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
Victorian affordable housing tenants say issues with overflowing rubbish, broken door met with slow response
Jesse Thompson ABC (No paywall)Tenants in an affordable housing building in Melbourne say they've faced security issues and knee-deep piles of uncollected rubbish since they moved into their government-owned apartment block about 18 months ago. Their experiences with Victoria's affordable rental program — marketed as a unique alternative to the strained rental market — have left some wondering if they would have been better off in private rentals. The building in inner Melbourne was among the first to house people under the scheme, which generally offers three-year leases in government-owned properties for at least 10 per cent below the market rate.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-16/vic-affordable-housing-re…
# Hot topic Australia, Privacy and access, Rent, Security and safety.’m a career woman with 25 years’ experience, yet found myself homeless
Miriam Wallace The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A few months ago, I read that middle-aged single women were among the fastest-growing demographics facing homelessness. I even joked to a friend, “I’m going to become a statistic!” But it turned out to be no joke. It was a Friday in September when I was supposed to collect the keys to a small rental in Balaclava. I’d been approved, scraped together the bond and first month’s rent with the help of a loan, and was finally ready to settle back into my neighbourhood after months of instability. After signing the lease and transferring the bond and rent to the real estate account, I emailed the agent to confirm the time I could pick up the keys. The response left me staring at my screen in shock: they had given the home to another tenant, claiming I hadn’t sent the funds in time.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-m-a-career-woman-with-25-years…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Starting a tenancy.The suburb where I grew up was dubbed ‘the ghetto’. I didn’t tell friends where I lived
Shona Hendley The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)“Home sweet home.” Growing up, as I watched Dorothy navigate the hazards of the yellow brick road and the land of Oz in her desperate quest to get back to Kansas, these positive sentiments – of our homes carefully holding our hearts – seemed at odds, at least for some of the time, with my reality. “A childhood home is often assumed to be, and should be, a place of safety, security, and nurturing,” says clinical psychologist and author Dr Rebecca Ray. “It ideally provides a stable environment where children can grow, learn and develop and have their emotional, psychological and physical needs met. It’s a space where they should feel loved, supported and free to be themselves.”
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/the-subu…
# Australia, Rent.Beauty Point caravan park residents say restrictive rules and recent evictions causing anxiety
Ashleigh Barraclough ABC (No paywall)Residents at a caravan park in northern Tasmania say restrictive rules, recent evictions and rent increases at the park are causing them constant anxiety and nightmares. The Beauty Point Tourist Park made headlines this year when it was investigated by the local council for potential non-compliance and for issuing eviction notices to three residents who allegedly brought the park's reputation "into disrepute". Anne is one of about 60 residents — who the park calls "guests". She owns her own cabin but pays fortnightly site fees to management.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-18/beauty-point-caravan-park…
# Hot topic Australia, Land lease communities.Discounted housing? Understanding shared rental markets under platformisation
Nicole Gurran, Zahra Nasreen & Pranita Shrestha Taylor & Francis (No paywall)Low-income earners and others facing housing market barriers have long sought to save costs by sharing. Potentially a release valve in constrained markets, the share sector is poorly understood due to the difficulty of tracing informal negotiations between cohabiting households. However, the rise of online accommodation platforms opens new opportunities to view these hidden arrangements while also propelling new practices under the broader financialisation of housing and ‘platformisation’ of daily life. With reference to Sydney, Australia, one of the world’s most expensive housing markets, we use platform data to investigate the contemporary share housing sector, using listings placed by people both seeking and offering shared accommodation via Flatmates.com.au.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673037.2023.22427…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent, Share houses, Starting a tenancy.Britons warn of dangers of shared home ownership scheme as Australian government mulls Help to Buy plan
Bridget Rollason ABC (No paywall)Paul Afshar says his biggest regret is buying his one-bedroom apartment through a shared home ownership scheme. "Initially I was over the moon. Unlike a lot of my friends, I didn't get any financial help from my parents, so being able to get a foot on the property ladder, I was elated," he tells the ABC. "Then it became the start of a 17-year nightmare." To break into the property market, Mr Afshar purchased a 25 per cent share of his apartment in East London for 195,000 British pounds ($386,000) in 2007 and split the rest with his local housing association.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-17/australian-shared-home-ow…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Rent.Services overwhelmed as 3 million at risk of becoming unhoused, says Homelessness Australia report
Isobel Roe ABC (No paywall)The rising cost of living and rates of rental stress have left about three million Australians at risk of homelessness, a more than 60 per cent increase since 2016, a new report by Homelessness Australia has found. Homelessness Australia has commissioned modelling of the number of Australians struggling with complicating factors such as low income, rental stress or low social resources, and says people with two or more of those factors are 'at risk' of becoming homeless. The group's CEO Kate Colvin will launch the report at Parliament House in Canberra today, where she will criticise governments for underfunding service providers experiencing unprecedented pressure.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-18/three-million-australians…
# Hot topic International, .With the right incentives, ‘Mum and Dad’ landlords could help deliver affordable housing
AHURI (No paywall)With 90 per cent of all property investors in Australia being small-scale ‘Mum and Dad’ investors, governments are keen for them to participate in providing affordable housing. New AHURI research has found that landlords who are participating in schemes that provide affordable housing are positive about their experiences. It also found that more landlords may be interested if they were aware of these opportunities. The research was undertaken by researchers from University of South Australia and RMIT University, and examines how governments can best encourage small-scale landlords to provide rental housing that is affordable.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/analysis/news/right-incentives-mum-and-…
# Australia, .