apartment dwellers as the lockdown enters its ninth week, with one mother the subject of a complaint for letting her daughters use chalk on the communal driveway. The Sun-Herald has heard multiple accounts of neighbours or strata committees across Sydney writing to residents to complain about children making noise or playing on common property. ... There were nearly a million Sydneysiders living in apartments at the 2016 census, and a growing number are families with children. Nurse Michelle Allebi lives in a two-bedroom flat in Croydon Park - in the hard-hit Canterbury-Bankstown local government area - with her husband Jose and their two daughters, age 4 and 2. As an alternative to parks and playgrounds, Ms Allebi supervised a play session with chalk in the driveway drawing love hearts, butterflies, alphabets and hopscotch. She received a handwritten letter from a neighbour pointing out it was against strata bylaws to “deface or damage” common property. ... The family has also received two letters from the strata committee complaining their children were too loud ... She added that she had never complained about the neighbours’ behaviour, including not wearing masks in the common areas, parking in her parking spot or blocking the driveway. ... Tenants’ Union chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said it was common for strata committees to include a bylaw saying occupants should not make “excessive noise”... “It’s not surprising the issue is popping up now because everyone’s at home and it’s a more stressed, tense environment.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/locked-down-neighbours-compl…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19, Local Government.Strata owners slam NSW Health ‘confused mess’
Jimmy Thomson (No paywall)With yet another “tightening” of lockdown restrictions for greater Sydney, and once again the specific needs of apartment residents being ignored, the peak group for apartment owners in NSW has come out swinging. The Owners Corporation Network (OCN) has accused the NSW Health depart of creating a “confused mess” by trying to treat 40-storey high apartment blocks the same as stand-alone houses, and explaining that strata committees can’t manage a pandemic just through by-laws. “Health NSW needs a clearer strategy for directing and supporting apartment communities,” Karen Stiles, Executive Officer of OCN said. (Flat Chat)
https://www.flat-chat.com.au/ocn-slams-health/?no_cache=16295068…
# NSW, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19.Billionaire gives displaced hermit $250,000
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)From the United States ... A billionaire software company CEO has given a former hermit $US180,000 ($251,000) to rebuild his cabin in a new location. ... There has been an outpouring of support for Lidstone since he was jailed on July 15 and accused of squatting for nearly 30 years on property owned by a Vermont man. ... His New Hampshire cabin burnt down this month.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/billionaire-gives-hom…
# International, Squatting.Woman crushed by ceiling collapse as ITV News exposes yet more social housing failures
Sophie Alexander (No paywall)Imagine if you were standing in your bedroom and suddenly the entire ceiling came crashing down on you, knocking you to the floor. That’s what happened to Adeola Olutade, from Brixton, south London. She was enjoying a restful Sunday while her four-year-old daughter was out with family when she noticed a small leak in the corner of her bedroom. Fast forward 40 minutes and the leak had turned into a full disaster as the ceiling of Adeola’s bedroom came crashing down on her head, coating her in debris. (ITV News)
https://www.itv.com/news/2021-08-19/tenant-on-housing-conditions…
# Video International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Local Government.Tackling domestic abuse is a moral duty for social landlords
Sarah Andrews Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The number of domestic abuse cases reported to Sovereign rose by 170% last year. Sarah Andrews explains that if there are more issues reported, there are more actions that housing associations can take
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/tackling-domesti…
# International, Domestic violence, Public and community housing.Race and allocation: who are the new tenants getting social housing, and is it equitable?
Alex Turner Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Government stats reveal consistent race inequalities in social housing lettings, with some communities under, and others over, represented. ... Look back over a decade or so of social housing lettings data and a pattern quickly emerges. The level of allocation across England to white households hovers just below 85% – 82% of 306,000 new lettings in 2019/20 – broadly reflecting their proportion of the population. Asian households, meanwhile, are under-represented, with those most recent figures showing them accounting for 5% of lettings, despite making up 9% of the population. The reverse is true for households identifying as Black, who made up 8% of new social lets in 2019/20, but 4% of citizens. While those proportions fluctuate a little year on year – and it is worth keeping in mind that households are defined by the lead tenant’s ethnicity, potentially eliminating important nuance – the trend is remarkably consistent. What can this data – and other available information – tell us about how race affects your chances of accessing a social home? We dig into the figures and ask experts what they think needs to change.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/race-and-allocat…
# International, Public and community housing, Race and ethnicity.Rents surge a 'concerning' 13.7% in a year to a $508 median
Harrison Astbury (No paywall)The latest data from SQM Research shows vacancy rates have plummeted, pushing rent prices up and placing pressure on the regions in particular. The national median rent price sits at $508 a week, which is 1.3% higher in the past 30 days, and 13.7% higher for the past 12 months. This is attributed to low vacancy rates putting pressure on a few rental markets. ... [SQM managing director Louis Christopher said:] "It is also possible that long term leasing is becoming very challenging for landlords due to rental moratoriums," he said. "We believe instead that landlords may increasingly be using short term accommodation websites such as Airbnb and Stayz whereby they have a greater say on who occupies their property and the length of time they stay." (Savings.com.au)
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Short-term holiday letting.