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
Just 'good company' and 'no worries' for intergenerational housemates Quinta and Zac — despite 54-year age gap
Lucie Cutting ABC (No paywall)Quinta Bartels's husband Ted Bartels died this year and, in her grief, the widower was confronted with a difficult reality that needed almost immediate attention. The 82-year-old, who lived in a rental property in South Hobart, could not afford her weekly rental payment as a sole occupant. But a housemate over 50 years her junior provided the solution that Ms Bartels needed and enabled her to maintain greater independence. A short-term living arrangement was how 28-year-old Zac Galloway first came to live with Ms Bartels.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-08/intergenerational-housema…
# Australia, Rent, Share houses, Housing market, Older people.Is California’s rent cap law working?
Benjamin Schneider (No paywall)Are landlords obeying California’s rent cap law? It’s impossible to know for sure — but landlords have plenty of incentive not to. Those are the key findings of a new report from the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation and the TechEquity Collaborative. It found that 60% of apartments in California have seen rents increase by a greater percentage, year over year, than is allowed by the state’s rent cap law. (KPVI)
https://www.kpvi.com/news/national_news/is-california-s-rent-cap…
# International, Rent, Landlords and agents.New York City mayor declares state of emergency over migrant crisis
ABC (No paywall)A state of emergency has been declared in New York over the arrival of thousands of migrants sent from southern US border states. City Mayor Eric Adams said the demand being put on the city to provide housing and other assistance was "not sustainable". "A city recovering from an ongoing global pandemic is being overwhelmed by a humanitarian crisis made by human hands," he said. "We are at the edge of the precipice … we need help. And we need it now." ... Despite the declaration, Mr Adams said the new arrivals were welcome in the city. ... Mr Adams said on average between five and six buses carrying migrants arrive per day, with nine on Thursday alone. Many of the buses have been chartered and paid for by Republican officials in Texas and Arizona, who have sought to put pressure on President Joe Biden to change border policies by sending migrants to Democratic-leaning cities and states in the north.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-08/new-york-city-mayor-decla…
# International, Homelessness, Race and ethnicity.Don’t call them NIMBYs: ‘Teal’ politics all about overdevelopment
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The “teal wave” that surged through Liberal heartland in May had three prongs – climate change, integrity and the treatment of women in politics. But at a state level, the teal agenda looks much simpler: it’s all about planning and development. From opposition to the northern beaches tunnel to concerns about overpopulation in the east, fledgling independent campaigns are capitalising on communities’ angst about density and the feeling among some residents that they have been excluded from the decision-making process.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/don-t-call-them-nimbys-teal-…
# NSW, Housing market, Planning and development, State Government.Knowing rough sleepers by name key to solving street homelessness
Jewel Topsfield and Rachael Dexter The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Paul’s pathway off the streets and into a home started with something simple but powerful: his name was added to a list. The 48-year-old was sleeping outside a 7-Eleven three years ago when he was approached by out-reach workers from Port Phillip Zero — a pilot aimed at ending street homelessness — and added to a register of rough sleepers in the municipality, called the By-Name List. “I’ve more or less been homeless since I was 12 and I left my foster parents,” Paul says. But once Paul was added to the By-Name List, a multi-agency team — including the council, St Kilda police, housing providers, health services and Indigenous organisations — worked together to find him housing and support.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/people-aren-t-in-the-sh…
# Australia, Homelessness.Luxury high-rise apartments ‘inappropriate’ for homeless program
Rachael Dexter and Jewel Topsfield The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The luxury of the 20-storey Botanic Melbourne apartment building in Southbank hits you as soon as you walk into its opulent lobby: there are modern sculptures, a patent leather couch and a grand golden curved staircase leading up to a boardroom. But one of the new building’s first tenants, Josh Olds, says life at Botanic became nightmarish in July last year after the state government used 13 apartments to house former rough sleepers as part of the From Homelessness to a Home program. ... In July 2020, the state government announced a groundbreaking $150 million program to move more than 2000 homeless people – who had been temporarily put up in hotels during lockdowns – into long-term housing. They were also provided with wrap-around support services, such as drug and alcohol counselling and mental health assistance. A review of the program, obtained by The Age, said the provision of stable housing was transformational for the majority of people involved. Also, read the article by the same journalists entitled: 'Will the political will to end rough sleeping be sustained beyond the pandemic?' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/will-the-political-will-to-end-rough-sleeping-be-sustained-beyond-the-pandemic-20220913-p5bhr6.html] and the Editorial in 'The Age' at: [https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/housing-scheme-to-help-most-vulnerable-deserves-long-term-support-20221007-p5bo5p.html]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/luxury-high-rise-apartm…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, State Government.Property Council calls for fresh look at affordable housing scheme
Cara Waters The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Eight months after a campaign by the Property Council drove the Andrews government to shelve a plan to pay for affordable housing through a levy on developers, the lobby group is calling for more low-cost homes – and might agree to foot some of the bill. “Our sector is very open to having another conversation about a contribution scheme,” Cath Evans, the council’s interim Victorian executive director, said on Tuesday.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/property-council-calls-…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government.Milan Taraba, chairman of the Czech Tenants’ Association: interview
International Union of Tenants (No paywall)On the occasion of International Tenants’ Day, Milan Taraba, chairman of the Tenants’ Association in the Czech Republic was invited to public television. Here is a translation of the interview. [Read on]
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/milan-taraba-chairman-of-the-czec…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Affordable housing.