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
New York Tenants Owe Billions In Unpaid Rent. What Happens Now?
Jake Offenhartz (No paywall)Across New York, as many as 1.2 million renters are at risk of eviction, according to a report from the National Council of State Housing Agencies. Though the federal government has funded a substantial rent relief program, the state has so far struggled to get existing funds to tenants in need. With the eviction moratorium set to expire on May 1st, many New York City renters now find themselves trapped under a mountain of debt, and struggling with the psychic toll of not knowing how long they’ll have a place to live. (Gothamist)
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-tenants-owe-billions-unpaid-rent-…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Can social housing help South Africa overcome its legacy of apartheid?
Irene Salenson and others The Conversation (No paywall)South African cities are among the most unequal and segregated in the world. In an effort to address chronic housing shortages, the government has delivered more than 3.5 million free homes since 1994. While the programme has been successful, it has also perpetuated spatial divisions because of the peripheral location of most projects.
https://theconversation.com/can-social-housing-help-south-africa…
# International, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Race and ethnicity.Could extreme weather make parts of Australia residential no-go zones?
Hilary Harper ABC (No paywall)This week's devastating floods in NSW and Queensland have highlighted how vulnerable our lives and property are when big weather events hit. In many places, extreme weather is driving up the cost of insurance, sometimes to unaffordable levels. Now there are calls for a rethink of where we can and cannot build houses in the future. But whose responsibility should it be to future- proof our properties and communities? (ABC LIfe Matters)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/could-…
# Hot topic, Audio NSW, Housing market.Developing a flood plain: how raising a dam wall could create a false sense of security in Sydney's west
Anne Davies The Guardian (No paywall)In 1867 the river at Windsor, north-west of Sydney, rose 19 metres, causing the biggest flood known to Europeans in Australia. ... Yet this is where the New South Wales government hopes to expand Sydney. Some housing developments have already been approved and are under way, despite some having flood risks of 1% – meaning they would flood in a one-in-100-year flood. Successive governments have agreed to open up flood-prone land in Sydney, amid pressure from landowners, developers and councils and the challenge of housing Sydney’s growing population.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/28/developin…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, State Government.New Zealand's housing market is even worse than Australia. But at least their government is taking action
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)The Ardern government is taking on speculators and investors. But there seems little chance of such changes here
https://www.theguardian.com/business/commentisfree/2021/mar/28/i…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market, International, Landlords and agents, Tax.Loving the idea of tiny house living, even if you don’t live in one
Heather Shearer and Paul Burton The Conversation (No paywall)Despite early forecasts of a COVID-driven slump, house prices are now surging in many parts of Australia. This is further widening the gap between the housing “haves” and “have-nots”, and we are seeing related rises in housing stress, rental insecurity and homelessness. In Australia and elsewhere a movement has emerged that supports tiny house living as an important response to the housing affordability crisis. ... Yet, to date, research begun in 2014 shows no appreciable increase in Australia in the proportion of people actually living in tiny houses, including the archetypal tiny houses on wheels.
https://theconversation.com/loving-the-idea-of-tiny-house-living…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market.Poverty advocacy group disappointed after property investors joke about using 'rat poison' to evict squatters
Ireland Hendry-Tennent(No paywall)
From New Zealand ... A poverty advocacy group is disappointed after several landlords joked about poisoning squatters in a property investors Facebook group. A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, sent Newshub screenshots of the comments. She joined the group to get advice about buying her first home but said she was "appalled" by the attitudes towards renters. (Newshub)
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/03/poverty-advoc…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents, Squatting.Australia's household wealth surged by the end of 2020 — but property owners have taken the lion's share
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Despite the pain of the lockdowns, and nearly a million jobs disappearing, by the end of 2020 Australia's household wealth was surging. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), household wealth skyrocketed by $501 billion in the last three months of last year, which was the strongest quarterly growth since December 2009 ... How could that be? ... According to the ABS, the surge in wealth in the December quarter was driven by two main things: property price rises and growing superannuation savings.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-28/household-wealth-is-at-re…
# Australia, Housing market.