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 own Nomadland: the Australians caught in a COVID blind spot
Amanda Davies and Sarah Prout Quicke The Conversation (No paywall)Australians have been told to stay home during lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While evidence of the efficacy of this approach as a public health strategy during a pandemic is compelling, lockdowns and mobility restrictions are inevitably disruptive for many – virtually everyone. However, a group that has largely been overlooked is Australia’s nomadic population. Periods of lockdown are particularly challenging for these people, who live in vans, RVs, caravans and boats.
https://theconversation.com/our-own-nomadland-the-australians-ca…
# Australia, Land lease communities, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Boarders face homelessness with eviction next month
Sage Swinton (Paywall)Dozens of residents, including recovering drug addicts, elderly citizens, and people with disabilities, are facing homelessness after being issued 29-day eviction notices on their Cooks Hill boarding house. ... The property was bought last year by Aspen Group, which says the building is old, being completed in 1954, and in need of major repairs. Here's a media report at the time of purchase. Go to: [https://www.realestatesource.com.au/aspen-buys-newcastle-build-to-rent-block/]. You can check out Aspen's 'Ethical, Social & Corporate Governance' Statement at: [https://aspenholidayparks.com.au/investor/ethical-social-and-corporate-governance/]
https://app.newcastleherald.com.au/2021/06/11/boarders-face-home…
# NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Eviction, Regional NSW.Women fleeing domestic violence ‘trapped’ in refuges due to lack of housing, advocates say
Ben Smee The Guardian (No paywall)Women and children fleeing domestic violence in Queensland have spent years “trapped” in refuges and other crisis accommodation due to a chronic shortage of secure long-term housing. Community organisations that run domestic and family violence refuges say the situation creates a bottleneck in crisis accommodation – leaving vulnerable women with an “impossible choice” of living for extended periods in secondary homelessness or choosing to return to unsafe or violent relationships.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/09/women-fle…
# Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market.NSW Labor leader Chris Minns pins election hopes on new faces as he announces shadow cabinet
ABC (No paywall)NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has announced his new frontbench promising "renewal, change and new ideas". ... Michael Daley will step into the shoes of Shadow Attorney-General; Rose Jackson, Shadow Minister for Water, Housing and Homelessness; Courtney Houssos, Shadow Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation; Paul Scully has moved from Shadow Minister for Planning; Penny Sharpe has the environment portfolio. Same story at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/real-generational-change-chris-minns-reveals-new-labor-frontbench-20210611-p580dk.html] For the full Shadow Cabinet, go to: [https://twitter.com/MinnsChris/status/1403263846945525764]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-12/nsw-labor-leader-chris-mi…
# NSW, State Government.Sydney tourism slump a boon for renters in former Airbnb hotspots
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Sydney renters in the inner city, eastern suburbs and northern beaches have reaped the benefits of a slump in the holiday rental market during the pandemic, as Airbnb landlords converted their properties to traditional long-term lettings. Researchers at the City Futures Research Centre at the University of NSW found the suburbs in Sydney with the greatest Airbnb activity before the COVID-19 pandemic also experienced the biggest drops in typical weekly rents during 2020. ... In April, NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes introduced a State Environmental Planning Policy for short-term rentals such as Airbnb or Stayz, which overturns any blanket bans on short-term rentals at council level. ... Alex Greenwich, the state MP for Sydney, which includes suburbs such as Paddington and Surry Hills, said he would work with apartment communities and tenancy advocates to push for stronger laws to prevent residential homes being turned into short-term holiday accommodation.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-tourism-slump-a-boon-…
# NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Planning and development, Short-term holiday letting, State Government.Badgered boomers bite back over big homes
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Check out this and other letters to 'The Sydney Morning Herald': 'If Betty and John Citizen can’t take Flossie or Fido with them then they are forced to either stay where they are or have their beloved animals re-homed or worse.' See the article in Housing News Digest (7 June 2021) at: [https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/grandparents-need-the-backyard-boomers-deepen-housing-crisis-by-staying-in-empty-nests-20210605-p57ydf.html]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/badgered-boomers-bite-back-o…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market, Planning and development.Medical van treats acute and chronic illnesses in hundreds of rough sleepers across Sydney
Lydia Feng ABC (No paywall)... But when a red medical van pulls up to the curb in Woolloomooloo on a Tuesday night she’s eager to meet the medical staff inside. Within minutes, Julie is seated beside a doctor and getting a health check-up for the first time in years. ... Julie is one of many rough sleepers benefiting from a new initiative called Street Side Medics.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-13/new-medical-van-treats-ro…
# NSW, Health, Homelessness.NSW to offer $25,000 grant for first home buyers in stamp duty overhaul
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)First home buyers would get a $25,000 grant to help them enter the market as the NSW government moves to overhaul property tax at the same time as home ownership for people under 40 plummets. A grant would replace existing stamp duty concessions for first home buyers under the property tax reforms, which would initially allow buyers to choose paying stamp duty or an annual levy.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-to-offer-25-000-first-ho…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government, Tax, Young people.