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
Why Some Landlords Don’t Want Any of the $50 Billion in Rent Assistance
Will Parker (Paywall)A federal program designed to help people avoid eviction by paying their rent is running into an unexpected hurdle: Some landlords are turning down the payment, saying it comes with too many conditions. Congress has allocated about $50 billion for rental assistance to stave off a surge in evictions of tenants who lost jobs during the pandemic and missed rent payments. The federal support is also meant to help struggling landlords who have to make mortgage payments and have been overwhelmed by tenants falling behind on their rent. But thousands of building owners across the country are rejecting the government offer. They say the aid often has too many strings attached, such as preventing them from removing problematic tenants or compelling them to turn over sensitive financial information to government agencies or contractors. Their decision to forgo the cash could be costly for tens of thousands of renters ... (Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-some-landlords-dont-want-any-of…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government.Only 39 rogue landlords and agents hit with banning orders
Daniel Lavelle The Guardian (No paywall)Only 39 landlords and agents have received government banning orders since new powers came into force three years ago to remove England’s worst rental property owners. Laws introduced in April 2018 empowered local authorities to issue banning orders to the most serious offending landlords and agents operating in their communities. Those handed a ban are prevented from renting out properties, engaging in property management or letting agency work.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/05/only-39-rogue-la…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents.How the housing package leaves renters and beneficiaries behind
Ben Schmidt (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Rather than ‘bold’ government action, the latest housing package will mean more of the same for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, writes tenants’ advocate Ben Schmidt. Last week the Labour government announced policies to address the housing crisis which, once again, continued to ignore the struggles of the renters and beneficiaries that I work with every day at the Manawatū Tenants’ Union. (The Spinoff)
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/06-04-2021/how-the-housing-pac…
# International, Rent, Federal Government.More affordable housing for lower income households
(No paywall)There will be more housing for low-income households in the inner city following the City of Sydney’s decision to turn an unused Council-owned site in Alexandria into 21 affordable apartments. ... Bridge Housing will develop and manage affordable housing on site, with at least two of the homes earmarked for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents. (Mirage News)
https://www.miragenews.com/more-affordable-housing-for-lower-inc…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Local Government.MPs rush to the market as property runs hot
Samantha Hutchinson and Stephen Brook The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Federal MPs are often accused of being out of touch and trapped inside the Canberra bubble. But it’s become apparent that there’s one aspect of the real world they remain acutely aware of – how to cash in on the property boom. Just ask Wentworth MP Dave Sharma ... [Read on ...]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/mps-rush-to-the-market-as-proper…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Khan pledges to set up City Hall-owned developer to build affordable housing
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced plans to set up a City Hall-owned developer to build affordable housing directly if re-elected in May. In what Mr Khan claims would be “the greatest demonstration of housing ambition in the capital since the days of the Greater London Council”, the new developer would start in pilot form building on land owned by the Greater London Authority (GLA). Once established, it will deliver “significant additional numbers of genuinely affordable homes” alongside housing associations and local authorities, the mayor’s campaign team said.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/khan-pledges-to-set-up-city…
# Hot topic International, Affordable housing, Local Government.Byron Council explores community land trust option for affordable housing
Paul Bibby (No paywall)Could the creation of a Community Land Trust in the Byron Shire provide desperately needed, genuinely affordable housing for locals on low incomes? This is the question that Councillors will explore at this week’s planning meeting as they continue their efforts to address what the Council is now calling the Shire’s ‘housing emergency’.
https://www.echo.net.au/2021/04/byron-council-explores-community…
# NSW, Affordable housing, Local Government, Regional NSW.‘A burden, not a celebration of history’: NSW government pushes heritage law review
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government is pushing to make it easier and less expensive to own or adapt heritage-listed buildings under the first major overhaul of the state’s heritage laws in more than two decades.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-burden-not-a-celebration-o…
# NSW, Heritage listings, Housing market.