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
Charles Koch funded eviction push while investing in real estate companies
Andrew Perez and David Sirota The Guardian (No paywall)From the United States ... Billionaire Charles Koch’s foundation has bankrolled three conservative legal groups leading the court battle to eliminate prohibitions against tenant evictions during the Covid-19 pandemic in America. At the same time, Koch’s corporate empire has suddenly stepped up its real estate purchases during the pandemic – including making large investments in real estate companies with a potential financial interest in eliminating eviction restrictions.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/21/charles-koch-fou…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Disability royal commission hears of eviction attempt on severely disabled woman
Josh Dye The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Sydney-based disability care provider is under scrutiny by the disability royal commission over allegations of physical abuse and neglect of vulnerable clients under its care. ... The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability heard on Monday that in June 2018 Sunnyfield sought to terminate their agreement with Melissa. The eviction notice, which would have rendered Melissa homeless, was issued because of an ongoing dispute with Melissa’s older sister and legal guardian Eliza.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/disability-royal-commission-hear…
# NSW, Eviction, Disability.ParentsNext program leaves single parents wondering about next steps to secure rental properties
Gladys Serugga ABC (No paywall)Single parents on a federal government income support program say mandatory reporting requirements introduced this year are locking them out of the housing market. Bridie Stirling has moved four times in eight months with her four-year-old son. She said a lack of rental vacancies in regional Australia, and the stigma associated with income support linked to a parenting employment program, had left her struggling to break into the market.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-24/single-parents-say-parent…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing market, Welfare, Women, Work, employment.The Canadian Property Bubble Is Pushing Rents Higher As More Apartments Sit Empty
(No paywall)From Canada ... One of Canada’s frothiest market indicators surfaced — rents are rising with vacancies. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) data from their 2020 rental survey shows a sharp uptick in vacancies. Normally this is expected to bring prices down, but not in a property bubble. Rental prices continue to rise along with increasing vacancies. In some cases, multi-decade highs for rental vacancies are seeing price growth accelerate. (Better Dwelling)
https://betterdwelling.com/the-canadian-property-bubble-is-pushi…
# International, Rent, Housing market.Reserve Bank 'grappling' with house price boom questions, internal documents show
Daniel Zipper ABC (No paywall)Australia's central bank is "grappling" with questions about risky first-home buyers and a strong increase in home loans, according to meeting notes and internal discussions about the nation's white-hot housing market.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-27/reserve-bank-grappling-wi…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Australian house prices could rise 10 times as fast as wages in 2021
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)House prices could rise more than 10 times faster than wages this year, with a top economist warning that the improving jobs market will make little difference to modest income earners trying to save a house deposit. And experts warn that government grants to home buyers and tax incentives for investors will only make it harder for some to buy a home.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-house-prices-could-ris…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.HOT OFF THE PRESS ... The Private Rental Sector in Australia: Living with Uncertainty
Alan Morris, Kath Hulse and Hal Pawson (No paywall)First book to discuss the private rental sector in Australia ... [It] explores the decline and growth of the private rental sector in Australia delving into the changing dynamics of landlord investment and tenant profile over the course of the twentieth century and into the present period. It explains why over one in four Australian households are now private renters and investigates the contemporary legal and regulatory frameworks governing the sector. The reform discourses in Australia and comparator countries, and debates around key concerns such as Australia’s advantageous tax treatment of investors in rental property and the power imbalance between tenants and landlords are highlighted. The book draws on rich data: 600 surveys and close to 100 in-depth interviews with tenants in high, medium and low rent areas in Sydney and Melbourne and regional New South Wales. The book provides in-depth insights into this large and expanding component of Australia’s housing market and shows how being a private renter shapes the everyday lives and wellbeing of people and households who rent their housing including short and long-term renters, those on low and higher incomes and older as well as younger people.
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, Housing affordability, Housing market, International, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions, Older people, State Government, Tax.A long, winding road: NSW boarding house reform
Jemima Mowbray Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)NSW Fair Trading and DCJ Housing are currently developing a new Shared Accommodation Act to replace the current Boarding House Act 2012. In this blog Jemima Mowbray sets out the push for reform that led initially to the 2012 Act, and now seeks to strengthen and extend the protections that were won. Indeed, we’re hoping the proposed NSW Shared Accommodation Act will be the next step along that path towards more comprehensive and effective protections for the many NSW renters who have, so far, missed out.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/long-winding-road-nsw-boarding-h…
# Must read, History NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Rent, Share houses.