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
Developer dismisses B-52 crash radiation fears at proposed site of Spanish resort
Stphen Burgen The Guardian (No paywall)A British company has defended its plans to develop a resort in south-east Spain after environmental groups claimed the area could be contaminated with radioactivity from nuclear bombs that fell after a plane crash in the 1960s. ... British-owned Bahía de Almanzora plans to build 1,600 homes, a hotel and a sports complex about a mile (1.5km) from the contaminated zone in Palomares, which has been fenced off for the past 56 years. The Almanzora proposal makes no mention of the 1966 incident or the contamination.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/14/developer-dismisse…
# International, Asbestos, lead, hazardous materials, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Mould-related illness research possible 'game changer' for people afflicted by unseen menace
Laura Mayers, Andy Burns and Charlotte King ABC (No paywall)When Hannah Cozens and Darren McGuinness started their family, they anticipated the sleepless nights and tears. But in the final year of their tenancy at a rental home in regional Victoria, their lives quickly spiralled into a "constant cycle" of illness and anxiety. ... In 2021, Luella's new paediatrician queried whether unseen black mould might be contributing to their illnesses. ... "He basically said she, and the rest of us, were most likely suffering from black-mould poisoning." ... It may also inform the future of legislation for renters across the country. Renters advocacy group Tenants Victoria said one in every 10 phone calls it received was from a tenant expressing concern about black mould in their home. "When renters are contacting us, usually they've already contacted their landlords about mould," Georga Wootton, a lawyer with Tenants Victoria, said. "Once, twice, three times … we have renters reaching out to us after months of no action from landlords."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-16/australian-first-study-mo…
# Australia, Rent, Health, Mould.Why Brodie, homeless for nine years, is more worried about the new kids on the street
Bec Pridham Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Brodie White has lived on Tasmania’s streets off and on for nearly a decade.And sleeping rough can be dangerous. In the past few months Mr White’s tent has been set alight and slashed and his belongings vandalised. “I wanted to cry, but I’ve got no tears left,” he says.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7813508/why-brodie-hom…
# Australia, Homelessness, Personal stories.Victorian family makes off-grid home dream a reality amid nightmare energy prices
Rochelle Kirkham ABC (No paywall)Toasty and warm in his home near Ballarat, Michael Robinson admits he feels both smug and guilty. His house at Mollongghip is completely off-grid, so while rising electricity costs push other families towards and over the poverty line and are causing sleepless nights, for the leader of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Mr Robinson has no such concerns.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-14/off-grid-living-in-victor…
# Australia, Utilities electricity water gas, Housing market.Port Pirie suburb records 25 per cent rise in median rental price as vacancy rates remain at historic lows
Bethanie Alderson ABC (No paywall)Data from a real estate report shows a suburb in the regional town of Port Pirie is one of five in South Australia with the biggest increase in weekly rent prices. Domain's quarterly rent report revealed weekly rental asking prices in Port Pirie West increased by 25 per cent in the past year, with the median now $250. Port Pirie-based real estate agent Matt Ganley said the regional town's rental vacancy rate was virtually zero. ... Shelter SA executive director Alice Clark said some landlords had taken advantage of the huge demand and the lack of supply. ... Dr Clark said she thought regulating the level of rent increases was something that should be considered. "I would recommend looking at introducing another moratorium as we had at the beginning of the pandemic ... on any further rent increases for at least 12 months."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-14/port-pirie-median-rental-…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Housing market.Buy back flood-hit homes now, says Committee for Sydney
The Guardian (No paywall)A Sydney policy think tank has recommended thousands of residents in the city’s west hit with repeated flooding be offered buybacks to move off the flood plain. It comes as NSW cleans up from yet another flood disaster and considers what to do before the next one hits. Committee for Sydney resilience director Sam Kernaghan says the debate over buybacks needs to end after repeated flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean region in the city’s west over the past two years.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/14/buy-back-…
# NSW, Housing market, State Government.Home quirky home: Instagram accounts celebrate Sydney suburbia
Julie Power The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Drew Brian Hoy is trying to save Sydney’s historic homes and buildings, one photo at a time. His Instagram account, Forgotten Sydney, is part of a social media wave that is celebrating ordinary Australian homes and apartments – and not the ones you’d find in the annual architecture awards.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/home-quirky-home-instagram-a…
# History NSW, Heritage listings, Housing market, Sydney.The Housing Shortage Isn’t Just a Coastal Crisis Anymore
Emily Badger and Eve Washington The New York Times (Paywall)San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Washington have long failed to build enough housing to keep up with everyone trying to live there. And for nearly as long, other parts of the country have mostly been able to shrug off the housing shortage as a condition particular to big coastal cities. But in the years leading up to the pandemic, that condition advanced around the country: Springfield, Mo., stopped having enough housing. And the same with Appleton, Wis., and Naples, Fla. What once seemed a blue-state coastal problem has increasingly become a national one, with consequences for the quality of life of American families, the health of the national economy and the politics of housing construction. Today more families in the middle of America who could once count on becoming homeowners can’t be so confident anymore.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/14/upshot/housing-shortage-us.ht…
# International, Housing affordability, Housing market.