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 social housing system is critically stressed. Many eligible applicants simply give up
Hal Pawson The Conversation (No paywall)Plenty was said in the election campaign about the very real challenges faced by first home buyers and by homeowners already mortgaged to the hilt. But little comment focused on the cost-of-living predicament faced by low income renters. Our new report, released today, reveals a social housing system critically stressed, with demand rapidly outpacing supply. Many eligible applicants in need simply give up on ever being allocated a spot. Probably far more, knowing their faint hope of a tenancy offer, never even apply. You will find the full report at: [https://cityfutures.ada.unsw.edu.au/documents/685/Waithood_paper.pdf] Read the original version of Hal Pawson's article at: [https://blogs.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/blog/2022/05/unravelling-the-paradox-of-social-housing-demand/]
https://theconversation.com/australias-social-housing-system-is-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Federal Government, State Government.How many property's do investors own?
Michael Yardney (No paywall)According the ATO there are just over 2 million property investors in Australia. ... A new study has revealed the average number of investment properties currently held by Australian property investors. The 2018 Property Investor Sentiment Survey was conducted as a collaboration of Michael Yardney’s Michael Yardney’s Property Update, Your Investment Property magazine and onthehouse.com.au. 88% of respondents already own an investment property and 45% owned 3 or more properties. In fact 5% say they own 10 or more properties.
https://www.yourinvestmentpropertymag.com.au/news/how-many-prope…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.What Is ‘Good Cause Eviction,’ and What Does It Mean for Renters?
Ronda Kaysen The New York Times (Paywall)New York renters are feeling the squeeze, with rents in Manhattan up 32 percent in April from the same time a year ago, according to a report, and housing courts busy as evictions resume after a pandemic moratorium. Some renters are wondering: Is there any relief? Tenant advocates say yes, pointing to a bill introduced last year in the New York State Legislature called Prohibition of Eviction Without Good Cause. But what is “good cause eviction,” and what would it mean for renters and landlords if the bill, as it stands now, becomes law?
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/21/realestate/good-cause-evictio…
# International, Eviction, No-grounds evictions.Tenants by Vicky Spratt review – empty rooms and empty promises
Lynsey Hanley The Guardian (No paywall)Book of the day ... This astute analysis examines the toxic lottery of Britain’s housing crisis and the devastating outcomes of having no fixed abode. ... It is impossible to read this book without becoming almost incapacitated with rage. The difference between being securely and insecurely housed is effectively the difference between life and death.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/may/24/tenants-by-vicky-s…
# Must read International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Homelessness.Church of England unveils plans to set up national housing association
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)The Church of England has confirmed plans to set up a national housing association with the aim to make the church a “major provider” of social housing across the country. ... Today’s announcement comes more than a year after a commission set up by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby published a report titles Coming Home: Tackling the Housing Crisis Together, which set out how the church could do more to help tackle the housing crisis. The report concluded that the Church of England must make more use of its land to deliver affordable housing. ... [But Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Church of England’s first Bishop for Housing] said: “This degree of social change – which we could think of as ‘levelling up’, rooted in the visions and values we derive from our faith – requires more land and buildings than we currently have, and it needs to be deliverable to every part of the country. If we only develop housing on the land we currently own, we’ll never bring about the justice we long to see, nor will it be enough to turn the tide of the current housing crisis.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/church-of-england-unve…
# International, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Housing market.Pregnant and terrified, Tailah is moving into a tent with her young family
Ella Archibald-Binge ABC (No paywall)Tailah Dippel sits on her front verandah, anxiously watching the rain clouds roll in. Rain is the last thing her family needs as they prepare to leave the warmth and comfort of their home. Their Bundaberg rental is being sold and for six months, Tailah and her partner Daniel have been looking for a new house for their family of five. Daniel earns a decent wage as a traffic controller and the pair thought they would have no trouble finding a three-bedroom home within their price range of $300 to $450 per week. But as time wore on, they became increasingly panicked. "Every single rental that is in our price range, we've been going for," says Tailah. ... They approached social housing providers but were ineligible due to Daniel's income. Even the caravan parks were full. The 25-year-old says her family's only remaining option is to move into a tent. ... A report released today by UNSW City Futures Research Centre found that social housing was being "rationed" and waitlist times had ballooned to more than a decade due to overwhelming demand and dwindling supply.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-26/bundaberg-rents-record-hi…
# Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market.Embracing alternative housing ideas to house our ageing population
AHURI News AHURI (No paywall)With new housing supply highly unlikely to meet the needs of the 440,000 households aged 55 years projected to need affordable housing by 2031, Australia has to develop new ways of housing older people safely and securely. New AHURI research, ‘Alternative housing models for precariously housed older Australians’, is exploring the potential of alternative housing models to increase the supply of affordable housing for older Australians and the role alternative financing schemes could play in expanding those options. ... The models having the greatest potential to better meet people’s needs are: cohousing; integrated mixed-use developments; modular-style manufactured housing utilising vacant land; low-rise medium density development; reforms to the private rental sector to better protect older tenants. You will find the full report at: [https://www.ahuri.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022-05/AHURI-Final-Report-378-Alternative-housing-models-for-precariously-housed-older-Australians.pdf]. In particular, flick down to the heading: '2.11 Tenant-friendly private rental' on pages 31 to 33.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/news/embracing-alternative-hou…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Affordable housing, Home ownership, Homelessness, Housing market, Older people.As temperatures go through the roof, are our homes fit for summer?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)There are entire towns in Southern Europe that are whitewashed, age-old examples of using light-coloured materials to reflect heat rather than absorb it in a bid to keep homes cool. Yet on the same day the latest IPCC report issued a warning to the world that it was “now or never” to stave off climate disaster, the NSW government abandoned its plan to switch to light-coloured roofs, among a suite of other sustainability measures aimed at improving building standards in the state.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/as-temperatures-go-through-…
# NSW, Climate change, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.