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 allowed to keep pets and rent increases capped under MP’s plan
Felicity Caldwell The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Tenants would be allowed to keep pets and rent increases would be capped under proposals from the Queensland Greens. ... Rental bidding, where two prospective tenants are pitted against each other and asked to offer the highest price, would be banned. And “no grounds” evictions, including when the owner wanted to sell the property, would be scrapped.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/tenants-allowed-to-ke…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent, No-grounds evictions, State Government.Solar micro-grid helping public-housing residents save money
Alexandra Alvaro ABC (No paywall)For many people like Carol Johansen, living on a budget is a fact of life. ... She is now living in one of five two-bedroom, local-council-operated, public-housing units in Nubeena, in southern Tasmania. The units are part of pilot program run by not-for-profit group Tasman Peninsula Power (TPP), which has set up what it says is the state's first micro-grid. ... A micro-grid is a small power network that can run independently of the state's main grid. Power generated by the network's solar panels goes either directly into the houses or into a nearby centralised battery for storage.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-06/solar-micro-grid-helping-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Utilities water energy internet.Cut of £40m in help for tenants will ‘drive up homelessness’
Chaminda Jayanetti The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The government is cutting the funding it gives to councils in England and Wales to help struggling tenants by more than a fifth, with critics warning the move will drive up homelessness following the recent end of the Covid evictions ban and the end of the furlough scheme in September. ... A spokesperson for tenants’ union Acorn said: “This cut to the DHP pot couldn’t come at a worse time. This will undoubtedly lead to more people needlessly ending up on the streets because they can’t pay their rent, and the emergency safety net that is supposed to help in this scenario will have been gutted.”
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jun/06/cut-of-40m-in-help…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.Housing crisis: Resilience of people living in bad conditions is remarkable, but cultural change is needed
Daniel Hewitt (No paywall)From United Kingdom ... Every week, I visit people living in homes with leaks, mould, damp, overcrowding, holes in the ceilings, rodent problems: conditions their landlords (whether housing association, council or private) wouldn’t tolerate for their families for a single day. (ITV News)
https://www.itv.com/news/2021-06-04/housing-crisis-resilience-of…
# Audio International, Public and community housing, Rent, Repairs, Utilities water energy internet, Health, Housing market, Mould.Sadiq Khan aims to help social landlords with £10bn ‘retrofit revolution’
James Wilmore Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The Innovation Partnership scheme will give housing associations access to a “high-quality supply chain of solution providers for deep and whole-house retrofits”, a spokesperson for the London mayor’s office told Inside Housing. The scheme is open to social housing providers across the UK and could see around £10bn worth of retrofit works carried out, according to the mayor’s office. Around £5bn of this would be spent in the capital. ... Housing associations themselves have been making efforts to collaborate on addressing the challenges around retrofitting. In April, five large landlords – including Hyde and Sanctuary – agreed a partnership to improve the energy efficiency of homes and develop decarbonisation solutions.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/sadiq-khan-aims-to-hel…
# International, Public and community housing, Utilities water energy internet, Climate change.Focus on housing
Cassie McCullagh ABC (No paywall)This episode of Focus is all about housing, and from around 7 mins and 30 seconds in, you can hear from Leo Patterson-Ross, CEO of the Tenants' Union of NSW, about what's going on for NSW renters. After this, from around the 19 minute mark, there's a very informative piece from Mark Khoo from WelcomeMat which is an independent digital platform that matches people eligible for Affordable Rental housing with providers and properties.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/sydney/programs/focus/focus/13369208
# TUNSW in the media, Audio NSW, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market, Tax.Opinion: 'Landlord' feudal, outdated term that help paint housing providers as villians
Roger Valdez (No paywall)From the United States ... First of its kind legislation has been proposed in Ohio to change references in state law from “landlord” and “tenant” to “housing provider” and “resident.” ... [The argument is] often, housing providers in Ohio and the United states are small family-owned businesses, not powerful land barons. Updating language is an important first step to accurately reflect this in the law, and it should lead to better policy.
https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2021/06/04/…
# International, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Canana's Housing Market Is Out of Control
Dan Darrah (No paywall)House prices and rents in Canada are skyrocketing. There’s only one solution to the social crisis this has caused: a massive expansion of public housing, releasing people from dependence on a rigged market.
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/06/canada-housing-rising-rent-real-e…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.