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
Tomorrow? The future being sold at our weekend auctions
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s a sign of how unhinged the national property market has become that a friend who bought a house last Friday was told his new home had risen $20,000 in value by Tuesday.
He hasn’t even got the keys to the place but so separated from reality has the national parlour game that is bricks and mortar become that it is showing increasing similarities to a Ponzi scheme.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tomorrow-the-future-bein…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Renters short by £360m as pandemic protection disappears
Kate Hughes (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Tenants caught between the pandemic fallout and rising housing costs are now more likely to lose their homes after the ban on evictions expired this week leaving £360m of rent unpaid, poverty activists warn. Evictions can now resume again in England after a pandemic hiatus that had protected up to a million people from being forced to leave their homes. Also, the required minimum period of notice will come down from six to four months, the housing ministry has confirmed. (Independent)
https://www.independent.co.uk/money/rent-arrears-eviction-help-l…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.McGowan reveals $377 million to target household fees and charges
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)West Australian Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan says the state government will commit $377 million to keeping household charges low with a 1.6 per cent increase for the coming financial year – or $99.37 for the average household. ... Electricity and water charges for households will go up in line with the projected increase to the consumer price index, a rise of 1.75 per cent, as per an election commitment made by the Premier. “We have been very focused on keeping costs and living pressures down for families across Western Australia and this budget will continue that course,” Mr McGowan said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/watch-live-mcg…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet.COVID-19: Lockdown support for Victorian tenants
Lauren Vardy (No paywall)Victoria has moved to circuit-breaker restrictions from Friday, 28 May to Thursday, 3 June. Here’s what you need to know about Victoria’s 7-day lockdown and tenancy support. (Rent.com.au)
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Welfare.Global solutions to a global crisis: International housing policy lessons from the pandemic
AHURI (No paywall)AHURI Brief: Overall, the consistency in the policy responses to the pandemic across the participating countries was striking. All countries addressed street homelessness, had eviction moratoria (or limits on forced evictions), and provided additional income support measures. However, due to different systems and pre-existing social conditions the way in which these were implemented and framed varied significantly.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/ahuri-briefs/global-solutions-…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, Housing market, International, Welfare.A safe place to call home: Ending unfair evictions & reforming renting
(No paywall)Everyone has the right to a secure and decent home. For too many of England’s 11 million private renters, this basic right is out of reach. In the two years since the Government pledged to end Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, the world has been turned on its head. The pandemic highlighted the insecurity built into the private rented sector, and the poor and overcrowded conditions that many have experienced for years. Reform of the private rented sector is evidently long overdue, and the Government’s upcoming White Paper provides an opportunity to transform our housing system and deliver lasting change. Generation Rent has long called for an end to Section 21, but this paper is an opportunity to go further. This report sets out our vision for a private rented sector which provides a stable home for everyone who relies on it. (Generation Rent)
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/npto/pages/7534/attachment…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Home, No-grounds evictions.Spike in renters seeking help as eviction ban ends: Citizens Advice
Leah Miller (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Citizens Advice has reported a surge in enquiries in the first four months of this year ahead of the end of the eviction ban in England on Monday. The charity says that the housing advice pages of its website have been viewed more than 2m times between January and the end of April. Its data show a 36% increase in the number of people seeking help on matters relating to their privately-rented homes from 23,400 between January and April 2020 to 31,700 in the corresponding period this year. Enquiries about evictions from private-rented accommodation have also jumped by 17% over the same timefame. ... Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty says: “Next week, the sticking plaster applied to the English private rented sector during the pandemic will be ripped off. Ending the eviction ban puts thousands of renters at risk of losing their home. The government should put in place a system of grants and government-backed loans for renters in England who are still financially struggling because of Covid-19. The lack of security renters in England will face from Monday is a symptom of a longer term problem where tenants can be evicted without cause. The government has committed to ending no-fault evictions and it’s vital this is urgently enshrined in law in their forthcoming reforms to the private rented sector." (Mortgage Strategy)
https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/news/spike-in-renters-seeking…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, No-grounds evictions.Will housing for rough sleepers be a legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic?
AHURI (No paywall)AHURI Brief: International Housing Policy Exchange focuses on helping people who are homeless find housing or shelter during the pandemic
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/ahuri-briefs/will-housing-for-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, International.