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
Developing a flood plain: how raising a dam wall could create a false sense of security in Sydney's west
Anne Davies The Guardian (No paywall)In 1867 the river at Windsor, north-west of Sydney, rose 19 metres, causing the biggest flood known to Europeans in Australia. ... Yet this is where the New South Wales government hopes to expand Sydney. Some housing developments have already been approved and are under way, despite some having flood risks of 1% – meaning they would flood in a one-in-100-year flood. Successive governments have agreed to open up flood-prone land in Sydney, amid pressure from landowners, developers and councils and the challenge of housing Sydney’s growing population.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/28/developin…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.Could extreme weather make parts of Australia residential no-go zones?
Hilary Harper ABC (No paywall)This week's devastating floods in NSW and Queensland have highlighted how vulnerable our lives and property are when big weather events hit. In many places, extreme weather is driving up the cost of insurance, sometimes to unaffordable levels. Now there are calls for a rethink of where we can and cannot build houses in the future. But whose responsibility should it be to future- proof our properties and communities? (ABC LIfe Matters)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/could-…
# Hot topic, Audio NSW, Housing market.Can social housing help South Africa overcome its legacy of apartheid?
Irene Salenson and others The Conversation (No paywall)South African cities are among the most unequal and segregated in the world. In an effort to address chronic housing shortages, the government has delivered more than 3.5 million free homes since 1994. While the programme has been successful, it has also perpetuated spatial divisions because of the peripheral location of most projects.
https://theconversation.com/can-social-housing-help-south-africa…
# International, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Race and ethnicity.New York Tenants Owe Billions In Unpaid Rent. What Happens Now?
Jake Offenhartz (No paywall)Across New York, as many as 1.2 million renters are at risk of eviction, according to a report from the National Council of State Housing Agencies. Though the federal government has funded a substantial rent relief program, the state has so far struggled to get existing funds to tenants in need. With the eviction moratorium set to expire on May 1st, many New York City renters now find themselves trapped under a mountain of debt, and struggling with the psychic toll of not knowing how long they’ll have a place to live. (Gothamist)
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-tenants-owe-billions-unpaid-rent-…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.‘I could see it coming’: Thousands of new homes halted over flood evacuation fears
Angus Thompson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has put a stop to billions of dollars worth of new residential development earmarked for Sydney’s north-west until he can be satisfied there are adequate evacuation routes for people fleeing floods.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-could-see-it-coming-thousa…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development.Like many Australians, Joe couldn't afford to take out flood insurance. Now he's paying the price
Like many Australians, Joe couldn't afford to take out flood insurance. Now he's paying the price ABC (No paywall)A month ago, after renting for years, Joe Wilkinson bought his dream home at North Haven on the New South Wales mid-north coast. It's now been ruined by floodwater. ... After such a big purchase, Mr Wilkinson decided against paying $13,000 for flood insurance. The damage bill is now his to pay.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-25/dream-home-ruined-by-floo…
# NSW, Home ownership.WA's rental moratorium end set to make Pilbara rental costs soar again
Angus MacIntosh ABC (No paywall)Pilbara residents say they are dreading the end of the statewide rental moratorium, as already sky-high rents are set to soar yet again.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-24/pilbara-renters-dread-mor…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.We Could Solve Homelessness if We Wanted
Henry Grabar (No paywall)In Los Angeles, a neighborhood has gone to war with itself over a tent city in a park. In Philadelphia, the transit authority said that it would close a subway station—cutting off an entire neighborhood from transit service—because of disorder related to the local homeless population. Both of these stories, from the past month, are local tragedies. Taken together, they underline the way America’s homelessness crisis has taken on a depressing air of inevitability ... (Slate)
https://slate.com/business/2021/03/homelessness-lets-solve-it.ht…
# International, Homelessness.