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
'No time to waste': Biden unveils $1.9tn coronavirus stimulus package
Maanvi Singh The Guardian (No paywall)In the United States ... Biden has also called on lawmakers to extend a national eviction moratorium, which expires on 31 January. Housing advocates have been pressing Biden to extend and bolster a federal ban on evictions in recent weeks and months, and they have asked him to additionally include funds for rental assistance in relief proposals. His current plan includes $30bn in rental and utility assistance for those struggling to pay bills. Advocates are also asking Congress to cancel any rent or mortgage debt incurred during the pandemic.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/14/joe-biden-corona…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Renters can be evicted for arrears built up during pandemic under government legislation tweak
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)In England ... On Friday, the government extended a ban on bailiffs enforcing evictions in England until at least 21 February following the reimposition of a national lockdown to bring COVID-19 cases under control. But later on the same day the ban extension was enacted, regulations were published removing a major protection for tenants falling behind on rent as a result of the crisis for the first time. Previous legislation tabled in November carried a provision that eviction notices could be served only for arrears where the amount owed to the landlord totalled “equivalent to nine months’ rent” and that “any unpaid rent arrears accrued after 23 March 2020 must be disregarded”. The updated legislation from Friday, which came into effect on Monday, lowers the arrears threshold to six months’ rent and removes any reference to disregarding debt built up during the pandemic. The London Renters Union (LRU), which spotted the change, called it “desperately cruel” ... Read more
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/renters-can-be-evicted…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Fears over NSW social housing sell-off
Joseph Lam The Australian (Paywall)Nearly $2.7bn worth of social housing in NSW has been sold off over the past nine financial years without any substantial change in the state's waiting list for government-subsidised accommodation. New figures obtained by The Australian reveal the state government sold as many as 3954 properties from 2011 to 2020. ...[Regarding Millers Point, Dr Chris Martin from the University of NSW's City Futures Research Centre] said: " ... while money generated from the Millers Point sale had been reinvested in social housing, the government had yet to make headway into its long waiting lists. ... This strategy of cannibalising the social housing stock — that's not a sustainable strategy”.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/fears-over-nsw-…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, State Government.Asking people to prepare for fire is pointless if they can’t afford to do it. It’s time we subsidised fire prevention
David Bowman The Conversation (No paywall)In the lead up to every bushfire season, the mantra is the same each year: prepare, prepare, prepare. Remove the fuel load. Clean out the gutters. Mow lawns, tidy gardens, create a burnbreak between bushland and your house. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Have a plan. After 40 years studying the interaction between humans and fire, I have seen this mantra rolled out every year — and watched, every year, as it is comprehensively ignored by large numbers of people. Why? Because they are bad or lazy? No. The fact is asking people to prepare for fire is pointless if they can’t afford to do it. Read more ...
https://theconversation.com/asking-people-to-prepare-for-fire-is…
# Hot topic Australia, .Defunded Tenants' Union ACT could be no more
Cassandra Morgan Canberra Times (Paywall)Tenants' Union ACT is coming to terms with the prospect it might not survive much longer as an independent organisation. The territory government put the legal advice service to tender in late 2019. The union lost out to Legal Aid ACT and was stripped of its government funding, which it had depended on for more than 25 years. Since the union shut its doors in February last year, it has continued on as a volunteer organisation ...
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7073954/really-sad-defund…
# Must read Australia, Campaigns and law reform, Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services.The Sydney suburbs where rents fell the most: Domain Rent Report
Kate Burke Domain (Paywall)Renters have made huge savings across a swathe of sought-after suburbs in inner Sydney, with median rents falling by hundreds of dollars a week in some top neighbourhoods. Median rents across 57 suburbs dropped by 10 per cent or more over the year to December, new figures show, with many of the largest percentage drops for units in the city centre and eastern suburbs. ... [But] “We are still getting a lot of people calling,” said chief executive [of the Tenants' Union of NSW] Leo Patterson Ross. “People having to move either because they’re being evicted or because of affordability issues — partly because of JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments dropping partly because of the influx of renters into a lot of fringe and regional areas.”
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-sydney-suburbs-where-rents-fe…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Help shape the future of strata in NSW
(No paywall)If you own, live or rent in a strata property, such as a townhouse or apartment, or work in strata, we want to hear your views on how the laws are working. We’re reviewing the rules . [Read on]
https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/strata-statutory-review-2020
# New policy announcement NSW, Strata, NSW Fair Trading, State Government.Strong interstate demand to keep rental market tight
Ian Bushnell (No paywall)Canberra’s strong economy and success withstanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are generating heavy demand for rental properties, with rents continuing to rise in 2020 to be the most expensive in the country alongside shrinking vacancies.
https://the-riotact.com/strong-interstate-demand-to-keep-rental-…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.