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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
NSW domestic violence victims now have more flexibility to break leases but the real estate industry is worried’
Mridula Amin ABC (No paywall)Being able to break her lease without a financial hit is what Rani believes kept her alive after her violent ex-husband followed her home after her daughter's birthday dinner. Were it not for the help of LegalAid lawyers, she would've been penalised $2,500 to break her lease — she admits the hefty cost caused her to hesitate.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-16/nsw-domestic-violence-lea…
# Hot topic NSW, Domestic violence, Rent.Forced out during a health crisis: Renters' stories #MovingMonday
Lauren Berends Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)… for residential renters eviction is a massive upheaval. So we thought we'd take this opportunity to share renters' stories of eviction and moving via a series of #MovingMonday videos
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/forced-out-during-health-crisis-…
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19, Personal stories.Veterans in need of housing are at risk of being forgotten because of the pandemic
Steve Rolfe The Conversation (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Imagine leaving your job, moving house and trying to find a new social identity all at the same time. Most of us never have to do all of these things at once, but this is the experience of many people as they leave the Armed Forces in the UK.
https://theconversation.com/veterans-in-need-of-housing-are-at-r…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.Khan tells councils to provide hotel rooms for rough sleepers as temperatures drop
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Councils in London were told to open emergency accommodation for rough sleepers for this first time this year as temperatures were forecast to drop below freezing.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/khan-tells-councils-to-prov…
# International, Homelessness, Local Government.Room with a $US42b view: Airbnb investors book in for dream listing
Elizabeth Knight The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Buying into technology floats that have no near term prospects of making profits is one thing. But placing a valuation of as much as $US42 billion ($56 billion) on the COVID-ravaged Airbnb initial public offering says plenty about investor preparedness to view value in the post-pandemic world. This week investors were asked to digest a 25 per cent upward repricing of the value of Airbnb shares in the lead up to its IPO despite COVID infection rates rising as most of the world (other than Australia) is being ravaged by second and third waves of the pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/room-with-a-us42b-view…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Short-term holiday letting.Eviction looms for struggling US renters as stimulus talks drag
Anna Davies (No paywall)A federal moratorium on evictions is slated to end on December 31. Without additional relief, millions of Americans may face housing insecurity as COVID-19 rages. (Aljazeera)
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/12/7/millions-in-us-face-…
# Must read International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Real estate agencies in Australia accused of “double dipping” millions of dollars in jobkeeper
Ben Butler The Guardian (No paywall)Real estate agencies are under scrutiny by the Australian Taxation Office after being accused of “double dipping” millions of dollars in jobkeeper payments by forcing sales agents to repay the taxpayer-funded subsidy. The Real Estate Employers Federation has given its 1,700 members legal advice that the practice, in which agents repay jobkeeper out of their commissions so that employers keep the benefit of the subsidy, is perfectly legal.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/08/real-esta…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Landlords and agents.Why city policy to “protect the Brisbane backyard” is failing
Rachel Gallagher and Thomas Sigler The Conversation (No paywall)Urban consolidation policies to contain development within existing urban areas are creating poor development outcomes in Australian cities. In Brisbane, our newly published research shows this means the low-density housing character of the city is being retained at the expense of backyards.
https://theconversation.com/why-city-policy-to-protect-the-brisb…
# Research alert Australia, Local Government, Planning and development.