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
‘Likely a Death Sentence’: Officials Fear Cold Weather Is Greater Risk for Homeless Than Virus
John Eligon The New York Times (No paywall)For weeks after he opened a daytime shelter for the homeless, Jae Bennett was fairly rigid about the building’s 37-person capacity. The last thing he wanted was for a lapse in social distancing to cause the deadly coronavirus to spread among a population in which many people were in frail health. But then temperatures in Kansas City, Mo., plunged into the single digits a little more than a week ago and stayed there, the coldest arctic blast of the season. And Mr. Bennett looked into the eyes of people waiting outside because the squat, brown building was full. “I said, ‘Screw it, just come in,’”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/14/us/coronavirus-homeless-cold-…
# Must read International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.450,000 families ‘behind on rent because of Covid’
BBC (No paywall)Almost half a million UK families are thought to have fallen behind on rent, as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to the Resolution Foundation. It said more than 750,000 had been behind on housing costs last month. That is 450,000 more than January 2020. "Despite widespread calls for forbearance in the face of the Covid-19 shock, just 3% of private renting families have been able to negotiate a lower rent over the last 10 months," the think tank said in a report.
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Port Stephens homelessness rate sparks fear of tent city
Liz Farquhar ABC (No paywall)A New South Wales coastal town has run out of options when it comes to finding a roof for its most vulnerable residents, a homelessness service says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-16/homelessness-rates-spike-…
# NSW, Homelessness, Housing market, Regional NSW.It’s madness, but here’s a way to stop home prices rising so fast
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)And what do Australians generally do when credit gets cheaper? Do we start our own businesses? No, silly! We invest in property! Why? Because the tax system explicitly rewards us for doing so.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/it-s-madness-but-her…
# Hot topic Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, Tax.Has COVID really caused an exodus from our cities? In fact, moving to the regions is nothing new
Amanda Davies The Conversation (No paywall)Internal migration resulted in a net loss of 11,200 people from Australia’s capital cities in the September quarter of 2020, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released this month. At the same time, some regional areas experienced significant growth in house prices as demand for properties increased. So this has raised the questions: are we starting to see an exodus from our cities, and is this related to the COVID-19 pandemic?
https://theconversation.com/has-covid-really-caused-an-exodus-fr…
# Hot topic Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Regional NSW.Housing and housing assistance pathways with companion animals: risks, costs, benefits and opportunities
Wendy Stone and others AHURI (No paywall)This study investigated the policy and regulatory settings that shape housing options available to households that own companion animals. It considers housing and housing assistance contexts nationally across tenures, sectors (e.g. ownership, private rental housing), emergency/crisis accommodation and for diverse population groups receiving income and housing assistance support.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/350?utm_source=w…
# Research alert Australia, Home.‘Do We Need Affordable Housing’ Is the Wrong Question to Ask
Gail Schechter (No paywall)It was only after years as a fair and affordable housing advocate that I realized “do we need affordable housing?” is the wrong question to ask. It obfuscates the deeper, broader issue, which is about government’s role as a caretaker for all its people—what Michael Ignatieff, in The Needs of Strangers, calls “a shared language of the good.” (International Union of Tenants)
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/do-we-need-affordable-housing-is-…
# International, Affordable housing.Renting and having a dog or cat is not impossible. Here's how to do it
Patrick Wright ABC (No paywall)Kym Ryan has looked over thousands of rental applications while working as a property manager in Melbourne. So when she had to apply for a rental herself recently, she came up with a plan to deal with the fact she had a dog.
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/renting-with-pets-in-australia/1…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.