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
At least 2.6 million people face poverty when COVID payments end and rental stress soars
Simone Casey and Liss Ralston The Conversation (No paywall)Many Australians whose jobs were decimated by the COVID business shutdowns will soon be waking up to new income shocks and the prospect of rental stress. This is because people whose employers can’t afford to keep them on will suddenly lose more than A$300 per week when the JobKeeper scheme ends on March 28. Worryingly, this income shock will happen just days before the payment to people on the JobSeeker benefit is effectively cut by $100 per fortnight.
https://theconversation.com/at-least-2-6-million-people-face-pov…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Welfare.DOUBLING DOWN ON NEW SOCIAL HOUSING IN GLEBE
(No paywall)The NSW Government is continuing to deliver more new, high-quality social housing across Sydney, by reimagining its visionary housing development on Cowper Street and Wentworth Park Road in Glebe to now deliver 100 per cent new social housing. (Media Release, Melinda Pavey MP)
https://melindapavey.com.au/doubling-down-on-new-social-housing-…
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Estate renewal.Homeless surge possible as COVID moratorium on evictions ends
Claudia Farhart SBS (No paywall)The NSW government's moratorium on the eviction of residential tenants affected by COVID-19 is due to expire on March 27. You can also read her article at: [https://www.sbs.com.au/news/a-wave-of-homelessness-could-be-about-to-hit-australia-as-rules-preventing-evictions-end?cid=newsapp:socialshare:email]
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/audiotrack/homeless-surge-possible-c…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media, Video NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, State Government.Millions of tenants could get evicted again in 7 days, but Biden may extend the ban through at least July
Ayelet Sheffey (No paywall)From the United States ... The federal eviction moratorium that President Joe Biden extended on his first day in office is set to expire in seven days, but ... the White House may extend the ban through at least July. ... one in five renters is behind on rent, and over 10 million Americans have fallen behind on mortgage payments since COVID-19 began. That’s why Biden’s stimulus plan included more than $US40 ($53) billion in assistance for homeowners and renters behind on payments. But due to implementation delays, many Americans haven’t yet received direct payments from the government, putting them at risk of eviction. ... the Biden administration is considering extending the moratorium eviction through at least July to buy more time for stimulus aid to be distributed. (Business Insider Australia)
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/biden-might-extend-eviction-m…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Home ownership.Fitter, calmer and healthier – are pets the secret to longevity?
Joanna Webber The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)If you live in one of Australia’s 5.9 million pet households, you’ll already know how much affection, humour and joy animals can offer. What beats coming home to the slobbery welcome of a tail-wagging woofie or snuggling up with a softly purring puss after a stressful day? The unconditional love pets provide their human companions not only makes us feel good, it’s also physically beneficial. Numerous studies have shown that keeping pets – especially dogs and cats – improves cardiovascular fitness, could help control cholesterol and blood pressure, and reduces stress, loneliness and depression.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/fitter-calm…
# Australia, .Australia faces shortfall of 173,000 homes affordable to low-income earners: research
Melissa Heagney Domain (Paywall)As Australia’s housing affordability worsens, the flood of people to regional cities is adding more pressure to renters on a low income, new research shows. It’s a problem that looks to be growing as the coronavirus pandemic saw thousands of renters and buyers flee the cities to find a new home in regional areas with more room to breathe. ... The research discovered critical shortages in these rentals for low-income earners, showing that even before the coronavirus pandemic, there was a need for 173,000 more affordable homes and units nationwide. The largest number of those — about 60,000 — were in Sydney where 71 per cent of all lower-income earners in private rentals were paying rent they could not afford.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australia-faces-shortfall-of-1730…
# Research alert Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Coronavirus COVID-19.As home ownership falls, it’s time to make housing a human right in Australia
Josh Burns The New Daily (No paywall)Australia’s housing sector is broken. The prospects of entering the housing market as young Australian, as a woman or as a single worker is grim. Power imbalances are rife between renters and landlords. There is a massive shortage of social housing stock and the current crisis accommodation arrangements are leaving too many on the streets. But perhaps, the most frustrating part of all of that is lack of ambition by the Federal Government to do anything meaningful about it. Housing policy has been put in the ‘too hard basket’ for too long and it is time that we made a fundamental shift in how we think about and tackle the issues in Australia’s housing sector.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/202…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Human rights, Tax.Behind the wall: When the levee breaks
Michael Slezak and Penny Timms ABC (No paywall)The Warragamba Dam wall needs to be raised to help prevent the devastating floods seen in Sydney this week — but there is a cost upstream too. ... With a higher dam wall, thousands of hectares of unique World Heritage bushland will be flooded, and according to government documents obtained by the ABC much of that will be severely damaged. Thousands of sites of Aboriginal importance are also in the development’s path. The United Nations World Heritage Committee has warned the project would threaten the World Heritage status of the Blue Mountains, risking what’s known as its “Outstanding Universal Values”. And traditional owners have compared it to a potential Juukan Gorge catastrophe.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-27/warragamba-dam-raising-to…
# Hot topic NSW, Heritage listings, Housing market, Human rights, International, Planning and development, State Government.