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
Jenai quit her Melbourne flat because the mould was so bad – then it was relisted for $60 a week more
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)After Jenai Ellen Tomlinson moved into her Melbourne flat last year, she discovered it had a serious mould problem.
When the mould began spreading across the walls in June, she emailed her property manager. After the power cut out, her property manager sent an electrician, who found water in the main switch box.
It took until October for the mould to be treated professionally, after multiple emails between the tenant, the agent, the body corporate and the mould treatment company.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/16/jenai-qui…
# Hot topic Australia, Health, Housing market, Mould.Push for university tutors and educators to house international students
Virginia Trioli ABC (No paywall)A Melbourne homestay network says the government should be encouraging university tutors and educators to house international students as a potential solution to the rental crisis.
The Monash Student Association has made the appeal amid concerns it would discourage students from studying in Australia.
Founder of the Australian Homestay Network David Bycroft has backed the call and says there is need to protect vulnerable students from homelessness and scams.
https://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/programs/mornings/homestay-netw…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Students.Economists say rental price caps are a 'viable' short-term solution to the housing crisis, but some fear it could backfire
Kate Ainsworth and Emilia Terzon ABC (No paywall)There is a growing push for rental caps — or even a freeze on increases entirely — as the housing crunch continues, however, despite it being a "viable" short-term solution, some analysts fear the policy could negatively affect both investors and tenants.
On Tuesday night, the federal government announced a 15 per cent increase to the maximum rate of the Commonwealth Rent Assistance program — up to $31 a fortnight — from September as part of its budget.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-12/rental-freeze-cap-policy-…
# Hot topic International, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, Housing market.No-fault evictions to be banned in reform of rental sector
Alex Forsyth, Joshua Nevett and Alex Partridge BBC (No paywall)Landlords would be banned from evicting tenants with no justification as part of a long-promised overhaul of the private rental sector in England.
A new law tabled in Parliament would abolish no-fault evictions and end bans on tenants claiming benefits.
The bill would also make it easier for landlords to repossess properties from anti-social tenants.
Housing campaigners said the bill was a "huge opportunity" but warned it risked creating loopholes for evicti
‘A Daily Game of Russian Roulette’: Homeless in San Diego
Eli Saslow The New York Times (No paywall)Laine Goettsch packed her emergency medical bag and drove into downtown San Diego to look for her favorite patient, afraid of what she might find. Sometimes, she saw Abdul Curry cleaning the sidewalks near his tent and dancing to a playlist of Ed Sheeran songs. Other times, she found him hypothermic in a wet sleeping bag and surrounded by people smoking fentanyl. And then there were the days when she couldn’t find him at all, and she continued searching for hours as she braced for a call from the hospital, the police or the medical examiner.
Now she drove into a homeless encampment and saw three people huddled near a camping stove and sharing a bottle of vodka. “Anyone heard from Abdul?” she asked, but they shook their heads and turned back to the fire.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/13/us/san-diego-homelessness.htm…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Homelessness, Housing affordability, International.Revealed: How Britain’s squalid housing crisis hits Black and Asian tenants hardest
Nadine White The Independent (No paywall)Black and Asian tenants are being forced to bear the brunt of Britain's squalid housing from mould and disrepair to forced evictions, The Independent can reveal in a special investigation that lays bare the racial disparities facing renters.
The death of a Black toddler, Awaab Ishak, caused by mould in his family's one-bedroom flat in Rochdale highlighted the health risks faced by families left in uninhabitable conditions by their landlords.
Exclusive research shows that Black and minority ethnic tenants are far more likely to be the victims of illegal behaviour from their landlords.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mould-asthma-hou…
# Hot topic International, Health, International, Mould.Evictions Are Violent: Interview with Tenants’ Rights Attorney Leah Goodridge
Zack Ward Invisible People (No paywall)Evictions are violent.
That’s a statement you read a lot when you follow Invisible People, and it is true. So much of our work is about housing people who are currently homeless. But it is just as important to prevent more people from becoming homeless.
And what many people don’t realize is how many housed people are in danger of becoming homeless.
https://invisiblepeople.tv/evictions-are-violent-interview-with-…
# Hot topic International, Homelessness, Housing affordability, International.How Our Narratives About Ending Homelessness Are Backfiring
Tiffany Manuel and Ann Oliva Governing (USA) (No paywall)Simply rehashing the problem does more harm than good. Instead, state and local leaders must help citizens see how solutions to homelessness benefit all of us.
State and local officials across the country continue to grapple with how to solve homelessness and deal with highly visible issues like public encampments in a humane way. But their efforts to make the case for ending homelessness are backfiring.
The heated debates that have followed Jordan Neely’s death in a New York City subway car at the hands of another passenger, while bystanders watched, underscore the point. Negative narratives about the people who, like Neely, experience homelessness too often broad-brush them as irresponsible, violent, deranged and unstable, rather than what they are: people in desperate situations who urgently need our help. Even those appalled by the way Neely died remain at the sidelines, unsure how we could possibly change things.
https://www.governing.com/housing/how-our-narratives-about-endin…
# Hot topic International, Homelessness, Housing affordability, International.