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
Axing stamp duty is a great idea, but NSW is going about it the wrong way
John Freebairn The Conversation (No paywall)In tax design as in many endeavours, it’s easy to work out how things should be; harder to work out how to get there. In NSW, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet wants to replace the one-off stamp duty on real estate transactions with an annual land tax. ... A quicker way of realising the gains from switching while reducing double taxation would be to introduce land tax immediately and give recent buyers a partial credit for the stamp duty they’ve paid.
https://theconversation.com/axing-stamp-duty-is-a-great-idea-but…
# Hot topic NSW, Tax.Sydney man sues neighbour over seven square metres in Woollahra
Michaela Whitbourn The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Sydney man has launched legal proceedings against his neighbour over seven square metres of land in Woollahra, alleging he struck a deal with the previous owner to buy it for $500 in the 1980s.’ Read her article entitled: ‘Sydney man sues neighbour over seven square metres in Woollahra.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-man-sues-neighbour-ov…
# Legal significance NSW, Neighbours.10 ways to provide adequate housing in the COVID-19 era
Carolyn Whitzman and Penny Gurstein The Conversation (No paywall)From Canada, Carolyn Whitzman and Penny Gurstein write: ‘COVID-19 is a health, social, economic and political emergency. It is also a housing emergency. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, more than 3.9 billion people — half of the Earth’s population — have been asked or ordered to stay at home. But for a third of the world’s urban dwellers, that’s not a helpful command. Too many people cannot practise physical distancing because of overcrowded living conditions. Many Indigenous communities have no access to clean water. Renters are threatened with eviction because of precarious employment.
https://theconversation.com/10-ways-to-provide-adequate-housing-…
# Must read International, Eviction, Rent, Security and safety, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Work, employment.Older Women and Homelessness
Jane Thomson (No paywall)This video features four WHC tenants speaking from the heart about their experiences, along with some suggested solutions to women’s homelessness from Katherine McKernan, CEO Homelessness NSW and Debbie Georgopoulos, CEO of WHC.
# Video NSW, Homelessness, Older people.The impact of homelessness and bad housing on children’s education
Shelter England (No paywall)You will find a summary of Shelter England's report here.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/20180…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Health, Homelessness.Homeless at school: 56% of teachers have worked with homeless children
Shelter England (No paywall)You will find Shelter England’s media report here.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/media/press_release/homeless_at_s…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Health, Homelessness.In schools, we see the extra harm Covid is doing to Britain's homeless children
Dani Worthington The Guardian (No paywall)As a headteacher, I’ve seen badly housed pupils arrive tired and hungry. Now the gap between them and their peers is growing.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/19/school-cov…
# Must read International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Health, Homelessness.Regional Australia’s time has come – planning for growth is now vital
Tony Matthews The Conversation (No paywall)Australian governments have always wanted thriving regional cities, but policy innovations with this goal in mind have a bad history. Planned well, regional cities have huge potential to generate national economic growth while improving livability and sustainable development.
https://theconversation.com/regional-australias-time-has-come-pl…
# Australia, Planning and development.