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
Residents of 73 remote communities launch class action against NT government alleging poor conditions, racism
Samantha Jonscher ABC (No paywall)Indigenous residents of all 73 remote communities in the Northern Territory have launched a class action lawsuit against the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities over the "uninhabitable" condition of remote housing, accusing it of racial discrimination.
Residents are seeking compensation for rent paid and demanding they be awarded damages for the condition of their homes.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-19/residents-of-all-73-remot…
# Legal significance International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Health.This Christmas you could be living in your car! Just imagine
First Dog on the Moon The Guardian (No paywall)First Dog on the Moon is working with the Antipoverty Centre to raise money for the three women in this cartoon. https://www.gofundme.com/f/christmas-in-a-car
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/19/this-chris…
# Must read Australia, Homelessness, Older people, Welfare, Women.Cunnamulla council becomes its own real estate service to tackle housing crisis
Dan Prosser and Melanie Groves ABC (No paywall)An outback Queensland council is playing the role of matchmaker in Cunnamulla, but it's not bachelors and spinsters they are trying to unite in the small town.
Faced with a shortage of housing stock and dozens of empty homes falling into disrepair, Paroo Shire Council took action 18 months ago — and it's paying off.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-10/cunnamulla-council-turns-…
# Australia, Housing market, Local Government, Strong communities.Landlords told to ‘get a grip’ as almost a quarter of private rented homes do not meet standards
Andrew Woodcock The Independent (Paywall)Figures emerge as damning report finds ‘significant’ failings by landlord of two-year-old who died in mouldy flat
Read the government report this article is based upon here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-of-social-housing-takes-action-against-rochdale-boroughwide-housing-after-investigation-finds-widespread-failings-on-damp-and-mould
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/homes-rental-stan…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Health, Strong communities.Becoming a chatbot: my life as a real estate AI’s human backup
Laura Preston The Guardian (No paywall)For one weird year, I was the human who stepped in to make sure a property chatbot didn’t blow its cover – I was a person pretending to be a computer pretending to be a person.
The recruiter was a chipper woman with a master’s degree in English. Previously she had worked as an independent bookseller. “Your experience as an English grad student is ideal for this role,” she told me. The position was at a company that made artificial intelligence for real estate. They had developed a product called Brenda, a conversational AI that could answer questions about apartment listings. Brenda had been acquired by a larger company that made software for property managers, and now thousands of properties across the country had put her to work.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/13/becoming-a-ch…
# Must read International, Privacy and access, Landlords and agents.New app aims to rebalance landlord-tenant relationship
Miriam Bell Stuff (No paywall)Wellingtonians Luke Nicholls and Aaron Rama first met at kindergarten, and now they have joined forces to level the playing field between tenants and landlords.
Despite often living in different cities, the two remained friends over the 25 plus years after kindergarten, but it was experiences in the rental market which led them to become business partners.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/130725207/new-app-aims…
# International, Privacy and access, Repairs.Vexatious landlord Cheryl Scott: the scion of a property empire, or a fantasist?
Ethan Te Ora Stuff (No paywall)Cheryl Scott is alleged to have harassed those connected to her rental properties for decades, using the courts to pursue grievances far beyond the limits of a fixed-term lease. ETHAN TE ORA investigates.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/130628181/vexatious-landlord-ch…
# Audio International, Repairs, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards.All new houses built after 2025 in Japan's capital Tokyo must have solar panels, local government rules
Reuters ABC (No paywall)All new houses in Tokyo built by large-scale homebuilders after April 2025 must install solar power panels to cut household carbon emissions, according to a new mandate.
The new regulation, passed by the Japanese capital's local assembly and the first of its kind for a Japanese city, will require about 50 major builders to equip homes of up to 2,000 square metres with renewable energy power sources, mainly solar panels.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-15/japan-tokyo-solar-panels/…
# International, Utilities water energy internet, Climate change, Planning and development.