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
Transgender people often face homelessness. This is how April Young became a home owner
Asha Couch, Briana Fiore and Lauren Smith ABC (No paywall)Three years ago, the idea of being a home owner felt like an impossible dream for April Young. She was 16 and had been forced into homelessness. Now, the 19-year-old trans woman, from Albany, Western Australia, starts her mornings with a coffee made in her own kitchen, in the home she bought eight weeks ago. ... Ms Young's situation is far from rare. Australian research shows one in five transgender people will experience homelessness at some stage in their life, often due to family rejection. After periods of couch surfing, Ms Young found herself on the doorstep of a youth support centre in Albany called Young House. [Read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-06/april-young-trans-woman-h…
# Australia, Home ownership, Homelessness, LGBTIQ+, Personal stories.Planning minister kills proposal for new tower at Barangaroo’s missing link
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Planning Minister Anthony Roberts will kill off a controversial proposal to increase building heights in the final section of Barangaroo, sending the blindsided developer back to the drawing board and potentially leaving the prime foreshore site in limbo for years. Roberts – who is the decision maker on the proposal – told the Herald that a planned luxury apartment tower served no public benefit, and he could see no way that approving the modification would be in Sydney’s best interests. ... [The minister] delivered his verdict on the proposal after receiving an overwhelmingly critical report from the NSW Government Architect, which he had commissioned. The architect found the increased building heights did not “follow the important urban language established by the Millers Point Conservation Area”, and a 73-metre tower would obstruct public views to and from Observatory Hill, “a highly significant public place in the history of Sydney”. Also, read Amber Griffin's article entitled: 'Community celebrates as planning minister scraps “20 storey eye-sore” development in Barangaroo' in 'City Hub' at: [https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2022/10/community-celebrates-as-planning-minister-scraps-20-storey-eye-sore-development-in-barangaroo/]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/planning-minister-kills-prop…
# NSW, Heritage listings, Housing market, Planning and development.Reserve Bank acknowledges its rapid rate hikes could force some people to sell their homes
Gareth Hutchins ABC (No paywall)The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has acknowledged that its rapid interest rate hikes could see some households with mortgages falling into arrears, forcing some to sell their homes or to enter foreclosure.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-07/rba-says-its-rate-hikes-m…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Caravan park evacuated, shopping centre inundated as torrential rain lashes flooded western NSW
Lucy Thackray and Xanthe Gregory ABC (No paywall)Torrential rainfall across already flooded areas of western New South Wales has forced overnight evacuations and closed roads and bridges as major rivers rise. Widespread falls of 40 to 50 millimetres were recorded with significantly higher rain totals in isolated storms. The main areas of concern are Bathurst, Mudgee, Dubbo, Canowindra, Nyngan, Narromine and Warren. The Macquarie Wambuul River at Dubbo is expected to peak at about 8.5 metres this morning, forcing the evacuation of a nearby caravan park, Western Plains Tourist Park, and inundation of shopping centre's car parks on the city's Main Street. Read the same and other journalists' updated article entitled: 'Flood rescues, landslips and evacuations after severe rain lashes parts of already flooded NSW' at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-09/rain-lashes-flooded-nsw-forcing-evacuations/101515970?utm_source=abc_news_web&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_web]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-09/rain-lashes-flooded-weste…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Regional NSW.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.