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
Social landlords must adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and stop patronising tenants
Richard Blakeway Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The prevalence of damp and mould in the sector means a strategic response is required. Social landlords must move from inferring blame to taking responsibility, writes [Housing Ombudsman] Richard Blakeway. When I started as the housing ombudsman, one of the first cases I saw concerned damp and mould. The issues we investigated, and the experiences of residents living with it, are now all too familiar. While there are many and varying causes that lead to damp and mould in the cases we see, the impact on the resident can be profound. You can see the distress, disruption, even embarrassment, felt by them. You can see the evident concern about their health and well-being.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/social-landlords…
# International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Health, Mould.Homeless families to get permanent housing as hotel program winds down
Michael Fowler The Age (Paywall)Hundreds of homeless Victorians who have been staying in state-funded hotels during lockdowns will be found a permanent place to live, but there will not be a home for everyone as the hotel program prepares to wind down permanently. Housing Minister Richard Wynne said $66 million dollars would go towards supporting 250 families, including 400 children, to stay in hotels until permanent homes that fit their needs are found. ... However, hundreds of homeless singles and couples will need to work with support agencies to find new lodgings before the hotels program closes permanently, which is pencilled in for February. ... Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith welcomed the $66 million commitment, but warned some people would still fall through the cracks. She called for the state government to extend the permanent housing support to highly vulnerable individuals in the short and medium-term.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/homeless-families-to…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Housing market.Landlord ordered to pay $38k after child develops rheumatic heart disease
Esther Taunton (No paywall)A Christchurch landlord has been ordered to pay $38,626 after their “serious exploitation” of vulnerable tenants led to a child developing rheumatic heart disease. In a decision released on Friday, the Tenancy Tribunal found landlords Anne and Roger Stocker had breached the Residential Tenancies Act in several ways, including failing to maintain the property in respect of health and safety matters. (Stuff) Same story in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/10/29/landlords-child-sick-nz/]
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126824887/landlord-ordered-to-p…
# International, Rent, Tribunal NCAT, Health, Landlords and agents, Mould.Fears holiday-maker influx could deepen NSW north coast's housing crisis
Leah White and Joanne Shoebridge ABC (No paywall)A single mother of three caught up in the Northern Rivers' housing crisis fears even a tent space at a caravan park may soon be out of reach, with all forms of accommodation booked solid heading into the Christmas holidays. The region is bracing for an influx of visitors as intrastate travel bans lift from November 1. Rental vacancies are already at record lows and many long-term locals have been priced out of the market. ... The head of community services provider Social Futures, Tony Davies, said the affordable housing situation in northern New South Wales was the worst it had ever been. Mr Davies said the pandemic, combined with unprecedented migration to regional areas, had made a difficult situation almost impossible, and there were concerns things would only get worse with holiday homes and caravan parks snapped up over the Christmas break. "That absolutely is a worry because it means people might need to camp in dangerous and risky areas," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-31/rental-woes-north-nsw-hol…
# NSW, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market.September 2021 Bulletin
Housing for the Aged Action Group (No paywall)Read about 'Outcomes of At Risk 2021' and more
https://mailchi.mp/2433af912792/older-tenants-voice-summer-editi…
# Australia, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Older people.Tenants and advocates call for Just Cause Ordinance to end no-fault evictions
Grace Asiegbu (No paywall)From the United States ... [Donna] Mayfield raised her two sons in her two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom apartment and lived there for 27 years without issue, always paying her rent on time, she said. So she was shocked and confused when she came home to a notice on her door in July from a new management company saying that she had two months to find a new place to live or face eviction. “It was like, ‘What is going on? This is unreal,’” she said. “It was like someone punched me in my gut.” ... Evictions such as this, when the tenant has done nothing wrong, are called no-fault or no-cause evictions, and they are legal in Chicago as long as the landlord gives the tenant enough notice. Advocates say no-cause evictions speed the pace of gentrification and price out longtime renters such as Mayfield, leading to further neighborhood destabilization and more demand for an insufficient supply of affordable housing.
https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/housing/2021/just-cause-ordi…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.Caravan park opens only to homeless as pandemic drives Perth’s housing crisis deeper
Holly Thompson (No paywall)A caravan park in the Perth Hills will now only allow long-term residents to stay, in the hopes of helping to combat the city’s “through the roof” housing crisis. Perth Hills Caravan Park announced the plan to stop accepting tourists this week, stating they would be focusing on providing a place for those having trouble finding a house. Owner Shorrelle Watkins said the caravan park had always allocated about 50 per cent of spots to those needing a place to stay, but demand had risen drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/caravan-pa…
# Australia, Land lease communities, Homelessness, Housing market.Biden announces revamped $1.75 trillion social spending plan
BBC (No paywall)US President Joe Biden unveiled a revamped $1.75tn (£1.27tn) spending plan on Thursday, calling it a historic investment in the country's future. ... What's in the proposed new spending plan? [It includes] $150bn to build one million affordable housing units.
# International, Affordable housing, Housing market.