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
Tenant News
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Check out the latest stories from Tenant News ... Lots about renting during Covid-19; new laws for pets in strata; discrimination; housing crisis; Make Renting Fair campaign; land lease communities; Tenants' Union staff
https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?u=29c79d2825cb376b3f0b06385&id…
# Must read NSW, Discrimination, Land lease communities, Rent, Affordable housing, Campaigns and law reform, Coronavirus COVID-19.Australia's housing laws are changing, but do they go far enough to prevent pet abandonment?
Emma Power and Wendy Stone The Conversation (No paywall)New South Wales recently became the latest state to end blanket bans on pets in apartments, joining Queensland and the ACT. ... But while some laws are changing, there is still too much uncertainty across the housing system. As a result, pets are often the victims when people need to relocate and can’t take their dogs or cats with them. With close to 2.5 million Australians now living in apartments and a third of Australian households renting their homes — and rising — there is an urgent need for consistent, equitable and pet-supportive housing policies across the country. ... One group is left out of the newly introduced NSW rules. Renters will still require landlord permission to keep pets in strata title apartments — and that can be hard to come by.
https://theconversation.com/australias-housing-laws-are-changing…
# Australia, Rent, Strata, Housing market.COVID secrecy could spell disaster for apartment residents
Jane Hearn The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The coronavirus pandemic is revealing just how deadly the NSW government’s attitude towards high-density apartment communities could be. It is a simple fact that strata living presents a higher risk of COVID-19 transmission than in freestanding homes. Yet, despite calls from independent experts and building managers for pandemic planning and clear rules, the strata sector has not only been ignored, worse, it is being resisted. This is why there are growing calls for a commissioner of strata living, the need for which has only become more acute throughout this pandemic. Owners corporations and their elected strata committees have a duty of care to residents, staff, contractors and visitors. This includes a responsibility to take reasonable precautions against the spread of communicable diseases.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/covid-secrecy-could-spell-di…
# NSW, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Housing market, State Government.The Global Housing Market Is Broken, and It’s Dividing Entire Countries
Alan Crawford (No paywall)Soaring property prices are forcing people all over the world to abandon all hope of owning a home. The fallout is shaking governments of all political persuasions. It’s a phenomenon given wings by the pandemic. And it’s not just buyers — rents are also soaring in many cities. The upshot is the perennial issue of housing costs has become one of acute housing inequality, and an entire generation is at risk of being left behind.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-09-19/global-housin…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Young people.The solution to homeless encampments is making them unnecessary, not illegal
Jesse Jenkinson and Stephen Hwang The Conversation (No paywall)From Canada ... The number of people visibly living in encampments has increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to cities — including Toronto, Victoria and Vancouver — to work with encampment residents to move them into shelters, hotel spaces and more rarely, stable housing. ... Some cities, such as Victoria, have committed to full-scale transformation of the homeless-serving system, rooted in a right to housing and human-rights approach ... just the beginning of a more humane, consistent and evidence-based approach to addressing chronic homelessness in Canada.
https://theconversation.com/the-solution-to-homeless-encampments…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Homelessness.Climate change to deliver suburban house price pain: RBA
Shane Wright and Mike Foley The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Climate change could cut property prices across a swath of Sydney’s northern suburbs from Lane Cove to Ku-ring-gai, with Reserve Bank analysis showing many homeowners face declining equity in their houses and rising insurance costs. ... The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest report confirmed the world was on track to experience extreme weather due to global warming even if swift action was taken to limit global warming to 2 degrees. It predicted Australia, which has warmed 1.4 degrees since 1910, would experience rising average temperatures with extreme heat, more frequent and intense bushfires, droughts, floods and rising sea levels. The RBA economists said the risks in climate-sensitive suburbs could further increase if the insurance costs for affected areas became prohibitive.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/climate-change-to-delive…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market.How your pet changes your brain chemistry for the better
Kerryn Phelps The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)For many people, the decision to get a pet is a natural one, because they grew up with pets and a home feels incomplete without one. Some people are looking for company as an antidote to sadness or loneliness, or because they seek unconditional loyalty or motivation to get up in the morning. Some parents want their children to learn the responsibility of caring for a pet. ... The profound psychological effects of having a family pet are well documented. Animal lovers know that having a pet can make you feel calmer, less anxious and more loved. ... In 2013, a group of cardiologists reviewed the evidence on pet ownership and heart disease for the American Heart Association. They concluded that “Pet ownership, particularly dog ownership, is probably associated with decreased cardiovascular disease risk.” ... In older people, we know that pet ownership can improve a person’s mental health by providing companionship, meaning and purpose, relieving loneliness and encouraging social interaction.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/how-your-pe…
# Australia, Health.No bubbles in sight, but Australia’s property boom comes at a cost
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The truth is, Australia’s property market is less likely to go “bang” than it is to exert a slowly building stranglehold over all of our lives. Most obvious, of course, is the impact on first home buyers, particularly low-income earners and those with no parental support to get over the “deposit hurdle” and into secure housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/no-bubbles-in-sight-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Young people.