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
Australia’s rental crisis: Why some renters are having to choose between their pet or a roof over their heads
Molly Magennis (No paywall)Animal welfare groups are calling on the federal government to introduce a national law protecting renters with pets, as more and more pet owners are forced to make the heartbreaking decision between surrendering their furry friends or putting a roof over their heads. After 14 years, James and Fiona Bateman were forced out of their rental in April this year when their landlord decided to sell the property. The couple, based in Adelaide, were not only forced to look for a new home in the middle of a rental crisis, but also faced the difficult task of finding one that was also pet friendly. (7news.com.au)
https://7news.com.au/business/housing/australias-rental-crisis-w…
# Australia, Eviction, Federal Government.Why Thousands of People Are Left Out of New York City’s Daily Homeless Census
Eric Lach (No paywall)David Brand, a social worker turned journalist, got an assignment from City Limits, a small nonprofit news outlet, to write a series of articles about family homelessness in New York City. ... For the first article in the family-homelessness series, Brand interviewed several mothers with young children about their experiences in city shelters. After it was published, a homeless-rights advocate called to warn Brand. Why was he citing the shelter-population numbers released regularly by City Hall? Those were bad numbers, the advocate said. The city’s stats accounted for the tens of thousands of people who slept every night in shelters overseen by the Department of Homeless Services, which include New York City’s largest adult and family shelters. But there were thousands more who slept in smaller shelters overseen by other city agencies: domestic-violence shelters, shelters for people with H.I.V./AIDS, disaster-relief shelters, shelters for runaway kids. Brand still sounds floored talking about it. ... [Today] by sorting through publicly published stats, and by filing Freedom of Information requests for data not ordinarily published, City Limits compiled a “tracker” that offered a more complete look at the city’s shelter population.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/why-thou…
# International, Homelessness.‘We felt like we’re nothing’: increasing voting among Australians experiencing homelessness
Jonathon Louth, Lisa Hill and Veronica Coram The Conversation (No paywall)... there is another election bellwether we never hear about: people experiencing homelessness. Taken as a group, those who experience homelessness are representative of multiple forms of disadvantage and marginalisation. Yet this is a very diverse group of people. While rough sleepers are the most recognisable, homelessness encompasses living in overcrowded accommodation, couch surfing, and being forced to sleep in cars, caravans or tents. ... Working with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and three specialist homelessness service providers in Adelaide over the 2019 federal election, we undertook one of the largest studies of homelessness and voting habits.
https://theconversation.com/we-felt-like-were-nothing-increasing…
# Research alert Australia, Homelessness.Labor’s housing minister vows to do more to fix homelessness as ‘serious’ crisis spreads
Josh Butler The Guardian (No paywall)The federal housing minister, Julie Collins, has promised a greater leadership role from the commonwealth to address homelessness, as social advocates warn skyrocketing rental prices are forcing families to live in tents. The minister admitted Australia has “a really serious housing affordability challenge”, with key Labor policies for homebuyers and public housing not likely to open until early 2023. “We need to be ambitious,” Collins told Guardian Australian. “We all need to be working together to solve the housing problems in this country.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/03/labors-ho…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Homelessness.Landlords hold upper hand, renters set for tough conditions over next 12 months
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Tenants face tough conditions for the next 12 months, as housing stress is expected to spread as the number of rentals to choose from plummets to another record low, new figures show. The national rental vacancy rate is at its lowest point on record, falling for the fifth consecutive month to 0.9 per cent, the latest Domain Rental Vacancy Report for July shows.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/landlords-hold-upper-hand-r…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.New program aims to end 'revolving door' for Perth's unwell homeless people
David Weber ABC (No paywall)During Homelessness Week, the focus in Western Australia has fallen onto the link between staying in good health and keeping a home.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-02/staywitchs-program-helpin…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Health, Homelessness, Housing market.Borrowers to feel the heat as RBA raises rates again, but new customers get cheaper deals
Gareth Hutchens and Sue Lannin ABC (No paywall)As the Reserve Bank raises interest rates for the fourth time in four months, home loan borrowers are bracing for more repayment pain. Some economists say the RBA is only halfway through its rate-hiking cycle, with the goal of reaching, or even exceeding, 3 per cent by the end of the year. As the cost of money goes up, the big four banks have dramatically raised interest rates for existing customers with variable-rate loans, and more rate rises are expected. Also, read Peter Martin's article entitled: 'Why does the RBA keep hiking interest rates? It’s scared it can’t contain inflation' in 'The Conversation' at: [https://theconversation.com/why-does-the-rba-keep-hiking-interest-rates-its-scared-it-cant-contain-inflation-188011] Read Dinah Lewis Boucher's article entitled: 'Australian house prices set to drop further as interest rates surge. Here's a round up of what's happening with property prices across Australia' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-02/australias-housing-market-property-price/101289042] Read the article by Michael Janda, Rhiana Whitson and Matthew Doran entitled: 'Reserve Bank raises interest rates for fourth-straight month' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-02/reserve-bank-interest-rate-rise/101292420] Read Elizabeth Knight's opinion piece entitled: 'So much for the soft landing for house prices. It’s now a painful thud' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/so-much-for-the-soft-landing-for-house-prices-it-s-now-a-painful-thud-20220802-p5b6mk.html]. Read Lily Thomson's article entitled: 'RBA increases to interest rates mean home buyers who bought at the peak are facing rapidly rising mortgage repayments' on the ABC at:[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-02/rba-rate-rise-puts-pressure-on-home-owners-mortgages/101287948].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-03/rba-raises-rates-increasi…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.The young are missing out on the Australian dream
The New Daily (No paywall)The great Australian dream of home ownership is being realised by fewer young people than it was half a century ago. Data collected in the latest Census shows the home ownership rate of people aged 30 to 34-years-old sat at 50 per cent in 2021, a drop of 14 per cent since 1971. For those aged 25 to 29, the decrease was also 14 per cent over the same period, dropping to 36 per cent in 2021.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/08/02/property-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Young people.