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
‘We’ve all done the right things’: in Under Cover, older women tell their stories of becoming homeless
Zoe Goodall, Margaret Reynolds, Piret Veeroja and Wendy Stone The Conversation (No paywall)The Australian documentary Under Cover, premiering at the Melbourne International Film Festival, presents the voices and faces of older women’s housing insecurity. Many of us would have seen the figures: the number of homeless people aged 55 years or above increased 28% between 2011 and 2016. And single women of that age are the fastest-growing homeless group in Australia. But knowing the statistics is different from witnessing the reality. In Under Cover, filmmaker Sue Thomson depicts the stories of ten older women who have experienced housing insecurity and homelessness. They live in hostels, community housing, their cars, vans, caravan parks.
https://theconversation.com/weve-all-done-the-right-things-in-un…
# Video Australia, Domestic violence, Eviction, Affordable housing, Families, Homelessness, Older people, Personal stories, Women, Work, employment.People are shivering in cold and mouldy homes in a country that pioneered housing comfort research – how did that happen?
Rachel Goldlust The Conversation (No paywall)The poor state of Australia’s residential, and particularly rental, housing stock is attracting increasing attention. This week it has been reported many renters are living in unhealthily cold and damp housing. The head of UNSW’s School of the Built Environment, Philip Oldfield, recently described the average Australian home as “closer to a tent than an insulated eco-building”. A joint statement by more than 100 property, community, health and environmental organisations has called on next week’s meeting of the nation’s building ministers to increase the energy efficiency of new homes. The alliance wants to lift National Construction Code standards, such as raising the minimum thermal performance to seven stars, alongside a “whole-of-home” energy budget. The statement said Australia lags far behind international energy-efficiency and building standards. Also, read also the article by Michaela Lang, Rob Raven and Ruth Lane entitled: '‘I’ve never actually met them’: what will motivate landlords to fix cold and costly homes for renters?' in 'The Conversation' at: [https://theconversation.com/ive-never-actually-met-them-what-will-motivate-landlords-to-fix-cold-and-costly-homes-for-renters-188827]
https://theconversation.com/people-are-shivering-in-cold-and-mou…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Utilities water energy internet, Climate change, Health, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards, Mould, State Government.Demolition job: the Liberal party war surrounding NSW building commissioner’s exit
Anne Davies The Guardian (No paywall)David Chandler, a tough-talking 40-year veteran of the New South Wales construction industry, had reached the end of his tether when he resigned abruptly as the state’s building commissioner in July. The man responsible for getting developers to fix unsafe buildings felt he had endured attacks on his character, a smear campaign swirling through the corridors of state parliament, lobbying by former ministers and a deteriorating relationship with his own minister. His resignation letter, tabled in parliament last week, pulled no punches, revealing that he felt “a functional and trusted relationship” with previous ministers and their offices fell apart once Eleni Petinos became the fair trading minister in December 2021.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/20/demolitio…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.Nowhere to go: Desperate Illawarra family living out of car amid housing crisis
Natalie Croxon Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Warren Doyle and his sons Cori, 15, and Troy, 17, are living out of their car. Like most parents, Illawarra man Warren Doyle loves his two sons and wants to provide the best start in life for them. But Mr Doyle is struggling to do that because he and his boys – 17-year-old Troy and Cori, 15 – are living out of their car with their two dogs, Noddy and companion dog Sammy, and they cannot find somewhere proper to live. Mr Doyle left his last rental over a dispute with the landlord and stayed with friends for a while, but had to move out. ... He said he put in 86 applications and none of them came to fruition. Mr Doyle said he had also struggled to get assistance with government housing. Plus, he receives the disability support pension so he does not have the income for many properties. ... Adding to the stress is the recent discovery that mould has taken hold of many of their belongings, which are in storage.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7851219/nowhere-to-go-…
# NSW, Families, Homelessness, Housing market, Mould, Personal stories, Regional NSW.Older Australians caught in pincer grip of rising rents and dwindling incomes
Fiona Blackwood ABC (No paywall)At nearly 80 years of age, Meg* realised she was "running out of money" and needed to take drastic action. She was spending nearly 70 per cent of her aged pension on rent and her small nest egg was rapidly being eaten away. With her lease nearly up and her rent looking set to rise from $390 per week to $500, Meg decided she would need to make a big life change. "I worked [out] that if I continued the way that I did for another five years I'd have no money at all and that was the scary thing," she said. "I decided to buy a caravan [to live in]." Meg will set up the van on a friend's property in southern Tasmania. She is looking forward to the move. "I guess I am a bit of optimist," she said. Meg said she is typical of many older Australian women, a "divorcee, very little super, small nest egg rapidly declining because of high rentals". ... Michael Fotheringham from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute said the private rental market is no place for people on an aged pension. He said retirement policies are framed around the expectation property ownership. "But for a growing number of Australians reaching retirement they still have an outstanding mortgage or they're still renting," Dr Fotheringham said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-19/80-year-old-turns-to-cara…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Older people, Women.Lawyers contacted about Chandler resignation letter one month before Perrottet read it
Lucy Cormack, Tom Rabe and Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The state’s most senior public servant contacted lawyers the same day he received the damning resignation letter of the NSW building commissioner, but NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet was not shown the letter for another month.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/lawyers-contacted-about-chan…
# NSW, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.If property prices are going down, why are rents going up?
Tawar Razghi Domain (No paywall)Tenants hearing talk of a housing market downturn would be forgiven for thinking they will get a break on the cost of their rent. While national property values dropped 2 per cent in the three months to July, on CoreLogic figures, and are expected to fall further, the rental market is heading in the opposite direction. ... Rents and property prices are diverging because property prices are largely driven by interest rates and the ease of securing a home loan, while the cost of renting depends on the availability of rentals compared to demand, experts say. So while the combination of rising interest rates and caps on borrowing capacity have reduced homebuyer budgets, the rental vacancy rate has plummeted to record lows around the country, leaving renters with few options to choose from and landlords holding the upper hand in charging higher rents. ... Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said there were not enough homes available for lease that suited renters’ needs two years into a pandemic, where space, amenities and good-quality properties are more valuable than ever before. “There are not enough homes that are suitable in size and location and in price and quality for the needs of the community,” Patterson Ross said.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/if-property-prices-are-goin…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.‘Uninhabitable’: The rental loophole letting landlords suddenly boot tenants
Amelia McGuire The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The number of renters receiving termination notices from landlords due to properties being deemed “uninhabitable” is on the rise, a tenant advocacy says. NSW Tenants Union spokesperson Leo Patterson Ross said the number of people who had contacted the union over rental properties being suddenly deemed uninhabitable had doubled over the past year. “One of the risks of complaining about the condition of a rental property is that tenants open themselves up to being slapped with an ‘uninhabitable’ termination notice or no-grounds eviction,” Patterson Ross said. ... In NSW, there is an obligation for landlords to abide by a set of minimum housing standards, but the obligation only begins when a tenancy contract is signed, not when their property is advertised. There is no regulation preventing landlords from relisting a property for rent directly after ending an existing lease agreement because it is uninhabitable.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/uninhabitable-the-rental-loo…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards.