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
'Perfect storm': new housing data reveals regional areas in strife
Neve Brissenden Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Everybody’s Home, a housing solution campaign group, found in regional Victorian areas, rents had increased between six and 14 per cent, while vacancies dipped below one per cent. ... spokesperson Kate Colvin said as mortgage interest rates doubled many landlords would seek to pass the cost on to tenants. “Renters are in for a seriously difficult time as landlords capitalise on historically low vacancy rates to shift the rising cost of interest rates on to their tenants,” she said. “While the Victorian state government has invested in social housing, we will only start to see significant change once we see a significant promise from the federal government as well.”
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7808703/perfect-storm-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Federal Government, Housing market.'Chernobyl' green lawn in real estate ad for Adelaide house sparks questions about truth in advertising
Eugene Boisvert ABC (No paywall)An advertisement for an Adelaide house with an unnaturally green lawn has amused many online, but has also sparked questions about how much enhancement is too much when it comes to real estate sales.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/adelaide-real-estate-ad-w…
# Australia, Landlords and agents.Kalorama residents unable to rebuild after land deemed uninhabitable
Virginia Trioli ABC (No paywall)Kalorama resident Natalie Guest lost her family home more than a year ago when storms tore through Melbourne's Dandenong Ranges. She's spent the past 13 months cleaning her land and meeting consultants as she planned to rebuild. But in a devastating blow, Yarra Ranges Council has declared her block is too dangerous to live on due to landslip concerns. (BC Radio Melbourne)
https://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/programs/mornings/kalorama-land…
# Audio Australia, Local Government, Minimum habitability standards.Developer blames pandemic lockdowns for collapse of six companies
Simon Johanson and Rachel Eddie The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A large private developer has blamed government rent relief measures and the COVID-19 pandemic for the collapse of six of his companies that rely on rental income from commercial and residential tenants. ... “These companies were heavily impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and [by] government policy, including rent relief measures for tenants,” Chen said. In a bid to limit the economic fallout from COVID-19, governments across the country banned landlords from evicting tenants suffering financial stress, instead requiring them to give rent relief and defer lease payments.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/developer-blames-pande…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Winter Shelter program means Clayton has a home after years living on the streets
Belinda Sanders and Vicki Thompson ABC (No paywall)For Toowoomba man Clayton Hook, sleeping rough was easier than asking for help. "I was a bit too proud to ask somebody if I could just be on their couch, stay in their shed," he said. Seven years is a long time to be on the streets in a place like Toowoomba, where the winters are harsh and unforgiving. "A lot of the time I would stay awake all night and just walk around of a night-time," he said. ... Then, Toowoomba's Winter Shelter program "saved" him. From June to August, the city's churches open their doors to the homeless to escape the winter chill. Now in its second year, Winter Shelter – which is backed by Lifeline and seven local faith communities – helps up to 10 people a night for 92 nights. ... With the help of the shelter and the local housing hub, Mr Hook is clean, has a small unit to call his own and has a job as a gardener at a local Christian school.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-09/winter-shelter-toowoomba-…
# Australia, Homelessness.Flood ravaged communities face clean up and cost of living pressures
Eleni Psaltis ABC (No paywall)With any major flooding event, the clean up is a dirty, daunting and devastating task but how might cost of living pressures slow the recovery phase? Guest: Joanna Quilty, CEO of NSW Council of Social Service
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/flood-ravage…
# Audio NSW, .Rent arrears have nothing to do with tenants’ misspending
Kerry Starling Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Hyde Housing has commissioned new research confirming that tenants aren’t getting into rent arrears because they’re spending on the ‘wrong’ things. ... Rather than poor money management, all the evidence indicates that many households with low or fluctuating incomes, although close to the breadline, remain on top of their finances. However, they have low financial resilience, so are more vulnerable to falling into debt when experiencing an ‘income shock’ – something unexpected or out of the ordinary happening. This could be a sudden large cost, or an unexpected drop in income, like a car breaking down or a reduction in working hours. The safety net that exists to support our residents when this happens also has flaws; the five-week wait for the first Universal Credit (UC) payment is a significant driver of rent arrears. For many of those who claim UC to top up or replace lost income, rent day comes long before the first payment.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/rent-arrears-hav…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Families.Housing crisis leaves opal miners with no choice but to live in a tent
Shannon Corvo ABC (No paywall)Opal miners Aaron and Skye Buschmann never thought they would be homeless. Their day job involved scouring the outback in search of the precious gems. "We've been through Coober Pedy, Andamooka and met some of the best miners in the country," Mr Buschmann said. "Been around Lightning Ridge, and just the beauty of digging opal, finding that colour — you can't go wrong." ... [But] the married couple have spent the past six months in a tent at Wilks Park, a floodway in the Wagga Wagga's north. ... Figures from campaign group Everybody's Home show the rental vacancy rate in regional NSW is sitting at less than one per cent. Rents have increased by 10 to 20 per cent.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-10/opal-miners-homeless-amid…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Regional NSW.