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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
IUT in Euronews: Call to turn the housing market more social as COVID hits Europe’s short stay market on Airbnb
(No paywall)Tenants’ unions are calling on European governments to follow the examples of Lisbon and Barcelona with the money from the Coronavirus relief fund. Both metropolises had suffered from Airbnb mass tourism, which made rents almost unaffordable for residents. City councils then bought buildings with Airbnb flats and converted them into social housing, says Barbara Steenbergen in a Euronews interview. (International Union of Tenants)
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/iut-in-euronews-call-to-turn-the-…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.The hidden park of last resort
Mridula Amin ABC (No paywall)They were driven here in one of life’s desperate moments — now, not everyone wants to leave. ... [But] Cheryl has heard the rumours about men in suits pacing the caravan park carrying folders, talking about putting up flats — she just hopes she’s gone by then. (ABC Western Sydney)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-11/fairfield-west-hidden-car…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Affordable housing, Housing market, Personal stories.Conversion of private rented homes to social housing could help turn the tide of this crisis
Richard Best Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... It is a year on from the publication of the Affordable Housing Commission’s (AHC) major report, which highlighted the damaging social and economic effects of the switch from social housing to private renting. The coronavirus pandemic has illuminated and underlined the problem. The AHC ... spelled out how affordability had been impacted by the halving of social housing and the doubling of private renting. This tenure shift has increased poverty and inequality because millions more households can only access housing that costs a huge proportion of their incomes. ccording to the AHC, more than two million households in the private rented sector (PRS) are under housing stress. And the households devoting 40% or more of their incomes to rent – the group at highest risk – are predominantly private renters.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/conversion-of-pr…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents.We need to put nurses back in nursing homes
Omar Khorshid The Guardian (No paywall)Despite the best efforts of hard-working GPs, nurses and specialists, our broken aged care system suffers from a critical deficit of healthcare in our nursing homes, care that our older Australians deserve. It is time we stopped viewing aged care as long-term accommodation for older people and accepted that aged care is healthcare, and put doctors back into aged care and nurses back into nursing homes.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/09/we-need-to…
# Australia, Health, Housing market, Older people.Housing affordability is a problem. Here’s why super-for-housing isn’t a solution
Brendan Coates and Will Mackey The Conversation (No paywall)The idea that young Australians should be able to dip into their super to help buy their first home keeps going round and round. ... Wilson and co. are right in their diagnosis: Australia has a housing affordability problem. But they are wrong in their prescription: their proposal could actually make housing less affordable. There are several much-better ways to revive the great Australian dream for young Australians.
https://theconversation.com/housing-affordability-is-a-problem-h…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Social housing tenants enjoy Tasmania’s first community microgrid with solar and Tesla batteries
Sophie Vorrath (No paywall)Tasmania’s first community microgrid, which has combined 25.6kW of solar PV and 54kWh of Tesla battery storage, is successfully powering a group of social housing tenants at the edge of the state’s grid on the Tasman Peninsula.
https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/social-housing-tenants-enjoy-ta…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Utilities water energy internet.Ski season looking grim for Snowy Mountains businesses struggling with housing crisis
Keira Proust ABC (No paywall)Snowy Mountains businesses are worried about this year's ski season amid dire staff shortages and the region's ongoing housing crisis. ... "Everyone's got the same problem," cafe owner Renae Buechner said. "I've lost staff because they haven't been able to find accommodation to stay in the area."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-09/ski-season-worker-fears/1…
# NSW, Housing market, Regional NSW.Scammers exploit WA rental squeeze, leaving people homeless and out of pocket
Keane Bourke ABC (No paywall)Two young mothers are among a growing number of people losing thousands of dollars to rental scams in WA, with regulators linking the rise to the end of the state's rental moratorium almost two weeks ago. The moratorium ended on March 29, leaving many renters without accommodation and allowing landlords to raise prices and evict tenants with far fewer restrictions than had been in place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-09/wa-rental-scams-on-the-ri…
# Australia, Rent, Starting a tenancy, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.