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
Tenants seek help in the fallout from severe weather
Rosie Bensley Illawarra Mercury (No paywall)Former UOW student Holly Grace knows what it's like to live in a flooded share house, battling property damage, mould and uncooperative real estate agents. After severe weather and flooding in the Illawarra this week, she's lived a reality that many young renters are now facing. Ms Grace lived in a share house in Keiraville that flooded in 2020. The flooding caused damage and long-term mould problems that ended in a battle in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. "One of the girl's rooms was completely unusable. All of her possessions were destroyed," Ms Grace said. Despite the damage, the landlord refused to work with the tenants to solve the issues. ... After severe weather hit the Illawarra this week, many New South Wales tenants are facing the fallout. For young people and new renters, it can be difficult to know what damages you're liable for and where to get advice, Tenants Union NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross said.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7644746/how-uow-studen…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Repairs, Tribunal NCAT, Landlords and agents.‘Unimaginable’: Thousands displaced as true extent of NSW floods revealed
Tom Rabe The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)More than 2000 homes and businesses in the state’s inundated Northern Rivers have been declared unliveable and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet warned the recovery will take years as the true extent of the disaster becomes clear. Mr Perrottet on Sunday described scenes in Lismore and its surrounds as “unimaginable” while receding floodwaters revealed the scale of the deadly catastrophe. Short-term housing for the thousands displaced across the region has been identified as a priority.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/unimaginable-thousands-displ…
# NSW, Housing market, Regional NSW.Mould creeping in everywhere? Here’s how to deal with it
Sue Williams The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)With the floods, teeming rain and sticky humidity of a long, wet La Niña summer comes the uninvited visitor everyone dreads – mould. Read the article entitled: 'How to deal with mould following the south-east Queensland flooding and rain' by Elizabeth Cramsie and Jessica Rendall on ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-09/mould-problem-flooding-queensland-houses/100893414]. Also, read the article entitled: 'Wet, humid weather and damp surfaces are the ideal environment for household mould. Here's how to remove it' by Michael Luu and Joseph Szeps on ABC Everyday at: [https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/mould-removal-methods/100892310]
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/mould-creep…
# NSW, Health, Housing market, Mould.Record-high house prices widen gender wealth gap
Sezen Bakan The New Daily (No paywall)Australia’s pandemic housing boom may have widened the wealth gap between men and women, new research has shown. This is because property ownership is more common among men than among women so when prices rise the wealth gap between the two typically widens.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/03/07/wealth-ga…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Women.Plan to cut stamp duty to encourage people to move from floodplains
Alexandra Smith and Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government will encourage people to move away from floodplains by offering subsidies such as stamp duty concessions ... [The government is] working on a proposal for residents of flood-ravaged areas such as Lismore to not pay stamp duty if they buy in an area away from floodplains. The plan will be considered by cabinet’s expenditure review committee this week.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/plan-to-cut-stamp-duty-to-en…
# NSW, Housing market, Tax.‘Farcical’: Minister shoots down flood relocation, says residents know the risks
Lucy Cormack The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres has shot down calls to relocate people from floodplains, arguing residents are acutely aware of the risk they take by choosing to live in a flood-prone area.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/farcical-minister-shoots-dow…
# NSW, Housing market, State Government.‘I can’t afford to go anywhere else’: the NSW caravan park residents devastated by floods
Christopher Knaus The Guardian (No paywall)In their simple home on the banks of the Tweed River, Peter and Linda Bale sat on the couch in ankle-deep water, trying not to panic. Outside, the streets that criss-cross the sprawling Chinderah caravan parks had become canals, another scene of horror in the New South Wales’ Northern Rivers disaster. ... John Anderson, who is helping to manage Tweeds Shores and Chinderah Lakes parks’ disaster response ... has a simple message for the nation’s leaders. Something must be done about climate change, or the disaster scenes playing out at the parks will become an inevitable regularity.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/09/i-cant-af…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Climate change, Personal stories.Housing help still unclear for Lismore residents after northern NSW flood
Bronwyn Herbert and Kim Honan ABC (No paywall)Val and Neil Dyke are not sure when they and their three teenage sons can move back home. Their house is among more than 3,000 affected by floodwaters that raged through Lismore last week, peaking 2 metres above the town's last record flood. "Mud keeps pouring out of the walls; it's tough going," Neil Dyke said of the clean-up effort. There are currently 270 people still staying in Lismore's two evacuation centres, with thousands of others relying on family and friends and sleeping in spare bedrooms, caravans and garages.
And it is not just in Lismore, with the impact on homes across the Northern Rivers region still being counted and assessed. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet yesterday said the government was "working through issues" with those who "have lost their homes or have been temporarily relocated", but fell short of announcing any specific measures.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-09/lismore-northern-nsw-hous…
# NSW, Climate change, Housing market.