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
Our Summer in Eviction Court
Anna Findley, Samantha Gutcho, and Hannah Mays (No paywall)From the United States ... We are William & Mary students who spent the summer of 2021 observing eviction court hearings in Richmond, Newport News, and Alexandria, Virginia. Our main goals were to time the length of eviction hearings and observe how the presence of attorneys for either landlords or tenants might shape the proceedings. From June through August of 2021 we observed almost 600 eviction cases. What follows is a brief account of what we observed and what we learned from the experience. (RVA Eviction Lab)
https://rampages.us/rvaevictionlab/2021/10/15/our-summer-in-evic…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.NSW to spend big on social housing as state records 319 COVID-19 cases and two deaths
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW will spend millions of dollars on social housing to help people made vulnerable during the pandemic ... The government has announced a $183 million stimulus package providing social housing and extra rent support for homeless and vulnerable people across the state. Housing Minister Melinda Pavey said the package would allow an economic and social bounce-back for the state. "We are supercharging our social housing investment across NSW, we're leading Australia," she said. "It's a very exciting time to be able to provide the homes and the communities that we need going into the future, support our communities post-COVID with jobs and new homes." You will find more details in the NSW Government's media release at: [https://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/land-and-housing-corporation/plans-and-policies/accelerating-the-delivery-of-more-than-1,400-homes-across-nsw]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-16/nsw-records-319-covid-19-…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, State Government.Rental reforms pass in Queensland but not all tails are wagging
Felicity Caldwell The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Reforms will make it easier for Queensland renters to keep a pet but the changes have been denounced as going too far by the LNP and not far enough by the Greens. ... But Greens MP Amy MacMahon, who failed in her attempt to delay the bill until MPs who were landlords – about one in three – excused themselves from debate, said it did nothing to address the unequal power relationship between lessors and tenants. ... Labor’s bill would also stop landlords ending a lease without grounds and prescribed minimum housing standards from September 2023 for new tenancies and September 2024 for all tenancies. Grounds for eviction will include the end of a fixed-term agreement or if the owner wishes to perform significant repairs or renovations, sell or move in themselves. ... The Greens had also proposed a bill which would cap rent increases to once every 24 months by no more than CPI, ban rental bidding, and end “no grounds evictions”, even when a fixed-term contract was due to expire or the owner wanted to sell the property. Also, check out the story in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/10/15/rental-reforms-queensland/]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/rental-reforms-pass-i…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, No-grounds evictions, State Government.Queensland landlords stripped of automatic refusal on pets in rental properties under new housing bill
Jessica Rendall ABC (No paywall)Queensland landlords will no longer be allowed to refuse pets in rental properties without a reason deemed valid by the state government. The state government said the changes would modernise current laws for the 34 per cent of Queenslanders living in a rental property. ... Under the bill: Tenants can have pets unless landlords provide a valid reason to refuse; Tenants experiencing domestic violence can end a lease with just seven days' notice; No evictions without grounds evictions; Added reasons for landlords and tenants to end tenancies; Strengthening housing standards by fining landlords up to $6,850 if repairs aren't completed. (Note: This article is misleading because a landlord may still give a no-grounds notice at the end of a fixed term.)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-14/qld-new-housing-bill-remo…
# New policy announcement Australia, Domestic violence, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, No-grounds evictions.Robyn got her landlord's approval for NDIS-funded home improvements. Now her lease is not being renewed
Liz Gwynn ABC (No paywall)Robyn Butterworth lives with multiple sclerosis and was relieved when the National Disability Insurance Scheme agreed to pay for and install about $15,000 in modifications to her rental home, where she hoped to live long term. But now the mother of one has not been able to sleep or eat properly since learning last week that her lease at the property in the small town of Bagdad, north of Hobart, would not be renewed. The mobility improvements took 12 months from start to finish and include an extension to the deck area, a new outside handrail, an automatic bidet toilet, a shower handrail and new lever taps. The washing line was also moved closer to the house for easier access. Ms Butterworth said the modifications have greatly improved her quality of life, because multiple sclerosis affects her strength and balance and causes her severe fatigue. "Since I've had these modifications done I don't trip or fall like I used to … I felt safer from day one, it was a huge relief," Ms Butterworth said. However, three months after the mobility improvements to the house were carried out, Ms Butterworth's landlord Timothy Richards informed her that she would have to move out at the end of her current lease term to make way for his mother.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-15/ndis-funded-rental-home-i…
# Australia, Eviction, Disability, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.‘The hardest thing you can do’: Why there’s little progress on tax reform
Jennifer Duke and Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Politicians on both sides of the nation’s ideological divide are failing to demonstrate the will, ability or political clout required to overhaul the tax system, experts warn. ... Former Labor leader Bill Shorten took some of the biggest tax changes in years to the 2016 and 2019 elections, including ... The opposition had also promised to halve the capital gains tax deduction and restrict negative gearing to new investment properties as part of a plan to re-balance power in the housing market away from investors. But while many academics and economists were supportive of these proposals, Labor failed to drum up enough support. Now, with Anthony Albanese as Opposition Leader, these tax changes are off the table as the 2022 election looms. For several experts, including former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser and former Treasury secretary Ken Henry, Labor’s decision to backtrack on these changes is fast closing the door on reform altogether. “I have been rather disappointed, to put it mildly, with the Labor Party’s … walking away from the tax measures it took to the last election,” Fraser says. “This certainly dismays me. It will dismay a lot of people who cling rather flimsily, myself included, to having a better, fairer Australian society and tax reform has to be part of that.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-hardest-thing-you-ca…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Tax.End of COVID disaster payments looms large for stressed tenants
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)More tenants could find themselves struggling to pay rent as they emerge from lockdown, faced with losing income support payments before they can fully return to work. With the end of the COVID disaster payment fast approaching, more tenants could find themselves in rental stress or having to vacate a property they can no longer afford, tenant groups fear. ... The looming end of the payment could cause significant problems for those still unemployed or underemployed, said Leo Patterson Ross, the chief executive of the Tenants’ Union of NSW. “It’s very contingent on how [the city’s reopening and businesses] go. We know there is a huge level of unemployment and underemployment at the moment – a lot of people are not doing as well as they were before COVID hit – so we think it’s important to ensure the support continues while there is a need for it,” he said. Throughout lockdown, NSW tenants who’ve lost at least 25 per cent of their income have been protected by an eviction moratorium, as long as they continue to pay at least 25 per cent of their rent. The moratorium is scheduled to end next month and will be followed by a three-month transition period. Landlords have been also able to access up to $4500 in financial assistance – to be passed on to tenants via a rent reduction – or a land tax benefit. That sum would help bridge the shortfall for a tenant paying just a quarter of the rent across much of the city until December, Mr Patterson Ross said.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/tenants-bracing-for-end-of-covid-…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market, State Government.After Ida, How Can Affordable Housing Withstand Climate Impacts?
Alex Williamson (No paywall)When the remnants of Hurricane Ida struck the Northeast in early September, the region was inundated by devastating flash floods. Across four states, the storm killed more than 40 people, caused up to $24 billion in property damage, and knocked out power to 150,000 homes. New Jersey and New York City were hit particularly hard—30 New Jersey residents drowned in their homes and vehicles, and in NYC, 13 residents died, most drowning in their basement apartments. ... What lessons can Ida offer to affordable housing managers and owners whose properties are at risk of extreme weather? (Shelterforce)
https://shelterforce.org/2021/10/14/after-ida-how-can-affordable…
# International, Affordable housing, Climate change, Landlords and agents.