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
Sydney renters receive protections with 60-day evictions ban, increased support payments
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Sydney renters will be protected from eviction for the next 60 days if they have lost at least 25 per cent of their income in the latest lockdown, and landlords will be incentivised with up to $1500 to offer rent reductions to stressed tenants. ... Landlords have also been offered some relief with a capped grant of up to $1500 or a reduction on their land tax on the condition they reduce rent for their tenants. The state government also announced an extra $12 million in funding for temporary accommodation for those at risk of – or experiencing – homelessness. ... There were repeated calls from advocates and the opposition for more help for tenants who worked casual shifts and other affected workers essential to make ends meet while following stay-at-home orders. Tenants’ Union of New South Wales chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said it was a welcome recognition of the need for support for people who have lost income through this lockdown. “The financial support and the incentive for landlords to reduce rent will make a difference,” he said. “The stop on evictions for impacted renters gives those struggling with rent as a result of the lockdown greater certainty about their living situation and their ability to stay at home. “We are concerned, however, about renters who might otherwise already be facing eviction for ‘no grounds’, including end of fixed terms, or other reasons. This is a bad time for people to be forced to move and find a new home.” You will find another report in yahoo finance at: [https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/eviction-freeze-nsw-001838331.html]. Here's a summary of what NSW Fair Trading describe as a 'new short term moratorium on evictions'. Go to: [https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/resource-library/publications/coronavirus-covid-19/property/moratorium] Here's the relevant regulation. Go to: [https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/sl-2021-378]
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-renters-receive-protection…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media, Legal significance NSW, Eviction, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, State Government.NSW Peaks push for measures to support households struggling during current lockdown.
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The Tenants Union of NSW, with the NSW Council of Social Services (NCOSS) and Homelessness NSW, have written to Premier Berejiklian and Treasurer Perrottet, asking them to ensure measures are in place to support the most vulnerable during the current lockdown.
https://www.tenants.org.au/news/nsw-peaks-push-measures-support-…
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.NSW government calls eviction moratorium for renters amid Sydney COVID lockdown
Warren Barnsley (No paywall)New South Wales renters struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 lockdown will be protected from being evicted. The state government has on Tuesday called a 60-day moratorium on evictions for residential tenants who have lost 25 per cent or more of their income due to the stay-at-home orders. “There will be no evictions for the next 60 days for those doing it tough - for workers who had a reduction in income by 25 per cent,” said Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. Moreover, Perrottet says any landlords who provide rental relief for tenants can gain access to rebates and a reduction in land tax. The NSW government has made a similar announcement for commercial and retail tenants. (7 News) Matt Wade in the Sydney Morning Herald also reports on assistance to residential tenants at: [https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/support-package-will-help-but-nsw-s-economic-recovery-has-already-been-dealt-a-blow-20210713-p589e8.html].
https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/nsw-government-c…
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, State Government.Tenants have little support, protections three weeks into lockdown with no end in sight
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Sydney renters are reaching a “crisis point” with requests for food support soaring as they try to make ends meet with little financial support and inadequate eviction protections three weeks into a citywide lockdown. With no end in sight, NSW Labor, the Greens and the Tenants Union of New South Wales have renewed their urgent calls for the state government to reinstate a rental support package, including an eviction moratorium and rent reduction or deferrals to support tenants as part of the health response. ... [Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive officer of the Tenants Union of NSW] said three key elements were needed to protect renters: restriction on people being forced or pressured to vacate their homes; clear direction about what are and are not necessary entries into a person’s home, and a support package to prevent people falling into unnecessary household debt and exacerbating the economic impact of the outbreak. “It’s really important that the restriction on forcing people to move is seen as part of the health response. It is entirely avoidable to prevent people from being evicted or made financially desperate and forced by that to move,” Mr Patterson Ross said.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/tenants-have-little-support-prote…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, State Government.As Australia faces a rental crisis, is it time to re-introduce price caps?
Allison Worrall Domain (No paywall)As a devastating rental crisis grips several regions across the country, there is little dispute that more affordable rentals are desperately needed to prevent locals from being squeezed out of their homes and communities. But how this might be achieved is generally where the conversation gets stuck or turns sour, when ideologies clash and emotive us-versus-them rhetoric ensues. ... The “big problem” in popular regional areas is that prospective tenants can be among 100 applicants, according to Leo Patterson Ross, the chief executive of the Tenants Union of NSW. “The dynamic falls apart for letting the market set the price,” Mr Patterson Ross says. “That’s where we see really rapid increases … with no correlation to the quality of housing.” Although rent control is somewhat of a “toxic word”, Mr Patterson Ross points to other widely accepted forms of price controls, such as the regulation of hail and rank taxi fares to protect customers being charged excessively. “We have price control in reality in a few other places like energy and utilities,” he adds. “Again, we acknowledge that the thing being sold is important not to leave entirely up to the market, and consumers have insufficient power to adequately influence the supply chain with just their actions alone. “That’s really similar to renting.” ... Rental regulation fell into the history books for several decades until the pandemic saw states and territories introduce temporary legislation to protect tenants from evictions. Four states went as far as banning rent increases. ... There are dozens of models of rent regulation in place across the world. ... “To the extent that rent control may discourage what has been over the last few decades increased speculation into rental housing, that would be a good thing,” [Dr Martin, a senior research fellow at UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre'] says. “If we didn’t have that, we could have a bit more space in our rental market for community housing providers and social housing providers to be developers of housing in their own right.” Mr Ross says superannuation funds or large real estate investment trusts could also step into the void. “You create a culture where the expectation for your property investment is a solid, safe, stable return, not the get-rich-quick approach Australia has.”
https://www.domain.com.au/news/as-australia-faces-a-rental-crisi…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media, History NSW, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Regional NSW.Young renters cry out against ‘lack of respect’ in rental market
Bianca Dabu (No paywall)Young Australians have expressed dismay over the perceived discrimination within the rental market as the wealth divide forces them into long-term renting. The Young Renters: We Hear You report by the Tenants’ Union of New South Wales and Youth Action has highlighted the struggle young renters face within the Australian property market, driven mostly by dwindling wealth, higher rates of unemployment and cuts to assistance programs like JobKeeper and JobSeeker. (nestegg)
https://www.nestegg.com.au/invest-money/property/young-renters-c…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Discrimination, Rent, Housing market, Young people.Sweden’s Collective Bargaining for Rents Must Be Defended
Anton Osgard (No paywall)In Sweden, rents aren’t set at landlords’ whims but through collective bargaining with the tenants’ union. The system is a reminder of Swedish social democracy’s once-great reformist measures — but also how vulnerable they are in an age of neoliberal counter reforms. (Jacobin Magazine)
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/07/sweden-left-party-social-democrat…
# International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, History, Housing market.Up to 7,700 women return to violent partners over lack of affordable housing, research suggests
Tom Stayner SBS (No paywall)The federal government should invest billions more in social housing to prevent women being forced to decide between returning to abusive partners and sleeping rough, according to a new report. More investment in social housing is required to help protect thousands of women forced to return to violent partners each year or face homelessness, new research has found. Modelling by Equity Economics estimates as many as 7,700 women are returning to violent partners with another 9,000 domestic violence victims forced into homelessness. The research was commissioned by the Everybody's Home campaign, which is calling on the federal government to spend $7.6 billion on almost 17,000 new homes to address the entrenched shortage of housing for women in need. It says the additional social housing investment would not only provide security to women fleeing abuse but also deliver economic benefits.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/up-to-7-700-women-return-to-violent-…
# Research alert Australia, Domestic violence, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Women.