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
Artist evicted by London landlord cuts rent by commuting from Argentina
Robert Booth The Guardian (No paywall)An artist who was made homeless after being evicted by his private landlord in London has started effectively commuting from Argentina where the rent is so much cheaper that it covers the cost of air fare. Andy Leek, 38, whose Notes to Strangers works are pasted on to walls and junction boxes across more than 20 British and European cities, has moved to Buenos Aires where the rents are several times cheaper and he travels back to the UK roughly every two months for work. The flight costs less than a monthly train season ticket between Bristol and London.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/19/artist-evicted-b…
# International, Rent.Rent-control battle heats up in Concord
CBS News (No paywall)United States of America: After 7 years of often angry debate, the city of Concord passed a new rent control and eviction ordinance, much to the delight of tenant rights advocates. But now, the new law is on hold as landlords scramble to try and put the matter before voters.
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/video/rent-control-battle-h…
# Video International, Rent.A constant worry: Renters confront the impact of unfair evictions
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Eviction impacts lives. Moving house is generally considered one of life’s most stressful events: the financial costs, and stress involved are substantial, and these are exacerbated when a household is forced to move. This report examines this impact, and specifically for those who have been evicted without being provided a reason. It draws on and centres the experiences of renters in NSW who have directly experienced a ‘no grounds’ eviction, often more than once, as well as renters who have not directly been served a ‘no grounds’ notice, but experience them as a chronic and persistent threat throughout their tenancy. For this report we surveyed 123 NSW renters, asking them about the impact of the eviction financially and emotionally. We asked about challenges they may have faced in securing alternative housing, and how the ‘no grounds’ eviction – or the possibility of eviction – affected them during their next tenancy.
# Must read, TUNSW in the media, Research alert NSW, Eviction.Brock got the news the day he asked for repairs – one of 30,000 NSW renters evicted without a reason each year
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Brock’s bathroom sink was leaking last year. The landlord had attended to the repair himself – they had chatted, got along. In January Brock, who did not want his last name used, sent a few emails about a leaking air conditioner. The property manager said she would organise a tradie to visit at the earliest convenience. That didn’t happen. But when Brock sent another email about the sink, which had again become a problem, he thought it would get fixed. Instead, within hours, he and his partner were served with a notice to vacate. The couple pay $475 a week for a two-bedroom home in regional New South Wales.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/03/brock-got…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Repairs.‘A big problem for a large part of society’: Sydney rents hit record highs
Tawar Razaghi The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Sydney rents have hit record highs and experts warn the city’s rental crisis has become entrenched, escalating pressure on middle-income earners, under-40s and anyone priced out of home ownership. Asking rents for a typical house hit $750 a week after rising 13.6 per cent – or $90 a week – over the year to March, the latest Domain Rent Report released on Thursday showed. The median asking rent for units hit $700, a 12.9 per cent increase – or $80 a week – in the same period. Experts say the persistent escalation of the rental crisis is a leading cause of high inflation, cost-of-living pressures on households, and homelessness.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/a-big-problem-for-a-large-p…
# TUNSW in the media, Research alert NSW, .Tenants awarded thousands after living in disrepaired Sydney rental
Elizabeth Daoud 7 News (No paywall)A pair of Sydney tenants have been awarded thousands of dollars after taking their landlord to court over their rental property’s state of disrepair. The tenants rented the three-bedroom Greenacre townhouse, in Sydney’s west, from January 2019 to July 2023. In the months before they vacated the property, the tenants had been paying $550 a week for rent. They applied to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal with claims their rent was excessive in the final year they were renting due to the fact their oven was not working, the blinds and cabana on the property were in a state of disrepair and there was mould in the house.
https://7news.com.au/news/tenants-awarded-thousands-after-living…
# Must read NSW, Rent, Repairs, Tribunal NCAT.I knew the facts about millennials but I wasn’t ready to admit the life my parents had would never be mine
Miles Herbert The Guardian (No paywall)It took working on a podcast about what’s happening to young people for me to let go of the idealism about my future and face the sobering reality. The uncertainty facing my generation was not new to me. I have read articles just like the one I am now trying to write. I have seen the reports. I have watched the TikToks. But the life I am living was by far the biggest clue that my generation is facing a growing economic crisis. I just was not ready to admit it.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/25/millennials…
# Hot topic NSW, .Five ideas to make life easier for renters and first homebuyers
Max Maddison The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Liberal MPs have urged the party to embrace renters as the “new forgotten people”, with one warning a failure to appeal to the growing cohort “will make us unelectable for decades to come”. Davidson MP Matt Cross and MLC Chris Rath called for the party to adopt policies aimed at supporting renters, including providing landlords who offer long-term rental agreements of three years or more tax breaks and replacing bonds on rental properties with “simple insurance products” to protect landlords.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/five-ideas-to-make-life-easi…
# Hot topic NSW, .