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
Labor guarantees minimum $500m each year for housing in bid to win Greens support
Paul Karp The Guardian (No paywall)Housing minister says work for social and affordable homes can begin as soon as future fund is established but Greens say it should begin now.
Labor has guaranteed a minimum of $500m will be paid out of the Housing Australia Future Fund every year in a last-ditch bid to win Greens support for the bill to help build social and affordable housing.
The housing minister, Julie Collins, wrote to the crossbench on Monday offering a “guaranteed fixed disbursement” of $500m from 2024-25, with a new power for the treasurer and finance minister to increase the amount by regulation, making it a floor not a ceiling.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/13/labor-gua…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Planning and development.Mandatory solar installation for landlords proposed to reduce tenant expenses
Oliver Peterson 2GB (No paywall)There are calls for landlords to face mandatory solar installation for tenants in an effort to bring down the cost of living for renters.
Better Renting Executive Director Joel Dignam spoke with Oly Peterson on 6PR’s Perth Live.
“We think that all people should be able to benefit from solar,” Mr Dignam said.
https://www.6pr.com.au/mandatory-solar-installation-for-landlord…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Housing crisis tightens in regional Victoria as Mildura renter looks for better option
Tamara Clark ABC (No paywall)Orange picker Christiaan Sprangemeijer says finding affordable accommodation is a struggle as he pays $160 per week for a single bed in a room that also houses two strangers.
The working holiday-maker from the Netherlands was thrust directly into the crux of a housing crisis when he moved to the Murray River city of Mildura this year.
Mr Sprangemeijer, 29, said he was desperately saving his minimum wage to upgrade to a room at the Merbein Hotel, to the north-west of Mildura.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-14/housing-crisis-tightens-r…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing market, Personal stories.Tenant urges others to follow after deposit win
Andrew Picken BBC (No paywall)A tenant who took her landlord to a tribunal to win her deposit back has urged other renters to follow her lead.
Edinburgh Holiday and Party Lets (EHPL) was ordered to refund Adéla Koubová after a housing tribunal ruled her former flat was not a holiday let.
It means the legal relationship was that of landlord and tenant - giving Adéla greater protection.
The flat is owned by Mark Fortune, a businessman who has been refused entry to Scotland's landlord register.
Meet the typical South Korean millennial: educated, overqualified for the job market, and part of the 'kangaroo tribe' that can't afford to leave their parents' homes
Matthew Loh and Reena Koh Business Insider (No paywall)Kwon graduated in 2022 from Yonsei University, a top college where he swam on the varsity team and earned a double degree in physical education and public administration. He lives in Gangnam — Seoul's glitzy city center — in a four-room apartment that his family has owned for generations.
He works as a data analyst at a multinational tech firm in a country where stable, white-collar jobs are glorified as the key to a good life. On weekends, he competes in swimming competitions and is set to represent Seoul in under-30 tournaments.
https://www.businessinsider.com/south-korean-millennial-income-h…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, International, Young people.State reaches settlement over pandemic rent relief: What tenants and landlords need to know
Charlotte Kramon Los Angeles Times (No paywall)Tenants’ rights advocates and the California Department of Housing and Community Development reached a settlement this week to address processing delays and denials in rent relief applications for eligible tenants, meaning more renters could soon get financial aid.
During the pandemic, California tasked the department with administering more than $5 billion in state and federal funds to assist vulnerable tenants with rent relief through California’s COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The agency closed the application portal at the end of March 2022.
https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2023-06-09/state-…
# Hot topic International, Rent, International, State Government.Landlord has over 100 Airbnb listings despite city-wide ban
Barry O'Kelly RTE (Ireland) (No paywall)Controversial landlord Marc Godart has emerged as one of the most active hosts on Airbnb in Dublin, despite a ban on short-term letting by the city council. That is according to an analysis of postings of short-term lettings on the site by RTÉ Investigates.
A property managed by the Luxembourg national previously featured in a 2020 RTÉ broadcast. Undercover researchers captured footage showing up to 12 people living in a flat with only one toilet.
In recent weeks, RTÉ Investigates has been examining his role in short-term lettings in the city.
https://www.rte.ie/news/investigations-unit/2023/0608/1388105-la…
# Hot topic International, International, Landlords and agents, Short-term holiday letting.Inside the co-living boom: is this the future of renting, or just a cash in on London’s housing crisis?
Ella Jessel Evening Standard (No paywall)With London’s rental market in increasingly dire straits, more and more tenants are seeking an escape from the horrors of flat-sharing.
One increasingly popular alternative to the private rental market, according to new analysis, is co-living. The renting model first emerged in 2018 but is now expanding rapidly in the capital and elsewhere.
According to Savills, the co-living sector has trebled since 2019 and in London, which accounts for 82 per cent of the market, there are currently 2,820 operational beds. A further 9,000 are in the pipeline.
https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/property-news/colivi…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.