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
The silent factor that’s putting upwards pressure on Australian house prices
Matt Johnson The New Daily (No paywall)It’s hard to believe, but Australian house prices have broken new ground despite the country’s first recession in 30 years. ... the momentum in the property market has largely been driven by rock-bottom interest rates, generous government grants, and buoyant consumer sentiment.
But analysts say a severe shortage of homes is also putting upward pressure on prices.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/02/01/supply-de…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.House-sitting, couch surfing keeping 'almost homeless' older woman off the streets
Edwina Seselja and Cathie Schnitzerling ABC (No paywall)Brisbane mother of two Zoe has not had stable housing for more than two years but she is not what you might imagine when you think of someone experiencing homelessness. "I live where I can," the 58-year-old told ABC Radio Brisbane. "I keep a roof over my head by either house-sitting or couch surfing and staying with friends." When those options were not available, Zoe turned to a women's homeless shelter where she lived for three months. At another time, her health landed her in hospital. "I've been house-sitting permanently for almost two years now," she said. On census night in 2016, there were an estimated 6,866 women over 50 who were homeless ...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-31/older-women-avoid-homeles…
# Australia, Homelessness, Women.Landlords publishing 'bad tenants' lists online could be breaking the law
Cecile Meier (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Landlords are compiling lists of so-called “bad tenants” on websites and social media – a move that could get them into trouble for defamation and breach of privacy. ... Tenants checks are advertised on the site for $10 a piece. Prospective members are encouraged to add names to the list to gain a discount on a gold membership. A Facebook group called Bad Tenants New Zealand (landlords only) also has a list of almost 200 “bad tenants”, featuring full names and locations and visible to all 3200 members. ... Christchurch senior barrister Kathryn Dalziel, an experienced privacy lawyer, said those behind the pages were in breach of the Privacy Act. They were soliciting information about tenants from former or current landlords in “an unfair way with no right of recourse”, and without any transparency for tenants, she said.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/renting/124047304/landl…
# Hot topic, Legal significance International, Tenant databases.The fight for Franklyn Street
Allison Hore City Hub (No paywall)Rose has lived in her public housing unit in Glebe for the past two decades. One day she went outside and found an A4 flyer laying in the street showing concept art for a proposed new development on the site of her home. That’s the first time Rose heard about the government’s plans to bulldoze her estate on Franklyn Street in Glebe, and the start of what has already been an exhausting fight for the building’s future. Looming over Franklyn Street is the wrecking ball. Read on ... For more on the Glebe rally, check out the link at: [https://www.facebook.com/222442954504022/posts/3698678906880392/]
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2021/01/the-fight-for-franklyn-stre…
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Public and community housing, State Government.Building for a better tomorrow: Policies to make housing more affordable
OECD (No paywall)Check out this report from our friends at the International Union of Tenants. Check other news at [https://www.iut.nu/news/]
https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=1060_1060075-0ejk3l4uil…
# Must read International, Housing affordability.Number of families becoming homeless increased by nearly 30% between spring and summer last year, government data shows
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)The number of households with children that became homeless increased by 28% in England last summer despite measures to prevent evictions during the COVID-19 crisis. ... The increase was driven by a rise in the number of single-mother households becoming homeless, with 6,050 single-mother households being owed a relief duty between July and September, compared with 4,770 in the previous three months. ... Commenting on the statistics, Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: ... “Too many people have suffered too much. The government cannot continue to fail its citizens by allowing homelessness to rise through inaction. There is only one exit strategy that will end this crisis for good, and that is rapid investment in genuinely affordable social homes.”
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/number-of-families-becoming…
# Hot topic International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Women.The economics (not) of 22 new public housing units in Glebe… or asset stripping
Mike Brown The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Hot on the heels of the marvellous success of the Sirius building sale – from tawdry public housing to sparkly new luxury-housing – the Franklyn Street public housing estate in Glebe is next in line to be, errr, “renewed”!!!! In a deal with the private sector, the existing 108 dwellings would be demolished and replaced with 425 dwellings, of which “up to” 130 would be allocated back to public housing – a maximum of 22 additional dwellings, but possibly less, maybe none. The estate is much loved by its long-term residents, who (strangely) are devastated at the prospect of losing their much-loved homes of some 30 years within the next year or two.
https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/residential-2/the-e…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Home ownership, Planning and development.Slash interest rate bill on reverse mortgages for retirees: Seniors lobby group
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A lobby group representing more than 130,000 older Australians wants an overhaul of the federal government’s reverse mortgage scheme for retirees, warning the interest bill is too high and out of step with the record low official cash rate.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/slash-interest-rate-bill…
# Australia, Home ownership, Older people.