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
Federal Judge Strikes Down Moratorium on Evicting Renters
Glen Thrush The New York Times (No paywall)WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday struck down the nationwide moratorium on evictions imposed by the Trump administration last year and extended by President Biden until June 30, a ruling that could affect tenants struggling to pay rent during the pandemic. The decision, by Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the most significant federal ruling on the moratorium yet, and follows three similar federal court decisions. The Justice Department immediately filed an appeal ...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/us/politics/eviction-moratori…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market.NSW Housing Strategy – more “homework” needed to fix our broken housing market
(No paywall)In 2020, Shelter NSW was pleased to see the NSW Government embark on the development of NSW’s first 20-year housing strategy. In our submission we commended the Government for tackling the task. But we added a reminder – that Government has a unique capability and responsibility to ensure that the resulting strategy was more than a compilation of a myriad of many ‘good ideas’ – more than a ‘Housing’s Greatest Hits’ if you like. We wanted to see a clear, long-term commitment to large, well-funded, high priority approaches that would produce a demonstrable difference for people and communities. [Read on ...]
https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/special-ebulletin-nsw-housing-stra…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.Everyone deserves a decent, secure life. It’s time New Zealand talked about rent controls
Chloe Swarbrick The Guardian (No paywall)When you can’t put down roots, there’s no sense of belonging nor ownership and no incentive to invest in what could be your community. Kids move schools with each new neighbourhood. You can’t plan for a future you’re not afforded. Our communities aren’t a game of Monopoly – which, by the way, was invented to showcase the ludicrousness of capital accumulation at the expense of productive investment. We can change the rules when they don’t work for the majority of us. And they don’t. So we should.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/may/09/ever…
# Must read International, Eviction, Rent.Robin’s home sold for 150 times what he paid for it, so he helped homeless women
Wendy Tuohy The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When he bought his home near the centre of Box Hill in 1973, Robin Friday paid a then typical price – $28,000. But as Mr Friday’s street became transformed by developments and offers flooded in over recent years to buy the home he shared with his late wife MaryLou, they decided it was time to sell. He describes the price they were offered and accepted, $4.6 million – or 150 times the home’s original sale price – as an “unearned windfall profit”. Having been a Box Hill city councillor, and mayor for a time, Mr Friday was aware of social issues including homelessness and, having seen it increase in recent years, he called his family together to decide how best they could support people in need with a big chunk of the money. ... With the help of family members, he spoke to several community housing organisations before settling on supporting women and children fleeing family violence through a ground-breaking new housing model which integrates support services and offers them stable housing with no fixed exit date. [Read on ...]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/rob-s-home-sold-for-150…
# Must read Australia, Domestic violence, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Personal stories, Women.Renters face eviction, homelessness as pandemic support falls away
Isabelle Lane The New Daily (No paywall)Renters across Australia are facing eviction and homelessness following the end of pandemic support, a new report has warned, with advocates urging the federal government to address the crisis in next week’s Budget. ... [Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers] called on the Morrison government to urgently boost social welfare payments to mitigate the affordable housing crisis. “We need action in next week’s Budget. We need to lift JobSeeker and other payments above the poverty line,” she said. “If we don’t, people out of work will be pushed deeper into housing stress and even homelessness.” You will find a media release and the full report entitled "A Perfect Storm" at: [https://www.anglicare.asn.au/news-and-media/latest-news/2021/05/08/a-perfect-storm-survey-shows-rental-hardship-is-a-ticking-time-bomb]
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/05/09/rent-evic…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Homelessness, Housing market, Welfare.Before she was a CEO, Michele and her kids lost everything
Sherryn Groch The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)While more men sleep rough on the street, and older women are now the fastest-growing demographic in homelessness statistics, young families - women and children - still make up the bulk of those without securing housing. The numbers are likely even greater than we think, experts say, with many women afraid to front up to services for fear of having their kids taken away, or else returning to violent homes to spare their children nights sleeping rough. And, despite increased government funding and focus on domestic violence in recent years, women’s refuges remain stretched to their limits. [Read on ...]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/before-she-was-a-ceo-michele-and…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Homelessness, State Government, Women.Scammers prey on Victorians amid scramble for rental properties
Henrietta Cook and Benjamin Preiss The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Victorians desperate to secure rental properties are being preyed upon by scammers posing as landlords on Facebook. As fierce competition drives up rents across regional Victoria, scammers lurking in Facebook groups are advertising fraudulent rental properties and demanding money to secure a lease.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/scammers-prey-on-victor…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.More than 400,000 private tenants may be in ‘significant rent arrears’ by end of this year, LSE research reveals
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)The report, titled 'Homelessness and rough sleeping in the time of COVID', uses the government’s prediction of unemployment rising to 6.5% to inform the calculation that more than 400,000 renters will fall into “significant” arrears this year. Almost all of these tenants will be at risk of eviction if the government begins to lift its suspensions on evictions from 1 June as expected, the report said.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/more-than-400000-priva…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.