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
Government pledges £65m to help vulnerable renters in arrears in England
PA Media The Guardian (No paywall)Vulnerable renters who have fallen into arrears during the pandemic will be helped with a £65m support package this winter, the government has announced. However, organisations representing landlords and people at risk of homelessness said the money will not be enough to help everyone struggling, and called for the government to go further. The funding is in addition to a £500m package announced in September to help families struggling to afford food, energy, water and other essentials. This, too, was described as insufficient to meet the scale of the challenge facing low-income families as living costs rise. ... Jon Sparkes, the chief executive of Crisis, said: “We of course welcome this funding that should help keep some of those most at risk of homelessness off the streets this winter. It is now vital councils use this funding to help people most at risk of losing their home. “But with almost a million households across the UK in rent arrears and the cost of living rising rapidly, it is impossible for this funding to meet the demand we face. To prevent homelessness in the first place, we desperately need the UK government to ensure that housing benefit covers the true cost of renting
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/23/government-pledg…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Landlords and agents.Pandemic boom: House price surge stokes affordability worries
Matt wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When you ask Sydneysiders what worries them most you might expect health or unemployment to top the list considering the Delta outbreak and its devastating effects on the economy. But we’ve got an even bigger bugbear: housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/pandemic-boom-house-…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market.The Simplest Fix to America’s Rent Problem
Rachel Cohen (No paywall)From the United States ... In an obscure but public meeting last week, local and federal housing officials discussed a controversial idea that could transform U.S housing policy: What if the government gave money directly to renters, rather than relying on a complicated voucher system that drives both tenants and landlords up the wall? You’ve heard of universal basic income. What about universal basic rent? (The Atlantic)
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/10/universal-b…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government.As WA's public housing waitlist ballooned, department spent a fraction of funds, report finds
Evelyn Manfield and Abby Richards ABC (No paywall)Across a nine-month period when WA was suffering from public housing and affordable rental shortages, just 2 per cent of a budget allocated to build new social housing and refurbish existing ones was spent, a [WA Auditor-General} report has found. ... Shelter WA chief executive Michelle MacKenzie said the figures were concerning. "We know that there are desperate people in need of social housing," she said. "But we're really pleased that the new minister (WA Housing Minister John Carey) has got his eye attuned to this problem ... ".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-21/fraction-of-social-housin…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19.Tiny houses could add to housing mix amid affordability crisis, but legal changes needed: experts
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Tiny houses could play a greater role in the nation’s housing mix and offer an alternative to those struggling with high prices and rents if small legal changes were introduced, experts say. Although tiny houses – micro-dwellings that are often set on wheels and cleverly designed to maximise space – have drawn plenty of enthusiasm, potential residents can be put off by the legal grey area they occupy. The dwellings are not in themselves a solution to the housing affordability crisis, and their proponents freely admit tiny living is not for everyone. But they have the potential to house people at risk of homelessness, seniors looking for a granny-flat equivalent next to family, young people facing high rents or house prices, women going through a separation late in life, or minimalists looking to tread more lightly on the earth.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/tiny-houses-could-add-to-housing-…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market, Older people, Young people.Tiny outback town’s offer of ‘free land’ draws interest from the coast to Hong Kong
Natasha May The Guardian (No paywall)It was only ever intended as a solution to a housing crisis in the tiny, outback town of Quilpie, in south-west Queensland. The plan was to build a maximum of five homes by offering “free land” to new home builders in response to the housing shortage being experienced across regional Australia. But the Quilpie council’s offer of grants of up to $12,500 – the equivalent of a new block of land in that area – has attracted a massive response nationally and from overseas, including more than 250 inquiries from as far afield as Hong Kong and India.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/22/tiny-outb…
# Australia, Housing market, Renting culture.COVID-19: Tenancy support for Victorian tenants
(No paywall)COVID-19 restrictions are in place in Victoria and are due to lift at midnight on Thursday, 21 October. If you rent in VIC, here’s where to get tenancy support. (rent.com.au)
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Smart homes powered by movement will be the way of the future in sustainable, affordable housing
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)A game-changing way of building homes is being invented that will cut construction and energy costs and is touted as a way of helping Australia reach its net zero target by 2050 while delivering more affordable housing.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/smart-homes-powered-by-movement-w…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market.