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
The West Australians paying off their mortgage by renting out their campervans
Marta Pascual Juanola The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)West Australians are making tens of thousands of dollars renting out old campervans and caravans sitting idle in their backyards to locals holidaying at home.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/the-west-austr…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Short-term holiday letting.Inequality Watch
(Paywall)From the United States:
Empty homes vs homeless people in the US
14.2 Million empty homes in the US
0.5 Million homeless people in the US
(Sources: US Census Bureau, National Alliance to End Homelessness)
(New Internationalist)
Social housing production continues to languish, while demand has soared
Hal Pawson City Futures (No paywall)Official figures released this week reveal that Australia’s social housing stock actually declined in 2019-20. The combined total of public housing, community housing, state owned and managed Indigenous housing and Indigenous community housing dwellings, dropped from 429,316 to 428,497 over the year. ... Australian governments have been woefully failing to grow social housing to keep pace with growing need. Read the full article.
https://blogs.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/blog/2021/01/social-housin…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing, Housing market.‘I can’t save money for potential emergencies’: COVID lockdowns drove older Australians into energy poverty
Sara Wilkinson, Alan Morris and Caroline Porto Valente The Conversation (No paywall)Many of us who endured lockdowns in Australia are familiar with the surge in energy bills at home. But for older Australians who depend on the Age Pension for income, lockdowns drove many deeper into “energy poverty”. Some faced up to 50% higher bills than in 2019, as a result of COVID. Energy poverty involves low-income households restricting their energy consumption by avoiding certain activities like showering, spending high proportions of their income on energy and, sometimes, being unable to pay bills. Read on ...
https://theconversation.com/i-cant-save-money-for-potential-emer…
# Must read Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Older people.Biden's extended eviction moratorium and stimulus plan would make a big difference for renters, but advocates stress the need for additional help
Erin Snodgrass (No paywall)From the United States ... Biden signed an executive action Wednesday to extend the federal eviction moratorium through March. Some experts want a broader moratorium, others say extensions will lead to more debt for renters. The housing and rental crisis has hit communities of colour especially hard. Read on ... (msn.com)
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/biden-s-extended-eviction-m…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Family violence victims punished in tenancy tribunal - research
Kirsty Johnsoton (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Domestic violence victims are being fined in the Tenancy Tribunal for property damage caused by their abusers – contributing to poverty, homelessness and some women even returning to violent relationships, research has found. (Stuff)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/124029686/family-violence…
# International, Domestic violence, Tribunal NCAT, Homelessness, Women.New laws make life easier for retirement village residents
(No paywall)Do you live in a retirement village or support someone who does? Are you planning to move into a village? Have you recently left one? This year brings welcome changes for retirement village residents. Read on ... (Seniors Card Extra)
http://enews.seniorscard.nsw.gov.au/pub/pubType/EO/pubID/zzzz5fd…
# NSW, Land lease communities.Towers built but ‘mothballed’ as universities left without international students
Anna Patty The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Hundreds of students were expected to start filling two new university accommodation blocks in Sydney this week, but instead the buildings will remain empty for the year. Scape Australia co-founder and chief executive Stephen Gaitanos said a new building to house 200 students that has just been completed in Darlington, inner Sydney, was originally scheduled to start welcoming residents this week. Another building with 700 bedrooms, being constructed in Redfern, is due to be completed in June.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/towers-built-but-mothballed-…
# Hot topic Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Students.