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
Not all Yimbys are your friends
Morgan Jones New Statesmen (No paywall)The Yimby movement has gone from strength to strength. The term – an acronym of “Yes in my backyard” – has climbed to the top of British politics. Even Keir Starmer, very likely the next prime minister, has declared himself to be one, and named planning reform as one of his planned engines for economic growth. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen which part of the British political spectrum ends up politically owning the Yimby identity.
https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2024/04/no-not-every-yimby-…
# Hot topic International, .How did Australia's housing market get so bad, and is it all negative gearing's fault?
The Guardian (No paywall)There’s a lot of debate about why and how Australia’s housing market became the garbage fire it is today, with many accusations being hurled at one particular suspect: negative gearing. But while negative gearing is certainly a factor, it doesn't deserve all the blame. The Guardian's Matilda Boseley explains that, when it comes to the country's housing crisis, negative gearing is just the garbage, which needed a lit match to set it alight.
# Hot topic, Video Australia, .The Great Housing Disaster: Who’s to blame?
7am Podcast (No paywall)AUDIO: This is the first episode of 7am’s new five-part special series on the housing crisis. What happened to housing in Australia over the past few decades wasn’t by chance. It’s the result of decades of deliberate decisions that have turned us into a nation of landlords and property speculators. This episode uncovers who broke the housing market, and introduces one of the few people who saw what was coming and tried to warn us.
https://7ampodcast.com.au/episodes/the-great-housing-disaster-wh…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, .The Great Housing Disaster: The renters resistance
7am Podcast (No paywall)AUDIO: With home ownership out of reach, more and more younger Australians have no choice but to rent for much longer than their parents ever did – maybe for the rest of their lives. That puts younger Australians at the mercy of landlords, making some intensely angry and leading to what might be described as a “renters resistance”. "The house was actually quite lovely when we moved in there... We lived there for seven years. But it was in that time we saw about three owners take over, and one by one they just all treated it like a cash cow, and never put anything back into it, letting it go to rot."
https://7ampodcast.com.au/episodes/the-great-housing-disaster-th…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, Rent, Repairs.National rents climb 13.6 percent in a year
Alexandra Humphries and Stephanie Smail ABC (No paywall)AUDIO: It's news that won't come as a surprise to Australia's many renters. Prices for rental properties have shot up markedly in the past year, according to new data from Proptrack. Capital cities saw the biggest jumps, but renters in regional areas are still being slugged, too. Australia's median advertised rents have shot up significantly in the past year, by just over nine percent - or 13.6 percent in capital cities. Some places, like Canberra and Hobart, bucked that trend. So, what's different?
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/worldtoday/national-rents…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, Rent.‘Free house’: Renter advocate and social media star encourages struggling Aussies to become squatters
news.com.au (No paywall)Social media users have taken aim at stars of The Project after an appearance by a renter advocate who’s encouraging those struggling with the housing crisis to squat in empty homes. Jordan van den Berg, better known online as @purplepingers and founder of the S*** Rentals website, shared a video to his channels at the weekend as something of a call to arms. “Are you sick of rich people hoarding empty houses during a housing crisis? I know I am,” Mr van den Berg said, standing outside a rundown house in the Melbourne suburb of Chadstone. “Here’s how you can do something about it.”
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/free-house-r…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent.What is Victoria's new rental taskforce?
Oliver Gordon ABC (No paywall)AUDIO: Rental advocates are welcoming a new Victorian Government taskforce that will crack down on landlords and estate agents doing the wrong thing. The taskforce will enforce existing laws upholding renter's rights to a structurally sound, functional property, and clamp down on false or misleading advertising by agents. Featuring: Jordy van den Berg, Rental advocate; Joel Dignam, Better Renting; Jacob Cain, Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/pm/what-is-victoria-s-new…
# Audio Australia, Rent.Lawyers are leaving the community legal sector due to low pay, creating an experience gap
Julius Dennis ABC (No paywall)Katie Green is dealing with a familiar problem. As the managing solicitor of the Inner City Legal Center (ICLC), — which is considered New South Wales's only LGBTQIA+ centric CLC — recently lost three staff to better paying jobs, including two lawyers who left to work for the Legal Aid Commission. In New South Wales, the gap between CLC and Legal Aid Commission pay cheques is between 10 and 30 per cent. "We have never been appropriately compensated. It's always been an oily rag," she says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-09/qld-communty-legal-sector…
# Must read Australia, .