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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Federal budget to include plan to build 1 million homes by end of the decade, as Labor seeks to mitigate housing crisis
Stephanie Dalzell ABC (No paywall)A plan to build 1 million new homes by the end of the decade as part of a historic deal between the federal government, states, private investors and the construction sector, will be revealed in tonight's federal budget as Labor seeks to mitigate the nation's housing crisis. ... Under the scheme, the Commonwealth would support an additional 10,000 affordable dwellings in that time frame, costing the budget $350 million, with the states and territories expected to deliver the same number of homes for low to moderate income households. Overall, it has nominated a target of 1 million new homes by 2029, but that is largely consistent with what has been delivered historically — in the five years prior to the pandemic, just over 985,000 homes were created. Also, read the article by Shane Wright and Rachel Clun entitled 'One million homes to be built under agreement with states and investors' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/one-million-homes-to-be-built-under-agreement-with-states-and-investors-20221024-p5bsf9.html]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-25/federal-budget-2022-housi…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Utilities water energy internet, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Federal budget should have raised welfare payments amid cost-of-living crisis, recipients say
Jordyn Beazley The Guardian (No paywall)After months spent trying to stretch jobseeker payments amid a cost-of-living crisis, Paulene Hutton hoped for some relief in the budget. But there was none. ... That disappointment has been shared by welfare groups, many of them saying the budget should have raised income support payments and increased support for people struggling with relentless cost-of-living demands. ... The Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss) welcomed the government’s investment in affordable housing, aged care, childcare and parental leave, but it expressed deep unease about the lack of action in the budget for people on income support payments. Read ACOSS's media release at: [https://www.acoss.org.au/media-releases/?media_release=budget-builds-good-foundations-more-support-needed-for-people-facing-multiple-and-unrelenting-crises]
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/27/federal-b…
# Australia, Affordable housing, Families, Welfare.Waterloo Estate redevelopment moves forward with more community consultation
Amber Griffin City Hub (No paywall)The Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) is continuing community consultation to involve the community and residents in the redevelopment plans of Waterloo Estate. While other council and government community consultation campaigns have come under fire recently, the LAHC’s campaign is in the same hot water. Waterloo Estate residents feel as though the community consultation is a “shallow gesture” after hundreds were evicted from their public homes that are set to be demolished. “It takes years to build community cohesion in a new community. Currently that cohesion is there but it will be broken by the redevelopment and a significant injection of at least 70% new private residents” Community group ‘REDWatch’ spokesperson Geoffrey Turnbull said.
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2022/10/waterloo-estate-redevelopme…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Estate renewal, State Government.NT government’s years-long public housing waitlist putting a strain on remote health system
Matt Garrick ABC (No paywall)Preston Mapuyu is on a public housing waitlist that on average takes more than half a decade to see any movement – but due to a chronic lung condition, he may not have that long to wait. Nurses in remote north-east Arnhem Land say a housing shortage has become potentially "life-threatening for patients" such as Mr Mapuyu, and is simultaneously burdening the health system. Mr Mapuyu's inability to access public housing has meant he's been forced to rely on the kindness of relatives for accommodation, often overcrowded and unsuitable for someone with his condition. He and his wife, Serena Munyarryun, were living on a remote homeland 100km from the nearest hospital, where access via dirt road is seasonal and emergency planes can only land during the day.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-23/terminally-ill-patient-co…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Health.How Liz Truss made the UK’s rent crisis worse in just 44 days
Ruby Lott-Lavigna (No paywall)James is just one of the millions of renters paying the price for the UK’s recent economic instability. Private renting in the UK was already unaffordable, of a poor standard and insecure. But after Kwarteng’s mini-budget sent mortgage rates soaring, things have worsened as landlords pass on their own increased costs to tenants – despite sitting on a growing asset – all amid a cost of living crisis. Now, with Liz Truss having resigned after just chaotic days in power, and the Westminster bubble fizzling with parliamentary drama, it is the most vulnerable who will take on the brunt of this history-defining political insecurity. ... Tenants' unions are now calling for a rent freeze and an eviction ban to force some stability in a market that continues to worsen. “It is unacceptable that the government is leaving tenants to bear the brunt of mortgage increases,” Jack Yates, a communications officer at Acorn, told openDemocracy. “With the vast majority of landlords charging far more than they pay out on their mortgage and overheads, rent rises will generally be a case of them deciding to pass on costs to protect their profit margin. Yet again tenants are being forced to pay the price for a housing sector that prioritises profit over people.”
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/liz-truss-conservative-party-ho…
# International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Housing market.Real estate agent's 'excessive' demands for inspection: 'Need to chill'
Carly Bass (No paywall)An angry tenant has hit out at their real estate agent for issuing a lengthy list of demands ahead of a routine inspection. The Newcastle, NSW, resident argued that "people should not have to be degraded and mistreated" just because they're "not a homeowner" and questioned whether or not the requests were acceptable. The 23-year-old shared screenshots of an email they received outlining what's expected of them during the inspection. But they are "not usual or acceptable demands," Leo Patterson Ross from The Tenants’ Union of NSW told Yahoo News Australia, and they "potentially breach the tenancy agreement". (yahoo!news)
https://au.news.yahoo.com/real-estate-agents-ridiculous-demands-…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Privacy and access, Landlords and agents.Our most pressing economic challenge is soaring power prices, and the government needs simple solutions, fast
David Speers ABC (No paywall)The most immediate challenge the government faces is soaring energy prices. This was the biggest surprise in the budget — and not a pleasant one. The budget forecast electricity prices to rise a total of 56 per cent over the course of this financial year and next. It forecast gas prices to rise by a total of 44 per cent over the same period. This is the sharp end of the inflation problem, where it becomes painfully real, particularly for those on the lowest incomes. Households will end up paying hundreds of dollars more every quarter on these forecasts. Also, listen to ABC Radio National's Breakfast 'Can the govt do anything to stop 50% electricity rises?' at: [https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/can-the-govt-do-anything-to-stop-50-electricity-rises-/101578064] Read the article by David Crowe and Mike Foley entitled: '"Zero space for delay": Labor hunts for curbs on power price surge' in 'The Sydney Morning Hearld' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/zero-space-for-delay-labor-hunts-for-curbs-on-power-price-surge-20221026-p5bt5m.html]. Read David Crowe's opinion piece entitled: 'Albanese’s election promise to bring down power bills comes back to bite Chalmers' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-s-election-promise-to-bring-down-power-bills-comes-back-to-bite-chalmers-20221026-p5bt9f.html]. Read Alexandra Smith's article entitled: '"Labor has put up white flag": Kean to demand relief as energy bills soar' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/labor-has-put-up-white-flag-kean-to-demand-relief-as-energy-bills-soar-20221026-p5bt91.html]. Read Sarah Ferguson's article entitled: 'Mark McGowan says federal colleagues should look to Western Australia as budget forecasts surge in energy prices' from ABC's 7.30 at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-26/730-mark-mcgowan-wa-gas-reservation-budget-energy-prices/101581612] Read the article by Adam Morton and Peter Hannam entitled: 'Threaten Australian gas companies with export limits to rein in domestic prices, former ACCC boss says' in 'The Guardian' at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/27/threaten-australian-gas-companies-with-export-limits-to-rein-in-domestic-prices-former-accc-boss-says].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-27/budget-pressing-economic-…
# Audio Australia, Utilities water energy internet.Some councils still rely on outdated paper maps as supercharged storms make a mockery of flood planning
Mark Ellis The Conversation (No paywall)Whole towns and cities are seemingly locked into more frequent and severe flooding. Business-as-usual development continues despite extreme weather and sea-level rises due to climate change. While some local councils have online mapping, others are still using outdated paper maps. Repeated floods across eastern Australia have prompted the Planning Institute of Australia to call for a framework to update flood mapping to take climate change into account.
https://theconversation.com/some-councils-still-rely-on-outdated…
# Australia, Climate change, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development.