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
Home Matters: A little town taking on a big issue
Housing Matters Action Group (No paywall)From Bellingen in NSW ... ‘Home Matters’ follows the members of the housing action group since its inception in 2017 when local community members and organisations decided they needed to step up and address increasing housing stress. The film captures the Action Group’s journey to date, as its members work on several innovative housing projects and inform the development of the Bellingen Shire Council Local Housing Strategy 2020-2040. ‘Home Matters’ reminds audiences that by working together we can create positive change and that everyone needs a safe, secure and affordable home. (Reported in Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun.) You will find a link to the film at: [https://www.housingmatters.org.au/]
https://www.bellingencourier.com.au/story/7038185/the-little-tow…
# Video NSW, Affordable housing, Older people, Regional NSW, Women.Penthouses and poor doors: how Europe's 'biggest regeneration project' fell flat
Oliver Wainwright The Guardian (No paywall)Few places have seen such turbocharged luxury development as Nine Elms on the London riverside. So why are prices tumbling, investors melting away and promises turning to dust? ... “There was once a world where you could build riverside council homes,” said [Aydin Dikerdem, a Labour councillor]. “We’ve gone backwards since then. That’s why what has happened here is so upsetting. We are never again going to have all this abandoned industrial space on the river, which could have really transformed the lives of people in a borough in which thousands of people are statutorily homeless, and tons of professionals are spending all their income on private rent. It was a historic opportunity, but we’ve ended up with loads more luxury skyscrapers, which is not what the city needed.” (The long read, The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/feb/02/penthouses-…
# International, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development.Hundreds of homes being 'left vacant' by landlords in Adelaide's CBD, welfare group warns
ABC (No paywall)Welfare group Shelter SA has said offering landlords incentives to unlock a vast body of vacant dwellings in Adelaide's CBD could help significantly reduce homelessness, as well as rental stress.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-21/sa-welfare-group-pushes-f…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Landlords and agents.The Privatising Public Housing Con: An Interview With UNSW City Future’s Dr Alistair Sisson
Paul Gregoire (No paywall)The Explorer Street public housing estate in inner city South Eveleigh is comprised of 46 one and two storey town houses built in the early 1990s. To stand in front of it, it’s hard to see why the Berejiklian government is determined to see it demolished. In November last year, Explorer Street residents and those at the Franklyn Street public housing complex in Glebe, received notice from NSW housing minister Melinda Pavey informing them that sometime in the next couple of years, they’ll be losing their homes. (Sydney Criminal Lawyers)
https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-privatising-pu…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Public and community housing, Estate renewal, State Government.How Nomadland shines a light on an ignored America
Adrian Horton The Guardian (No paywall)Nomadland, Chloé Zhao’s exquisite, empathic Oscar-tipped feature about a sixtysomething woman who takes to itinerant van life after the closure of a mine vanishes her livelihood and Nevada town, doesn’t flinch from the vagaries of the human body.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/17/nomadland-chloe-…
# Video International, Homelessness, Older people.‘The Value of Sustainable Urbanization’ for Australian cities
AHURI Brief AHURI (No paywall)The UN-Habitat program released the ‘World Cities Report 2020 - The Value of Sustainable Urbanization’ in early November 2020. The stated aim of the UN-Habitat is ‘to build inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities’ and to promote ‘urbanization as a positive transformative force for people and communities, reducing inequality, discrimination and poverty.’ Read on ...
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/ahuri-briefs/the-value-of-sust…
# Australia, Affordable housing, International, Planning and development.Minister accuses City of Sydney of holding up social housing
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government says a key plank of its COVID-19 economic response is being delayed because the City of Sydney is dragging its heels in approving critical social housing developments. ... A government briefing note prepared for Ms Pavey’s office says there are more than 1000 social housing dwellings awaiting approval from the council, including Waterloo South (914), Elizabeth Street in Redfern (64) and Cowper Street, Glebe (35).
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/minister-accuses-city-of-syd…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Estate renewal, Housing affordability, State Government.At least half a million renters in COVID-19 arrears, charities say
Dominic Brady Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kiongdom ... Chancellor Rishi Sunak must provide a financial package in the Spring Budget to help private renters impacted by the pandemic, a coalition of charities and membership groups has said. The groups warned that at least half a million renters are in arrears due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a number facing the prospect of homelessness without state support.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/at-least-half-a-millio…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.