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
Campground residents battle cold winter as they struggle with homelessness on NSW South Coast
Fatima Olumee ABC (No paywall)A holiday campsite on the New South Wales South Coast has been hit with a surge in residents experiencing homelessness this winter. There are currently about 50 families living at North Head campground in Moruya. Robert Butler, 37, and his family have been living here for the past six months. Mr Butler says it's tough, but he is determined to keep his family safe and warm in these colder months. ... Like many along the South Coast, Mr Butler has struggled to afford rental accommodation for his family. The waitlist for a social housing property is two to 14 years in Eurobodalla Shire, according to the council.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-18/homeless-winter-campgroun…
# NSW, Discrimination, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Regional NSW.‘The prices are so much more’: how apartment dwellers get locked into bad power deals
Caitlin Cassidy The Guardian (No paywall)Reuben Acciano wasn’t told he’d have to sign up to his new apartment’s embedded power and gas network until the day he signed the lease. “I was really angry … it wasn’t in the ‘for lease’ ads, [it wasn’t] mentioned by the manager during the walk through,” the Melbourne renter says. “I signed it because of the urgency to vacate my old property, but I would absolutely refuse to go into a new rental situation where I can’t choose my utility providers in the future.” Embedded power networks are common in multi-resident complexes like apartment blocks, caravan parks and some retirement homes. ... NSW ombudsman Janine Young says regulatory frameworks for embedded networks are no longer fit for purpose because of the proliferation of apartment buildings in the past decade. Young said customers within embedded networks weren’t protected by a default market offer, or a cap, on electricity and gas, and were also excluded from consumer protections like rebates and concessions.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/19/the-price…
# Australia, Rent, Strata, Utilities water energy internet.From a soap opera to tragic reality: the struggle to find a home as a vulnerable single mother
Benita Kolovos The Guardian (No paywall)A parliamentary inquiry into homelessness last year found the key drivers include family violence, the high cost of housing and the lack of social housing stock. Those most at risk of homelessness, it found, are renters. “Simply put, housing costs too much for people on low incomes,” the report says. Sarah Toohey, the chief executive of the Community Housing Industry Association of Victoria, says ... “There’s a reason older women have been the fastest-growing group of people experiencing homelessness in recent years. It’s the accumulation of a lifetime of lower wages, career breaks, putting in less superannuation,” Toohey says. “It all means there’s less to fall back on when there is a separation or if they do lose their jobs later in life.” Toohey is urging the state and federal governments to do more for single parents.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/19/from-a-so…
# Australia, Domestic violence, Public and community housing, Rent, Homelessness, Older people, Personal stories, Women.Cost of Australia’s aged care system to taxpayers could double, experts warn
Christopher Knaus The Guardian (No paywall)Australia’s aged care system is fast becoming unsustainable due to financial losses faced by aged care providers, the worsening workforce crisis and an ageing population that will double the cost to taxpayers within 40 years, a new report warns.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/17/cost-of-a…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, Older people.Low income renters face long waits for public housing. What happens to those who can't wait?
Brittany Wentzell (No paywall)From Nova Scotia, Canada ... This story is part of a series from CBC Cape Breton called The High Cost of Getting By. In the series, reporters examine how the rising cost of daily living is affecting people on the island. For the last several months, reporters from our newsroom spoke with people who are struggling because of the high costs of basic necessities like housing, food and home repairs. Tenants say long waits for public housing and bad landlords are keeping them in unsafe housing. (CBC)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/low-income-renters-lo…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Repairs, Landlords and agents.Australia's cold houses could be making us sick
Max Chalmers ABC (No paywall)As the temperatures plummet and energy prices soar you'll be finding it harder to keep your house warm this winter. Experts say you're probably not being helped by the way your house is built, with many Australian homes designed to deal with hot summers, without much thought given to winter. (Radio National)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/australi…
# Audio Australia, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Local Area Analyses
NSW Land and Housing Corporation (No paywall)The NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) is developing new tools to support its long-term view across our property portfolio. These tools help provide a framework and direction to deliver the LAHC Portfolio Strategy. Our purpose is to ensure we have a housing portfolio that reflects the needs of people across NSW. Place-based strategies, such as the Local Area Analyses and Regional Area Analyses, help us better understand what stock we have, where it is located, its condition, and what opportunities are available for redevelopment, sale or long-term retention. This analysis considers the current state of the portfolio, where opportunities lie, and the changing needs of our community over the next 20 years. Taking a long-term view of local government areas across the State, we are able to make better decisions on how best to manage not only our portfolio but support the communities that live in them.
https://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/land-and-housing-corporation/plans-a…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Planning and development.Sydney house prices still 20% above pre-pandemic levels despite rising interest rates
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)House prices in Sydney remain more than 20% above pre-Covid levels despite rising interest rates, as economists warn housing affordability has “never been worse”. ... [Digital Finance Analytics’s Martin North said] “There is almost no possibility of home prices performing again as they have over the last 18 months. At very best they might wobble a bit and go sideways, but the most likely scenario is a fall of between 15-20% over two years. Obviously, it varies by location and property but 15-20% is feasible.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/17/sydney-ho…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.