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
Build more rentals, end tax breaks, let values fall: Australians tell government how to fix housing
Jason Whittaker ABC (No paywall)The dream of owning a home still flickers for most Australians. We're even prepared to sacrifice the value of our own homes to keep it alive. That's the surprise result from exclusive research for the ABC's Q+A, as new federal Housing Minister Clare O'Neil and shadow minister Michael Sukkar prepare to debate solutions to the desperate social and economic crisis on Monday night. A national YouGov poll of 1,526 Australians reveals scepticism that housing supply and affordability will improve — even while most of us significantly underestimate how difficult saving for a loan deposit has become.
# Hot topic Australia, .How to get the housing we need: healthy, affordable and resilient to climate change
Lyrian Daniel, Emma Baker, Michaela Lang, Ian Hamilton & Peter Phibbs The Conversation (No paywall)Imagine coming home after a long day at work. It is winter. You step inside your home. It is warm, quiet and dry. A storm is forecast to blow in tonight. Unprecedented rainfall, they are saying. But you are not worried. You know your house will stay warm, and the roof and gutters will cope with the fourth “once-in-100-year” rainfall event this season. Come summer, too, you know your house will stay cool, even through any blackouts.
https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-the-housing-we-need-healt…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Utilities water energy internet.Interstate loophole in NSW Civil and Administration Tribunal creates headache for renters and landlords wanting action
Joseph Hathaway-Wilson ABC (No paywall)When sisters Beth and Caitlin took their landlord to a rental tribunal over an ongoing mould infestation, the case was dismissed before it was even heard. They took their matter to the NSW Civil and Administration Tribunal (NCAT), the state body designed to resolve disputes between self-represented parties, but it was unable to deal with the dispute because their landlord lives interstate. "It was awful," Caitlin said, "I remember going downstairs and just sitting there, wanting to cry."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-09/nsw-interstate-landlord-r…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Tribunal NCAT.Housing crisis 'profundly harmful' to Australians, council boss Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz tells National Press Club — as it happened
Brianna Morris-Grant ABC (No paywall)The chair of Australia's National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, has addressed the National Press Club. The council was established by the federal government in December to give independent expert advice on the housing industry. In May, its first State of the Housing System report found the national 1.2 million housing target was unlikely to be met in its current timeframe.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-04/susan-lloyd-hurwitz-natio…
# Must read Australia, .My family and I are homeless in Australia, trapped in a vicious cycle of seeking help where none is available
Stephanie Valla The Guardian (No paywall)I am a single mother of three children ages seven, nine and 17. We are currently homeless and living in a caravan in a friend’s front yard in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne. We had 30 days to leave our rental house after I, with help of a legal aide, sought for the property’s minimum standards be upheld. I was hoping this would lead to repairs being made at the house. Instead, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal – Vcat – deemed the property “uninhabitable” due to a water leak causing structural issues, as well as mould and mushrooms growing from the walls, posing a threat to our health.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/article…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Knock knock: it’s the rental inspectorate here about renewing your landlord licence
First Dog on the Moon The Guardian (No paywall)Do you ever come over to the property unannounced and do ‘gardening’ with your shirt off? It is 2027 - Toto the Cavoodle is Prime Minister of the minority Labor/Greens government, Max Chandler-Mather is minister for annoying the media and also housing.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/sep/04/kn…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Australian Housing Crisis Is a Human Rights Disaster, Expert Says
Bloomberg (No paywall)Australia is in the grips of a housing crisis, as home prices continue to climb with demand still outstripping supply. Kevin Bell, Adjunct Professor at Monash University and author of "Housing: The Great Australian Right," says the the government needs to rethink its policies because the crisis has turned into a human rights disaster. Bell also says the "housing anxiety" has turned the "Great Australian Dream" into the "Great Australian Nightmare".
# Video Australia, Rent.Woman's $5,000 triumph after landlord's 'ridiculous' reason for not giving bond back
Nick Whigham Yahoo News (No paywall)After suffering through months of living in a flooded rental property with algae growing on the verandah and mould growing in the bedrooms, all Charisse wanted was her bond back. But the landlord refused. The audacious denial sparked a near two year battle to secure the bond as well as further compensation from the homeowner. In the end, she was "vindicated" with the judge awarding her the $2,800 bond as well as four weeks worth of rent in extra compensation.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/womans-5000-triumph-after-landlords-ri…
# Hot topic Australia, Bond, Tribunal NCAT.