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
Domestic violence victims considered first home buyers in new scheme
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Domestic violence victims would be classed as first home buyers even if they have already owned property with an ex-partner under a re-elected NSW Coalition government. Victims could also access interest-free loans for a bond to secure a rental property without having to meet eligibility criteria, as the government and Labor continue their run of announcements relating to women’s issues ahead of the March 25 poll.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/domestic-violence-victims-co…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement NSW, Domestic violence, Home, Home ownership, State Government, Women.Domestic violence victims can be first home buyers again in new election promise
Kate McIlwain Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Both major parties are focusing on domestic violence ahead of the March state election, releasing multiple policies designed to help victim-survivors. On Saturday, the government said, if reelected, it would provide victim-survivors of domestic violence with access to first home buyer support and interest-free rental bond loans to help them rebuild their lives.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/8064370/people-have-re…
# Hot topic NSW, Domestic violence, Rent, Security and safety, Home, Home ownership, State Government, Women.Photography through a renter's lens
Jessie Kay 2SER (No paywall)Amid cost of living and housing prices skyrocketing – and the odd natural disaster – Tenant’s Union NSW held a photography competition for renters. The goal was to see housing through the lens of those of us who rent. Tuesday Daily’s host Jessie Kay was joined by Leo Patterson Ross, Tenants' Union CEO, to discuss. An exhibition will be held for the entries on March 9th, so keep your eyes peeled for details!
# TUNSW in the media, Audio NSW, Rent, Home, Renting culture, Strong communities, Students, Young people.Tanay slept on a couch for months. Some of his peers faced even worse
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)International students in Australia have been forced to skip meals and go without other necessities to afford rent, while others have had passports confiscated by unscrupulous landlords and faced threats of visa cancellations. One in four international students were in a highly or extremely precarious financial situation even before the pandemic and current rental crisis, a recent study shows, and it is feared the situation could worsen as international students flock back to Australia this year.
https://www.watoday.com.au/property/news/tanay-slept-on-a-couch-…
# Hot topic NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Rent, Share houses, Coronavirus COVID-19, Granny flats, studios, International, Personal stories, Students, Young people.Can rent-to-own schemes help in the housing crisis?
Radio National ABC (No paywall)Rent-to-own, or rent-to-buy schemes have a shady history, but a new wave of schemes are promising access and stability for people struggling to save for a home. So has anything changed? We look at when to be wary. Guests: Dr Chris Martin, Senior Research Fellow, UNSW City Futures Research Centre, Leo Patterson Ross, Chief Executive Officer, Tenants Union NSW, Kris Daff, Managing Director, Assemble Futures
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/can-re…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio NSW, Home ownership, Rent to buy.Inner West launches new drive to improve renters’ rights
Inner West Council Inner West Council (No paywall)Inner West Council has today launched a campaign for broad improvements to NSW tenancy laws in advance of the NSW election in March. The Council has partnered with advocacy organisations The Tenants' Union of NSW and the NSW Council of Social Service to propose a fairer system for renters who make up roughly half of the Inner West community.
https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/2023-…
# TUNSW in the media, New policy announcement NSW, Rent, Local Government, Strong communities, Sydney.58 Years After Martin Luther King Jr.’s Campaign to End Slums, a Look at Affordable Housing in Chicago
Erica Gunderson wttw (No paywall)[United States] When Martin Luther King Jr. came to Chicago in 1965, his mission was to end the slum housing conditions that many Black residents were forced to live in. For 17 months, he fought with boycotts, rallies and marches — a campaign that ultimately contributed to the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, not long after his assassination. More than five decades later, however, housing advocates say Chicago still is struggling to provide adequate and affordable housing to all of its residents.
https://news.wttw.com/2023/01/14/58-years-after-martin-luther-ki…
# International, Housing affordability, Housing market.New Yorkers Never Came ‘Flooding Back.’ Why Did Rents Go Up So Much?
Lane Brown Curbed (No paywall)[United States] For a minute there, things looked grim for New York City landlords. The pandemic caused an exodus of such proportions that building owners were forced to cut rents to their lowest levels since the bad old days of 2011. But then a miracle happened. (Or at least one seemed to!) Not only did New York’s expats return; they came — in the eerily identical words of the real-estate industry and the credulous reporters who cover it — “flooding back.”
https://www.curbed.com/2023/01/nyc-real-estate-covid-more-apartm…
# Must read International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.