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
Tenants could be hesitant to try enforce Healthy Homes Standards, lawyer says
Charlie Dreaver (No paywall)From New Zealand ... From this month, landlords have to meet the healthy homes standards within 90 days of a new tenancy. However housing lawyer Machrus Siregar from Community Law Wellington explained there were complications if the landlord had not complied after that 90 day period. "The tenants could apply to the Tenancy Tribunal and seek a work order to have the landlord complete that work. "My concern with this is that it puts enforcement onto the tenants and tenants are very hesitant, understandably so, to initiate proceedings against their landlord. It's because they're concerned about being blacklisted or some [other] sort of retaliation."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/446445/tenants-could-be-hes…
# International, Rent, Repairs.Mandatory NJ landlord-tenant settlements will begin. Here are tenant advocates' concerns
Ashley Balcerzak (Paywall)From New Jersey ... Renters in New Jersey are still protected against lockouts through the end of the year, but starting this month, courts will require mandatory settlement hearings for landlord-tenant cases — and some tenant advocates are worried about the potential impact. Through such hearings, tenants and landlords meet — primarily online, at a time scheduled by the court — and discuss ways to resolve their cases. The estimated 14,000 cases that have been pending for more than a year will be prioritized, as well as newer cases involving a year's worth of missed rent. There are consequences if either party doesn't show up. If a landlord fails to appear, the case gets dismissed. If a tenant fails to appear, and the court determines the landlord has made his or her case, the court will enter a default judgment to evict the tenant. ... The state's eviction moratorium is still in effect, meaning renters cannot be kicked out of their homes through the end of the year. So for many tenants, it may not be in their interest to agree to a deal that requires them to move out within 30 days ... (northjersey.com)
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2021/07/08/landlord-tenan…
# International, Tribunal NCAT.Home Truths: NZ kids moving more as families can't afford rising house prices
Ben Leahy (No paywall)Three out of four New Zealand children are moving house at least once before they turn 8, raising fears that falling home ownership is causing lasting harm to our next generation. Forty per cent of Kiwi children now move regularly and those in rentals are at potentially greater risk as they bounce between different homes and schools far more often, according to the ground-breaking Growing Up in New Zealand study.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/home-truths-nz-kids-moving-more-as…
# Research alert International, Health, Housing affordability, Housing market.Healthy Homes: 'Significant' heating problem found as standards take effect
Charlie Dreaver (No paywall)From New Zealand ... The government's admitted to a "significant" problem with one part of the Healthy Homes Standards, the day they come into effect. It relates to the heating landlords have to install in apartments and new builds. As of today, private landlords must ensure their rental properties comply with the standards within 90 days of any new tenancy. There's been a major problem with the heating assessment - resulting in landlords buying heat pumps and heaters that are too large for the property. (RNZ)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/445934/healthy-homes-signif…
# International, Rent, Minimum habitability standards.New wave of rental stress and homelessness three months after COVID moratorium lifted, report says
Claire Moodie and Rhiannon Shine ABC (No paywall)Tricia Ray-Kepa has managed to turn a rundown 3 x 1 rental on a noisy thoroughfare in Perth into a charming home, despite its shortcomings. It is packed with vintage furniture, art and plants, but it is badly needing repairs and there is no air conditioning so it can be boiling in the summer. ... But, about a month ago, the couple got a nasty shock. "My real estate [agent] called and he just said 'Tricia, are you going to stay or are you going to go?'," Mrs Ray-Kepa said. "He said, 'because we're going to lift the rent, $100 a week extra'. "I suddenly felt very stressed and anxious." ... Mrs Ray-Kepa is one of scores of tenants who have flooded legal and financial services since the state's COVID-19 rental moratorium - which prevented landlords from increasing rent or evicting tenants - ended in March.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-07/wave-of-rental-stress-hit…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.Census Takers Worry That Apartment Renters Were Undercounted
Mike Schneider (No paywall)From the United States ... Overlooking people in the nation’s 44 million rental homes carries a potentially high price ... In a national headcount turned upside down by natural disasters, political turmoil and a deadly virus, apartment renters proved particularly hard to count last year. That has former census takers and experts worried that the tally failed to account for all of them. ... Because the census helps determine how $1.5 trillion in federal money is spent each year, the lower numbers would mean less government help to pay for schools, roads and medical services in those communities. Around 36% of homes in the U.S. are occupied by renters, up from 33% during the last census a decade ago. (NBC)
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/census…
# International, Rent, Federal Government.ACT government's $20m bail hostel and detainee crisis housing programs have helped fewer than 50 people
Jake Evans ABC (No paywall)About $19.8 million worth of housing programs funded by the ACT government in 2019 have struggled to get off the ground after numerous failures delayed their rollout, resulting in just 44 people using the multimillion-dollar crisis accommodation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-07/act-bail-hostel-justice-h…
# Australia, Homelessness, State Government.Rental vacancy rates hit rock bottom in regional South Australia as would-be tenants struggle to find a place to live
Declan Gooch and Emma Pedler ABC (No paywall)Regional real estate agents in South Australia are seeing the lowest rental vacancy rates in decades, as desperate applicants offer to pay extra rent, and young adults elect not to move out of home. The vacancy rate is effectively zero in many areas, and agents report upwards of 10 fewer properties on the books compared to a few months ago.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-07/regional-south-australia-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.