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
Concerns over NSW Power Grid ahead of hot summer
ABC (No paywall)Do you think landlords should have to ensure a rental is cool enough? There are plans to change minimum standards in Sydney, currently there are seven minimum standards in NSW to make a rental property fit to live in, but it doesn't specify heating or cooling. Victoria has announced plans to make minimum standards for cooling like air conditioning and insulation by 2027.
# Hot topic, Video NSW, Rent.Housing, home and health: Social housing and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in urban New South Wales
George Institute (No paywall)Housing is a social and cultural determinant of health and wellbeing. Housing conditions, housing security and surrounding home environments all impact on people’s health and wellbeing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s wellbeing is supported by housing that meets their physical, social, emotional, cultural and locational needs. Living on Country and close to family and community support, as well as services, are critical factors in supporting wellbeing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social housing tenants in urban Sydney are often faced with the experience of living in housing that does not meet their physical, social, emotional, cultural and locational needs.
https://www.georgeinstitute.org/projects/housing-home-and-health…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing.‘He wanted him gone’: Man paying $1 a year to live on $2.2m property fights eviction notice
Michaela Whitbourn The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It is the court case that pitted a prominent retired doctor in his 90s against an investment company over his right to live at a home on the picturesque NSW South Coast for $1 a year. The NSW Supreme Court was asked to resolve the fight between Dr Kenneth Doust and the company, Riveaux Holdings Pty Ltd, which came to a head in August after he was sent an eviction notice and his electricity was cut off. Doust, who was made an officer of the Order of Australia in 2005 for his service to medicine, sold his rural property at Central Tilba to the investment company for $2.2 million in December 2020. This was subject to a licence entitling him to occupy part of the land, including a house, for $1 a year until the licence was terminated.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-1-licence-to-live-on-a-m…
# Must read NSW, Eviction.The future of Bellambi is up for discussion - here's what its residents want
Natalie Croxon Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Bellambi residents are generally looking forward to the idea of the area getting refreshed, although some still harbour concerns about what could happen as the housing department considers the suburb’s future. Homes NSW held a drop-in consultation session at Bellambi Neighbourhood Centre on Friday, November 30, to gather residents’ thoughts on the suburb’s future as it plans the potential renewal of the Bellambi estate. Maggie J is a private homeowner in the area and hopes it will be refreshed, with a better balance of social, affordable and private housing.
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing.Landlord appeals $250k compensation payout over fire that killed tenant in Barnsley home
Giselle Wakatama ABC (No paywall)A landlord is in a legal fight to avoid paying compensation over a fire that killed a tenant west of Newcastle. It is a case that will have ramifications for all rental property owners in relation to providing to working smoke alarms and payouts that could stem from a tenant being injured or killed. Last year the family of Bradley Heafey was awarded more than $250,000 after his 2019 death in a fire at the Barnsley home he rented. Mr Heafey had been asleep in the lounge room and the smoke alarm had no battery and its speaker disc had been removed. His partner, parents, and children sought damages in the District Court for personal injury on mental health grounds.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-29/landlord-appeal-house-fir…
# Must read NSW, Disasters, Repairs, Security and safety.20 people in a two-bedroom apartment: the growing health and safety risks of ‘hot bedding’
Zahra Nasreen The Conversation (No paywall)Rental costs have hit record highs across Australia – in Sydney, for example, tiny two-bedroom apartments can fetch weekly rents well beyond $700. The housing crisis is forcing some people into an impossible choice: homelessness or sharing not just an apartment but a bedroom with strangers. “Hot bedding” – sharing the same beds in overcrowded rooms – has become a common reality for some tenants. For marginalised populations, these housing arrangements become a survival strategy.
https://theconversation.com/20-people-in-a-two-bedroom-apartment…
# Must read NSW, Rent, Share houses.Lower building standards not the solution to Sydney’s housing crisis
Sophie-May Kerr & Philip Oldfield The Fifth Estate (No paywall)A recent Productivity and Equality Commission report on the New South Wales housing supply challenges and policy options argues we need a “pro-housing regulatory environment”. This, the report suggests, can be achieved by relaxing or removing certain apartment design standards, such as minimum sizes, sunlight requirements, minimum balcony sizes, storage requirements and conditions to include larger bedrooms in ‘family-sized’ units. The Productivity Commission suggest “Consumers are well-placed to decide which of these features they are willing to pay for, and which are worth forgoing to live in a more attractive location”.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/lower-building-st…
# Must read NSW, .NSW community justice centres will be scrapped next year - it’s enshittification in action
Graeme Gibson The Guardian (No paywall)In life, disagreements, arguments and conflicts are inevitable. But there are options for how we respond. Listening, understanding the other person’s point of view, exploring the options and reality testing are at the heart of a successful resolution to conflict. These are stages in mediation before negotiating an agreement, and this is the process followed by the New South Wales Community Justice Centre (CJC) program since it was established more than 40 years ago. Over that time, this free service has consistently seen success rates of around 80%. Mediators do not make decisions or provide advice; mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution that helps people towards an agreement they make themselves. Unlike a decision made by a magistrate, which creates a win-lose scenario, mediation aims for win-win.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/02/nsw-commu…
# Hot topic NSW, .