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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
‘They shouldn’t have built houses here’: navigating disaster in the flood waters of Sydney’s north-west
Elias Visontay The Guardian (No paywall)Tracey stands with her young son looking at a pole above the Windsor Bridge marking historic flood events. The frequency has been such that two events earlier this year are yet to be inscribed. ... “They just shouldn’t have built houses here, I mean it’s a floodplain. What else can they do now to make it better?”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/05/they-shou…
# NSW, Housing market.When the street threatens: Deb faced eviction after losing her job
Eileen Wood (No paywall)Deborah* was in her mid 50s, employed, and happily living in a modest, private rental unit in St Albans near Melbourne where she had friends and a busy social life, when the company she worked for went broke. Thrown onto the dole and reliant on NewStart (now called JobSeeker), Deborah found the going tough and her physical and mental health began to fail. ... The proud and independent, but now desperate woman, found herself in the situation more and more older women are experiencing. She had few savings and those she had were quickly used up; she had no one to fall back on for help and she was facing eviction. "I expected I would be living on the street," she said. "I started making plans for where I would sleep." (The Senior)
https://www.thesenior.com.au/story/7781885/new-housing-plan-need…
# Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Housing market, Older people, Women, Work, employment.What Australia’s 2021 Census reveals about the changing face of our neighbourhoods
Inga Ting, Alex Palmer, and Katia Shatoba ABC (No paywall)The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) began releasing the results of the 2021 Census last week, with more on the way in October. We’ve poured over the data to answer some of the burning questions you might have about your local area.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-05/what-australias-2021-cens…
# Australia, Families, Home, Women, Work, employment.Co-housing project in Hobart offers affordable rentals and sense of community
Will Murray ABC (No paywall)our years ago, Kate Kelly was under such severe rental stress she went searching for a van to live in with her son. The single mother with a disability was spending 70 per cent of her income on rent, and had been on the waiting list for public housing for years. ... By chance, Ms Kelly ran into someone who lived at the South Hobart Co-housing Co-operative who offered her the chance to house-sit for one of the tenants.
At the co-operative she had a house of her own with a garden and views of kunanyi/Mount Wellington. Her rent was set to never exceed 30 per cent of her income, and she had a ready-made community that welcomed both her and her son with open arms. After the house-sit, a permanent space became available. Years later, she is still there. "I kind of pinch myself every day when I wake up here," she said. "I have housing security, I have somewhere to raise my son, he has nice things because I can afford to buy them. He has a community and I have a community as well."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/tas-south-hobart-co-housi…
# Video Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Families, Housing market.How can NSW become more flood resilient? Look to the recent and ancient past, experts say
Declan Bowring ABC (No paywall)How can Sydney's communities become more resilient to flooding disasters? The answers may lie in the way communities have previously responded. Professor Elizabeth Mossop from the University of Technology Sydney's design school spent 10 years in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. She looked at how the city rebuilt and became better equipped to deal with flooding after the storm wreaked havoc in 2005. Also, check out 'Full Story: What’s behind Sydney’s latest floods?' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2022/jul/07/whats-behind-sydneys-latest-floods]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/how-can-nsw-become-more-f…
# NSW, International, Planning and development, Sydney.Rising interest rates could drive rents up as landlords also struggle to cover their mortgages
Emily Stewart ABC (No paywall)Allan Qi did not plan on becoming a property investor. The 32-year-old bought an apartment in Sydney's western suburbs six years ago to live in, but when he moved to Melbourne, he became a landlord. But he is also a tenant and has lived in the same house in Melbourne's eastern suburbs for the past five years. The apartment is negatively geared, so the rent he receives does not cover the mortgage repayments. ... The rental market has been tight for months. National vacancy rates sit at just 1 per cent, the lowest in 16 years. "It's a really tough market at the moment," said Joel Dignam from Better Renting. "The size of the rents [increases] that we're seeing and the inflexibility from landlords is quite concerning."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-04/what-the-interest-rate-ri…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Queensland rental law changes start October 1, making it harder to deny pets, terminate leases
Tara Cassidy ABC (No paywall)New housing laws set to come into effect later this year will make it harder for Queensland landlords to ban pets in rental properties. A landlord could decline a tenant's request for a pet for no specific reason, but come October 1 that would change.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-04/queensland-rental-law-cha…
# Australia, Rent, No-grounds evictions.Canada needs to build more affordable housing for newcomers
Fawziah Rabiah-Mohammed, Abe Oudshoorn, Cindy Brown and Luc Theriault The Conversation (No paywall)The relationship between newcomers and the Canadian economy involves three key pillars: job availability, a sufficient population of working age and affordable housing. All three pillars must be supported by the government — if one is missing, the entire system collapses. While Canada has always relied on newcomers for population growth because of its low birth rate, both housing affordability and job availability tend to fluctuate much more drastically.
https://theconversation.com/canada-needs-to-build-more-affordabl…
# International, Affordable housing, Families, Work, employment.