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
People in Canberra with a disability are 'trapped' in their housing, but new rules could change that
Harry Frost and Michael Inman ABC (No paywall)Canberrans with physical disabilities often need to build their own homes or end up in public housing, according to advocates, but proposed new national requirements may force builders to construct all new homes to accessible standards. ACT Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction Rebecca Vassarotti will next week attend a meeting of Australia's Building Ministers to discuss the introduction of mandatory accessibility standards in the National Construction Code. The standards would mean all homes, townhouses and apartments built in the future would need to meet "universal design" standards— that is, be accessible for most people, regardless of their age, disability, background or other factors. It would include features such as: doors wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, no entry steps, a bathroom on the ground floor and structural reinforcements to allow for the installation of things like grip rails if needed in the future.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-23/disability-construction-c…
# Australia, Disability, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards, State Government.SPECIAL REPORT Giant U.S. landlords pursue evictions despite CDC ban
Michelle Conlin (No paywall)From the United States ... Marvia Robinson was dead tired from a week of overnight long-haul trips when she nosed her Greyhound bus into the station in deep predawn darkness. Still, the 63-year-old driver kept a friendly lilt in her voice as she said goodbye to the riders filing past her and stepping off the bus. ... But she had no home to go to. Nineteen days earlier, Invitation Homes Inc (INVH.N), the largest landlord for single-family homes in the United States, had evicted her from the one she lived in. ... Robinson now lives out of her car and stays with friends or, when she has the cash, in a hotel. ... And eviction isn’t necessarily the end of it. Two weeks after Invitation booted Robinson from her Orlando home, the company sent her a bill for $12,768.82. ... She continues to work overnight shifts, and her hours and pay are rebounding. ... But she worries that debt collectors will come after her for the $12,768.82 bill Invitation Homes sent her. She remains homeless. (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/special-report-giant-us-landlor…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Housing market.Less than 2 per cent of illegal evictions lead to prosecution of landlords, figures indicate
Ben Chapman (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Campaigners are calling on police commissioners to take action against criminal landlords as figures reveal alarmingly low rate of prosecutions. (Independent)
https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/illegal-evictio…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Berlin’s rent cap, though defeated in court, shows how to cool overheated markets
David Madden and Alexander Vasudevan The Guardian (No paywall)The housing question is one of the central issues of our time, and events last week in Berlin underscored what’s at stake. In a much-anticipated ruling, Germany’s constitutional court in Karlsruhe ruled that Berlin’s Mietendeckel or rent cap was unconstitutional, and therefore null and void. The product of years of concerted organising by housing movements and leftwing parties in the city, the rent cap is wildly popular with Berlin’s tenants, who make up three-quarters of the city’s households. But it was hated by landlords, real-estate investors and members of Germany’s conservative political parties. ... Last week’s ruling represents a defeat for Berlin’s housing movement, but it may yet prove to be a pyrrhic victory for the city’s landlords and speculators. Anger over the nullification of the rent cap is fuelling support for the expropriation and remunicipalisation of thousands of units of public housing that had been privatised.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/23/berlin-ren…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Rent, Housing market.HUNTER FAMILY BECOMES HOMELESS AFTER MONTHS OF RENTAL APPLICATIONS
Lauren Kempe (No paywall)A month ago, NBN News brought you the story of a Hunter family on the brink of becoming homeless, after they were evicted from their Raymond Terrace rental. Sadly, even though they applied for dozens of homes, their worst fear has been realised. (NBN News)
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2021/04/24/hunter-family-becomes-home…
# Hot topic, Video NSW, Eviction, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Regional NSW, State Government.Pathways to regional housing recovery from COVID-19
Julia Verdouw and others AHURI (No paywall)This study examined the consequences of COVID-19 for households in regional Australia, and considered that post-pandemic recovery models designed for large cities such as Sydney or Melbourne may not work in regional areas or less-urbanised states like South Australia or Tasmania. ... Findings indicated that regional housing markets experienced few serious consequences as a result of the pandemic. Regional markets had experienced increased demand, including from inward migration, and this has put upward pressure on prices, reducing affordability in these areas. The research also found housing impacts of COVID-19 had been uneven and challenging, especially for lower income tenants in the private rental market. This group has been overexposed to income protections such as JobKeeper which buffered the effects of job and income losses while they were available.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/354/_nocache?utm…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Regional NSW.Government accused of not growing social housing fast enough
Felicity Caldwell The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Queensland government has been accused of falling well short of its own targets to open thousands of new social homes over the next decade, while 47,000 people sit on the waiting list. ... Greens MP Amy MacMahon said the figures were “alarming”, but Ms Enoch accused the Greens of “chasing a headline before they fully understand the facts”. ... The Queensland government’s definition of social housing also included programs such as crisis accommodation and the national rental affordability scheme, ...
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/government-accused-of…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Families, Housing market.Calls for rental price caps as families struggle with major increases
Amy Sheehan ABC (No paywall)Sunshine Coast resident Tina and her husband had expected their rent to increase when their lease was due for renewal in February, but they were shocked to receive an email stating it would jump by $100 a week. ... "I tried to negotiate a lower price, which they just refused," she said. ... National Shelter, a not-for-profit organisation lobbying for affordable housing access, is calling for legislation to cap exorbitant rent increases.
Executive officer Adrian Pisarski said the Sunshine Coast was one of the most unaffordable places to rent right now.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-23/sunshine-coast-rental-pri…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.