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
‘List of enemies’: Affordable housing advocates say Labor abandoned them
Rob Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The nation’s peak organisation on affordability and secure housing for Australians on low incomes has accused federal Labor of rejoining a “list of enemies” against increasing home-ownership in favour of benefiting wealthy landlords. National Shelter, which campaigns to improve housing access for low-income earners, has joined with several social groups to savage the federal opposition’s decision for scrapping key tax policies as it seeks to slimline its policy platform ahead of the next election. ... National Shelter chief executive Adrian Pisarski said by ditching its commitment to reforming negative gearing Labor had “abandoned” would-be homeowners and low-income households wanting to buy homes. “It took 15 years of campaigning by many to get the ALP to find a spine on CGT and negative gearing and commit to helping reduce house price inflation,” Mr Pisarski said. “This is a sad day for housing reform.” Read Jessica Irvine's 'Opinion' piece. She writes: 'By far the greatest disappointment is the abandonment of the policy to slash the discount on capital gains tax for property investors. It was less talked about than negative gearing, but it would likely have done most of the heavy lifting in cooling investor housing demand. ' Check it out at: [https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/young-autralians-should-score-labor-s-housing-policy-gymnastics-harshly-20210728-p58dse.html]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/list-of-enemies-affordab…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Tax.Federal Labor dumps negative gearing policy, backs tax cuts
Rob Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Federal Labor has formally dumped its contentious negative gearing policy and officially dropped its opposition to the federal government’s stage three tax cuts for high income earners. Anthony Albanese’s shadow cabinet agreed to the position after more than 18 month of fierce internal debate, the final position of which is likely to be controversial within the party’s membership base. Read Rob Harris's follow up article at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-sore-point-in-the-ranks-inside-labor-s-tax-cut-decision-20210726-p58d3o.html] Read The Guardian's Katharine Murphy's story on same issue at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/26/labor-agrees-to-keep-coalition-stage-three-tax-cuts-and-dump-negative-gearing-changes]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-dumps-negative-gea…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Tax.‘This is imprisonment’: Blacktown apartments in lockdown after COVID outbreak
Daniella White The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Blacktown social housing complex has been forced into lockdown after six residents across three households tested positive to COVID-19. The unit block, owned by community housing provider Evolve Housing, is under police guard and all residents have been tested. ... This situation reinforces the need for everyone to wear a face mask in shared foyer or lobby areas, lifts, stairwells and corridors, and shared laundry facilities of apartment complexes. “This advice applies to everyone, including residents, visitors, building managers, contractors, delivery drivers and cleaners.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/blacktown-apartment-in-lockd…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19.How to convince your landlord or real estate agent that your pet is the perfect tenant
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)It’s one thing finding your perfect rental home, but it’s another thing entirely to find one that’s just as welcoming to your pet. Sydney apartment renter Serena Leith, for example, looked back on her phone the other day to see the wish list of potential dog names she drew up in 2007. But it was only last year that she won permission from her building to keep a pet. “My landlord in my current place said I’d be fine to have a dog, as long as the strata were OK with it,” said tech company marketer Serena, 48. “But it was only when the no-pet ban was overturned by the courts in one building that mine said I could have one. ... Justin Abi-Daher, assistant principal solicitor at the Marrickville Legal Centre [says] “We’ve been getting a lot of calls, especially since lockdowns, with people wanting to challenge the legality of the clause put in at the back of their tenancy agreement saying they can’t have a pet. But that clause is legal. And even with strata laws changing, if the landlord says no, then you can’t have a pet. That clause is controversial, and we believe it is a breach of a tenant’s right to peace, comfort and privacy, but that’s an argument that’s never been tested in court and would be very difficult to do so.”
https://www.domain.com.au/advice/how-to-convince-your-landlord-o…
# Australia, Rent, Strata.A Group of Renters Just Won £19,000 From Their Billionaire Landlord – And They’re Just Getting Started
Rivkah Brown (No paywall)A group of London renters told to use their unspent lunch money to pay up during the pandemic will be dining out for quite some time on the £19,000 they’ve just won from their billionaire landlord. In a historic court ruling, John Christodoulou – a Monaco-based property magnate and 82nd on the Sunday Times Rich List – has been ordered to pay £19,000 to four of his ex-tenants for failing to correctly license his property. On Wednesday night, a housing tribunal approved Jordan Osserman, Marc Sutton, Foivos Dousos and Daniel Mapp’s request for a rent repayment order (RRO), a little-known legal mechanism that since 2004 has meant renters can get back up to a year’s rent if their landlord has failed to license a house in multiple occupation (HMO). (Novara Media)
https://novaramedia.com/2021/07/23/a-group-of-renters-just-won-1…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Tribunal NCAT, Coronavirus COVID-19, Minimum habitability standards.Mount Isa's crisis housing shortage sees women escaping violence stay with abusive partners
Julia Andre ABC (No paywall)Domestic violence support worker Val Brown speaks to five women a day seeking refuge from domestic violence in the mining city of Mount Isa. Her job is to provide women with support plans for how they can escape threatening partners. But that job has become increasingly hard as crisis accommodation for domestic violence survivors has completely dried up.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-24/domestic-violence-housing…
# Australia, Domestic violence, Affordable housing, Homelessness.Episode 60 “Technology for housing justice with Steph Rudolph”
(No paywall)From the United States ... Reimagining Justice covers issues at the intersection of innovation, law and social justice and you will enjoy it if you’re someone who hopes to make a positive improvement to people’s experience of the law through new ways of thinking and doing. ... JustFix is an American not-for-profit which believe all tenants deserve dignified housing – and that technology plays a supportive role in equipping tenants and the housing justice movement with the tools, information, and organizing power critical to this fight for racial and economic justice. JustFix co-creates tools with tenants, organizers, and legal advocates to fight displacement and achieve stable, healthy housing for all, leveraging the power of data and technology to support individual and collective action for housing justice. (AndreaPerryPetersen)
http://www.andreaperrypetersen.com.au/episode-60-technology-for-…
# Audio International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.Government urged to maintain ‘Everyone In’ spending on rough sleeping
Andy Davis (No paywall)The UK government risks a surge in rough sleeping in the coming months if it does not maintain extra funding it spent tackling homelessness during the pandemic, a panel of experts has warned. The Everyone In scheme saw 37,000 people given shelter in England last year when empty hotels were used to help accommodate the homeless, according to government data. (Channel 4 News)
https://www.channel4.com/news/government-urged-to-maintain-every…
# Video International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.