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
Inner Sydney homes mysteriously taken off the market
Megan Gorrey and Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The state’s social housing agency has been blasted for attempting to sell publicly owned terraces in inner Sydney as tens of thousands of people face decade-long waiting times for housing assistance.
Residents and City of Sydney councillors expressed dismay after five public housing properties in Glebe were listed for sale by auction in the past few weeks, some with a price guide of $1 million.
The Glebe Society president Ian Stephenson criticised the bid to offload the properties – which have since been removed from the market – as NSW’s ballooning social housing waitlist passed 51,000.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/inner-sydney-homes-mysteriou…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Housing affordability, Sydney.In the wake of gentrification: The relocation of public housing tenants
Josh Clay Honi Soit (No paywall)Carolyn moved into public housing at 82 Wentworth Park Road, Glebe, in the early nineties with nothing but a mattress, a black-and-white TV, and some clothes. There were certainly some issues — poor sunlight and a lack of ventilation meant that mould bloomed quickly in the newly constructed building. Nevertheless, over the last thirty years, Carolyn and their neighbours made this place their home.
“We help each other out,” said Carolyn, a Wiradjuri person, “one has plants, the other one does another person’s shopping, or does the other person’s washing … or looks after the cat.”
The resident cat Koko, a chocolate Burmese, has been passed among residents as people became sick, passed away, or were otherwise unable to take care of her. Carolyn recently took up care of Koko after her owner became unwell.
https://honisoit.com/2023/04/in-the-wake-of-gentrification-the-r…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Personal stories, Strong communities.Labor’s win leaves public housing advocates hopeful but trepidatious
Erin Modaro City Hub (No paywall)Labor’s recent win in the state election has left many wondering what the implications could be for public housing in Sydney, particularly in the inner-city.
John Engeler, CEO of peak housing advocacy group Shelter NSW, said that the new government represents “not just a fresh start, but the opportunity for fresh eyes”.
As the housing crisis continues to impact Australians, the previous government has been criticised by opposing parties and housing advocates for the demolition and sell-offs of large swaths of public housing. In Sydney’s inner-city, large public and social housing blocks in Redfern, Waterloo and Eveleigh have been sold to private developers to be turned into high-density housing with an average of 30% retained for social housing options.
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2023/04/labors-win-leaves-public-ho…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.Australia's rental crisis is especially tight on the Gold Coast. How can we free up empty homes?
Nicholas McElroy ABC (No paywall)It is one of the tightest rental markets in Australia.
But as rents surge and thousands face housing insecurity, statistics suggest almost three in 10 houses are empty in parts of Queensland's Gold Coast.
At the same time, 10 per cent of households on the Gold Coast — as well as in the nearby areas of Logan and Beaudesert — are either homeless or living in unaffordable housing.
So, why are so many dwellings unoccupied, and can anything be done to open them up?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-10/housing-crisis-gold-coast…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.‘Classic Sydney story’: Tenants rebel after landlord hikes rent by 70 per cent
Michael Koziol and Charlotte Grieve The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Sydney landlord trying to increase the rent on every tenant in a building by up to 70 per cent is facing a rebellion by renters who are taking their case – and the high-profile real estate agency – to the consumer tribunal.
Harrison Reid is the first of half a dozen residents of the Pacific View apartment block on Carlisle Street in Tamarama to appeal to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal after tenants were informed of the rate hike last month.
Reid and his flatmate pay $670 a week for a two-bedroom unit in the old brick building near the ocean. They have been told their rent will increase 65 per cent to $1100 a week. The Herald has spoken to other tenants in the building hit with similar or even larger increases, including someone whose rent went from $650 to $1100.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/classic-sydney-story-tenants…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent, Housing market.Tenant celebrates as no one turns up to the house he was forced out of after his landlord hiked the rent by $350 a week: 'Karma exists'
Ben Talintyre Daily Mail (UK) (No paywall)A tenant has celebrated after no one turned up to an open house at a property he was forced out of his place due to his landlord hiking the rent by $350 a week.
Sydneysider Sean revealed this week he and his roommate were forced to find a new place after his landlord decided to hike the price of their apartment in the middle of Australia's devastating rental crisis.
The young Sydneysider however said there was a 'silver lining' to them being forced out - no one turning up to the property's first inspection.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11958653/Sydney-real-es…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent, Housing market.Before It Was Struck Down, Albany’s Good Cause Eviction Law Worked
Roshan Abraham Next City (No paywall)Tenant rights advocates in Albany rejoiced in July 2021 when the city enacted a “Good Cause” eviction bill, the first city in the state to do so. The law restricts building owners from evicting renters without legitimate reason and restricts evictions when rent goes up by 5%. For the more-than-one-year period that the Good Cause eviction law was in effect, it was working for Albany tenants, who were able to renegotiate excessive rent increases and avoid eviction.
“It was empowering tenants themselves to step up and say, ‘You can’t do that,’” says Canyon Ryan, executive director of United Tenants of Albany. “We saw in real time how it fostered tenant empowerment outside of the courts, which was really unique.” Ryan says since the court stopped it, “the state needs to step up and fix it.”
https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/before-it-was-struck-down-alb…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Eviction, Housing market, International.Renters Face Another Hot Summer with Scant Protections
Naomi Klein, Andrea Krombein, Zuzana Modrovic, et al. The Tyee (No paywall)The 2021 heat dome, British Columbia’s deadliest environmental disaster to date, killed 619 of our friends and neighbours. Two years later, B.C.’s tenants are still unprotected in the face of extreme weather.
In January, Environment Canada announced that the country will experience warmer seasonal temperatures in the coming year. When the next extreme weather event hits our province, we expect hundreds more vulnerable tenants will suffer, unless strong, urgent action is taken to protect them.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/03/30/Renters-Summer-Scant-Prot…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Climate change, Health, International.