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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
Shelter NSW February 2021 e-bulletin
(No paywall)It's been a busy month at Shelter NSW - everything from supporting the grassroots public housing campaign in Eveleigh, through to commenting on important NSW Government policies, frameworks and budget plans. Read on for more details ...
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/shelter-nsw-february-2021-ebulleti…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Coronavirus COVID-19, Estate renewal, Homelessness, Planning and development, State Government.Home Matters: A little town taking on a big issue
Housing Matters Action Group (No paywall)From Bellingen in NSW ... ‘Home Matters’ follows the members of the housing action group since its inception in 2017 when local community members and organisations decided they needed to step up and address increasing housing stress. The film captures the Action Group’s journey to date, as its members work on several innovative housing projects and inform the development of the Bellingen Shire Council Local Housing Strategy 2020-2040. ‘Home Matters’ reminds audiences that by working together we can create positive change and that everyone needs a safe, secure and affordable home. (Reported in Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun.) You will find a link to the film at: [https://www.housingmatters.org.au/]
https://www.bellingencourier.com.au/story/7038185/the-little-tow…
# Video NSW, Affordable housing, Older people, Regional NSW, Women.How Chinese courtyard housing can help older Australian women avoid homelessness
Samantha Donnelly and Hugo Chan The Conversation (No paywall)Australia urgently needs housing types that meet the needs of older women facing homelessness. One such model is Chinese siheyuan courtyard housing, which provides safe, affordable and private living spaces while maintaining a sense of community. It has potential for adapting existing buildings for re-use in Australia in a way that makes financial, social and environmental sense.
https://theconversation.com/how-chinese-courtyard-housing-can-he…
# Must read Australia, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Older people, Women.Tasmanians face sudden rent hikes as COVID-19 protections expire
Alexandra Humphries ABC (No paywall)Tasmanian residential tenants have been hit with rent hikes of up to $100 a week, with a wave of increases following the end of COVID-19 rental protections.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-19/tasmanian-tenants-rent-hi…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.The almost homeless
Therese Hall (Paywall)Fifty-five year old Marg is part of a growing cohort of single women over fifty who encounter housing instability for the first time late in life. They are women who held jobs and cared for children and sometimes parents; most had married or partnered. They had rented - and often owned - a home. However, after a life time of gender-based discrimination, events such as a health problem, a relationship breakdown or loss of a job can lead to the brink of homelessness. Read 'Single older women with no place to call home' in Griffith Review 68 2020 Getting On, pp215-2230
# Australia, Discrimination, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Older people, Personal stories, Women.How Nomadland shines a light on an ignored America
Adrian Horton The Guardian (No paywall)Nomadland, Chloé Zhao’s exquisite, empathic Oscar-tipped feature about a sixtysomething woman who takes to itinerant van life after the closure of a mine vanishes her livelihood and Nevada town, doesn’t flinch from the vagaries of the human body.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/17/nomadland-chloe-…
# Video International, Homelessness, Older people.The Privatising Public Housing Con: An Interview With UNSW City Future’s Dr Alistair Sisson
Paul Gregoire (No paywall)The Explorer Street public housing estate in inner city South Eveleigh is comprised of 46 one and two storey town houses built in the early 1990s. To stand in front of it, it’s hard to see why the Berejiklian government is determined to see it demolished. In November last year, Explorer Street residents and those at the Franklyn Street public housing complex in Glebe, received notice from NSW housing minister Melinda Pavey informing them that sometime in the next couple of years, they’ll be losing their homes. (Sydney Criminal Lawyers)
https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-privatising-pu…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Public and community housing, Estate renewal, State Government.Hundreds of homes being 'left vacant' by landlords in Adelaide's CBD, welfare group warns
ABC (No paywall)Welfare group Shelter SA has said offering landlords incentives to unlock a vast body of vacant dwellings in Adelaide's CBD could help significantly reduce homelessness, as well as rental stress.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-21/sa-welfare-group-pushes-f…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Landlords and agents.