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Tenants' Union news

Also check out our blog, Tenant News archive, media appearances, and Housing News Digest.
For factsheets and sample letters, please see Tenancy info.

 

Electricity: changes on the horizon

Electricity
There are changes afoot to the financial assistance available for NSW park residents who need help paying their energy bills.
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Million Dollar Homes

Million dollar homes
Manufactured home estates (MHEs) and caravan parks (collectively called residential parks) provide long-term accommodation to around 34,000 people in NSW, according to Fair Trading. Parks have for a long time provided an affordable home ownership option and today 87% of residents own their homes.
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Emergency! Access issues for parks

Wallacia
Access arrangements for residential parks are often an area of discussion and dispute, not only between park owners and residents, but also sometimes between residents. On the one hand is the desire or need for security and on the other is the necessity to enable vehicle access for service providers.
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Land tax is the fairest tax on earth

From the Brown Couch archives: an explanation of why the TU supports a land tax
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Reprieve for residents of Hastings Point Holiday Park

Hastings Point residents
Hastings Point Holiday Park has been in the process of closing for some time and a seniors living development is being built in its’ place. During 2012 the remaining approximately 30 residents of the park were served with Notices of Termination of their site agreements for change of use. Read more about their story in this issue of Outasite Lite.
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Affordability biggest concern

Letters
The Tenants’ Union recently wrote to all park residents on the Outasite mailing list to check that it is accurate. We had a great response with 563 people from 163 different parks requesting copies of Outasite. Because we were writing to people, we also undertook a quick survey. We asked residents to nominate what they consider to be the top three issues in residential parks. Read about the results in this issue of Outasite Lite.
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Terence faced damp and mould in public housing for years

Terence, a public housing tenant, in front of his house
Terence is a tenant of Housing NSW. His property was riddled with damp and mould for years. This exacerbated his health problems and forced him to sleep in a recliner chair in lounge room rather than his bed.
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Insights from Jim Allen, Coordinator of Murra Mia Aboriginal Tenants' Service

Murra Mia tenant advocates
“If we had walked together side by side as a country, walked together as equals, we would have developed in step with each other.” Jim Allen, Coordinator of Murra Mia Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service, shares some insights based on his many years as a Tenant Advocate.
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Electricity: charges and changes

Electricity
On 1 July 2013 new rules governing the sale of electricity and gas to residential and small business energy customers came into force in NSW. The rules are part of the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF), which is a national customer protection framework and its implementation involved the transfer of state and territory legislation into a single set of national Laws, Regulations and Rules.
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Tales from the Illawarra

Illawarra
The Illawarra region on the South Coast of NSW is home to nine residential parks providing accommodation to over 2,000 long term residents. Many are located in an enviable position between the Illawarra escarpment and the ocean. Earlier this month, Julie and Jemima from the Tenants’ Union Residential Parks Team travelled to this beautiful region.
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