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
‘Stressful’: Sydney tenants served eviction notices during lockdown
Eden Gillespie SBS (No paywall)As Sydney’s COVID-19 numbers were ramping up, Alex and several other tenants in his apartment building in Sydney received eviction notices. Some tenants, who live in the same building as Alex but rent apartments owned by a real estate developer, told The Feed they were successful in pushing back the date of the eviction to the end of lockdown. But Alex, who rents through McGrath Real Estate and whose home is owned by a private property investor, was not so lucky. The Feed has seen several emails sent by an employee at McGrath, who refused Alex’s multiple requests for an extension on his eviction notice. Alex has been given until August 19 to vacate the property. ... Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive of Tenants Union NSW, told The Feed that no-grounds evictions are still possible during Greater Sydney’s lockdown. Mr Patterson Ross said the union has heard from a man who was given a 30-day notice to vacate his property after he objected to house inspections during the lockdown. “Tenants are very vulnerable. People are worried about the consequences of having to move, particularly at the moment,” Mr Patterson Ross said.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/stressful-sydney-tenants-se…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Privacy and access, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents.Renters on COVID-19 Disaster Payment set to face housing stress or rent debt
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)There are no suburbs in locked-down Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide where a single renter could afford the median home on the COVID-19 Disaster Payment without being in housing stress, new analysis shows. ... By itself, the $600 payment is not enough for many renters, said Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross, adding that JobSeeker recipients who have lost a couple of shifts a week are not eligible for the disaster payments at all. But amid Sydney’s extended lockdown, he welcomed the NSW government’s eviction moratorium, which protects tenants who have lost income due to COVID and continue to pay at least 25 per cent of their rent.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/renters-on-covid-19-disaster-paym…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, State Government.New concept to see older women living together to avoid homelessness, loneliness
Dea Clark ABC (No paywall)Maggie Shambrook had a successful career and single-handedly raised three children before being made redundant. ... "I lost my job and my house I'd been living in for 25 years," the 65-year-old said. "I had no success in the private rental market because I was on Newstart. I applied for 30 properties and couldn't find anywhere to live." ... Her story is an all too familiar one for older women who are recognised as the fastest-growing cohort of homeless people in the country. ... Facing a soaring rental market and no hope of ever owning her own home, Ms Shambrook and several other women turned to the newly formed foundation Sharing With Friends. The organisation ... aims to provide an opportunity for women to buy into an affordable, custom-built home. The prototype is designed to fit on an 800-square-metre suburban block of land provided by the charity. The idea is that five women each invest $120,000, which pays for the construction of affordable purpose-built accommodation consisting of five private living quarters, with a communal laundry, library, and garden.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-24/older-women-look-to-live-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Older people, Planning and development, Women.CoreLogic: Regional rents record largest increase on record
Jack Needham (No paywall)Rents across regional Australia surged by 11.3 per cent in the year ending June 2021, the highest annual growth figure since data firm CoreLogic began records in 2005. ... Tasmania aside, many of the largest gains were found in regional Queensland, Western Australia and NSW, with many traditional tourist hotspots seeing the greatest growth. (Port Macquariie News)
https://www.portnews.com.au/story/7345634/unsustainable-regional…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW.Bipartisan legislation introduced in Senate would address eviction crisis
Dave Kovaleski (No paywall)A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation that seeks to reduce the number of evictions in the United States. The Eviction Crisis Act of 2021 – introduced by U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Rob Portman (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Todd Young (R-IN) – would address the eviction crisis in several ways. [Read on] (Financial Regulation News) You will find more information about the Bill at:
[https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/eviction-crisis-act]. You will find the Bill at: [https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/2/f/2fac2718-81f0-4be6-8081-39e15e3a5c56/4F358E286BBCD54872E7BD77B3E7D3BB.mir21936.pdf]
https://financialregnews.com/bipartisan-legislation-introduced-i…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Federal Government.Health and Wellbeing in the Private Rented Sector: Enhancing Capabilities
Jennifer Harris and Kim McKee (No paywall)COVID-19 has exposed how housing operates as one of the key mechanisms through which social inequality translates into inequalities in health and wellbeing. This, in turn, raises questions on the multiple ways in which living in the private rented sector (PRS) impacts upon tenants’ wellbeing. ... One of the key findings: Some people living in the PRS, especially those with low incomes, experience capability deprivation which is linked to poor property conditions, spatial isolation, feelings of insecurity, illegal or poor landlord and letting agent management practices and issues of affordability. ... [Read a summary here] (Scottish Housing News) You will find the full report at: [https://housingevidence.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/HW-in-PRS-Part-2-final.pdf]
https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/article/second-report-launch…
# Research alert International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Housing market.The cost of buying a home has increased by 130 per cent over two generations and Generation X is bearing the debt burden
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)The cost of buying a home has increased by 130 per cent over two generations, leaving Generation X – those aged 41-56 years old – considerably worse off than the two generations before them and at risk of a looming debt disaster, a new report suggests. he discussion paper from Per Capita, "Generation Stressed", says the situation will get worse unless the federal government makes drastic policy changes such as removing or limiting negative gearing and axing the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount. "The federal government could axe tax incentives for investors, particularly the Capital Gains Tax Discount, and remove or limit negative gearing," the paper says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-23/house-prices-property-gen…
# Research alert Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Tax.‘Die of cold or die of stress?’: Social housing is frequently colder than global health guidelines
Daniel Daly, Frederico Tartarini, Gordon Waitt and Michael Tibbs The Conversation (No paywall)As you huddle inside this winter – possibly as part of a pandemic lockdown – you might be noticing the “thermal performance” of your home. In other words, does your home maintain a comfortable temperature inside, despite cold conditions outside? If you’re a social housing tenant in New South Wales, the answer may well be no. Our new research examined the relationship between energy consumption and thermal performance in 42 social housing dwellings. We found many homes operated outside the healthy temperature recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for substantial periods, particularly during winter. Our research also found many social housing tenants were effectively being forced to choose between keeping their home at a healthy temperature through cooling and heating, and keeping their energy bills manageable.
https://theconversation.com/die-of-cold-or-die-of-stress-social-…
# Research alert NSW, Public and community housing, Utilities electricity water gas, Health.