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
More than half of apartment dwellers would not invite a neighbour into their home
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened feelings of isolation among apartment dwellers, with more than one-third saying they know no one in their building well enough to have a conversation. Macquarie University researchers also found 57 per cent of people living in high-rise apartments had no neighbours they would ask a favour of or invite into their home.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/more-than-half-of-apartment-dwel…
# NSW, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19, Neighbours.Regional housing report highlights challenges facing councils
(No paywall)An independent report on housing and the planning system in regional NSW has highlighted the challenges faced by local councils in meeting demand. The Regional Housing Taskforce report details feedback from consultation with more than 500 people across regional NSW, including 95 regional councils. ... Councils say the number of people moving to regional NSW has accelerated, and identified the need to deliver more affordable housing. (Government News)
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/regional-housing-report-highli…
# NSW, Affordable housing, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.Pandora Papers show mystery foreign investors making it harder for Australians to buy property
Matthew Doran ABC (No paywall)Australians trying to crack into the property market are facing the extra hurdle of competing against mystery foreign investors, according to corporate transparency experts and the federal opposition. Almost 12 million leaked documents — known as the Pandora Papers — have shed light on how complicated, offshore business structures are being used in Australia to shroud corporate ownership in secrecy. "It's actually impacting on everyday Australians," Transparency International Australia chief executive Serena Lillywhite told the ABC.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-05/pandora-papers-show-impac…
# Australia, Housing market, International, Landlords and agents.Landlords angry at tax loophole for social housing
Miriam Bell (No paywall)From New Zealand ... A surprise exemption from interest deductibility rules for landlords with properties used for social housing has angered some investors who claim it will tip the scales against working families. This week the Government announced the details of its controversial new policy which removed people’s ability to deduct mortgage interest on rental properties from taxes. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/renting/126551624/landl…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents, Tax.New duties for councils to provide support in safe accommodation for domestic abuse victims
Press release (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Domestic abuse victims who need to escape home will be provided with better support in safe accommodation from today (1 October 2021). New regulations and guidance published today set out the level of support councils are required to provide. These include: (1)A clear expectation that expert specialist support is provided to victims in safe accommodation that best supports their needs, whether in refuges or other safe housing. (2) Guidance that states B&Bs or mixed homeless hostels are not the right place for victims to recover from abuse. (3) Councils will support to victims to stay in their own homes, if the perpetrator has left and the home can be made safe. (GOV.UK)
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-duties-for-councils-to-pr…
# International, Domestic violence, Local Government.‘Haves and have-nots’: how the housing crisis is creating two New Zealands – a photo essay
Tess McClure Photographs by Cody Ellington The Guardian (No paywall)Returning home to a country he couldn’t afford to secure a home in, New Zealand photographer Cody Ellingham began to roam suburban streets at night with his camera. In a new series of photographs, he reflects the unease and discomfort of a generation locked out of one of the world’s most unaffordable housing markets.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/30/haves-and-have-not…
# International, Affordable housing, Home ownership, Housing market.Access to appropriate accommodation remains problematic for teens leaving Tasmania's Ashley Youth Detention Centre
April McLennan ABC (No paywall)For James*, Ashley Youth Detention Centre (AYDC) in northern Tasmania is like his second home. ... The 51-bed Ashley Youth Detention Centre for youth offenders aged 10-18 years old is set to close by 2025 and is to be replaced with two new facilities: one in the north and one in the south. Both will operate with a therapeutic and preventative approach to youth justice and incarceration. But advocates are concerned that if supported release programs are not improved, then the risk of former residents without appropriate accommodation returning to custody will increase.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-02/concern-mounts-for-tasman…
# Australia, Homelessness, Young people.Thousands face income hit as disaster payments are cut: UNSW
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Thousands of people in electorates across Melbourne and western Sydney will be driven back into poverty with the end of special COVID-related disaster payments, and new analysis warns it could stifle the nation’s recovery out of lockdown.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/thousands-face-income-hi…
# Research alert Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Welfare.