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
‘Pointless engagement’: Real estate agents slam minister, quit reform body in dismay
Nigel Gladestone The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The peak body for real estate agents in NSW has quit an expert panel advising the government on the industry as a stoush between the minister and agents escalates.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/pointless-engagement-real-es…
# NSW, Housing market, Landlords and agents.In Tas You Cannot Be Charged a Fee for Paying Rent
Tenants' Union of Tasmania (No paywall)On Saturday, Guardian Australia published an article about third-party payment of rent. It quotes tenants from NSW, Victoria, and Queensland, who have been strongly encouraged to pay their rent not directly to their landlord or real estate agency, but through a third-party payment processor, such as Rental Rewards. These third-party processing firms often charge tenants a fee in order to pay their rent. ... Thankfully, Tasmanian tenants have largely been able to avoid similar headaches.
https://www.tasmaniantimes.com/2021/06/you-cannot-be-charged-a-f…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.The government says there are no easy answers. There are: be honest and transparent with us
Caleb Cluff (No paywall)The decision by the Andrews government to open its 'Big Housing Build' by demolishing 66 homes of people and families in Delacombe and try to sell it as a 'win for everyone' is a classic case of a government believing its own spin. ... What is really happening in Delacombe is another example of how state governments of both persuasions have continued their purge of public housing responsibility. (The Courier)
https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/7312545/the-government-says-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Housing market, State Government.Sick of 12-month leases? Here's how to find a long-term rental
Grace Jennings-Edquist ABC (No paywall)If you'd like to call somewhere home for the long haul but you can't afford to buy, you might be keen on the idea of a long-term lease. ... Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive officer of the Tenants' Union of NSW, [says] "There is certainly a cohort of landlords who self-manage who will say, 'Barring anything else we're happy for you to stay for a long time. Just the signal that they're not using an agent means … that is the place you might find landlords who are looking to do something different." But these private rentals can have a downside. "There's a big divide within the tenant experience" when it comes to landlords who manage their own properties, says Mr Patterson Ross. (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/how-to-find-a-long-term-rental-h…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Starting a tenancy, Housing market.Kitchen connection: How a cookbook helped locked down public housing residents heal
Jewel Topsfield The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Deepa Gupta had just moved into a public housing estate in North Melbourne last year when she was banned from leaving her apartment for five days. ... More than 3000 of the city’s most disadvantaged residents were confined to their flats and police surrounded the housing estates. ... A year later Ms Gupta and other residents from those public housing estates have come together to create a cookbook to reconnect the community after the trauma of the hard lockdown.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/kitchen-connection-how-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19.‘Defects are rife’: Miami-style building collapse could happen in Australia
Cathy Sherry The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The collapse of Champlain Towers in Miami, Florida should elicit sympathy and fear in equal measure. Florida is the birthplace of resort-style high rise residential development that has been copied in cities around the world, including Australia.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/defects-are-rife-miami-style-bui…
# Australia, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Charities still wary of updated plan to change governance standards
Luke Michael Pro bono Australia (No paywall)The federal government has made changes to its controversial proposal to amend charitable governance standards, but advocates believe the plan will still have a chilling impact on the sector. ... The sector believes this proposal – which is part of a government crackdown on “activist organisations masquerading as charities” – could lead to charities being deregistered for something as simple as tweeting in support of a protest that accidentally ventures onto private land, or providing support to whistleblowers. ... Alice Drury, a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, told Pro Bono News that while [changes from the original wording] were a step in the right direction, the proposal still served to silence important advocacy by Australian charities.
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2021/06/charities-still-war…
# Australia, Campaigns and law reform, Federal Government.BIS warns on house price rises, run-up in government debt amid ultra-low interest rates
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)The global central bank for central banks warns the path out of the pandemic will be "bumpy", with looming risks from ultra-cheap debt and surging house prices as interest rates eventually start rising. ... The factors were the same in most places: increased working from home increased demand for housing, while low interest rates made home ownership cheaper and more attractive relative to renting.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-30/bis-annual-report-house-p…
# Australia, Housing market.