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
House with no toilet sells for $2m as New Zealand property market soars
Eva Corbett The Guardian (No paywall)From New Zealand ... A decaying three-bedroom house with no toilet or bathroom, missing walls and an overgrown garden has sold in New Zealand for more than $2m (£1m), in the latest example of runaway property markets around the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/15/house-with-no-toil…
# International, Housing market.Perth developer denies trying to ‘bypass’ planning process in bid to expand prime beach project
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Perth developer Adrian Fini has defended his company after accusations he is trying to “bypass” local government planning laws to build a new beachside development on a stunning piece of West Australian coastline near Yallingup.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-develope…
# Australia, Planning and development, Short-term holiday letting.Evicted without warning, again: As lockouts resume, tenants are left scrambling for homes
(No paywall)The Philadelphia Municipal Court resumed evictions this July, and some tenants could be locked out after not hearing from the court in months. Since March 2020, only a handful of tenants have been locked out of their homes in Philadelphia due to moratoriums spurred by the pandemic. That changed on July 1, when the Philadelphia Municipal Court gave a green light to the landlord-tenant officers, the private company that handles the final steps of the eviction process, to execute evictions. (The Inquirer)
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/eviction-philadelphi…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19.NSW Government introduces a 60-day freeze on evictions
(No paywall)The New South Wales Government has announced a 60-day moratorium on evictions to support the state as it battles through extended COVID-19 lockdowns. (rent.com.au)
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Rental spike
(Paywall)Rental prices have jumped up in the last 12 months; increases not seen in more than a decade. (Prime 7 Ballarat)
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.COVID-19: Lockdown support for Greater Sydney tenants
(No paywall)COVID-19 restrictions are in force for Greater Sydney and have been extended for at least another two weeks until Friday, 30 July. Here’s what you need to know about the lockdown and where to get tenancy support. (rent.com.au)
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.COVID-19: Lockdown support for Victorian tenants
(No paywall)COVID-19 restrictions are in force once again for Victoria and in place until 11:59 PM on 20 July. Here’s what you need to know about the hard lockdown and where to get tenancy support. (rent.com.au)
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Growing eviction risk as rent freezes end in Europe, IUT quoted
Arthur Neslen (No paywall)Millions of European households may have to leave their homes in the coming months because they cannot afford to pay rent, housing experts say, as pandemic-related rent moratoriums wind down across the continent. Housing Europe, a Brussels-based social housing association, estimates that 10 million households are at risk ... The U.N. special rapporteur on adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, described that figure as “a rather conservative estimate ... given the high percentage of renters in many European countries”. Freezing rent payments for vulnerable groups is still “necessary” in regions and cities where the housing crisis is most acute, he added. (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/article/europe-housing-evictions/analysi…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.