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
House values soar by $2 trillion since start of pandemic
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Reserve Bank has left itself room to start normalising the cost of mortgages as record-low interest rates helped drive Australian house values up by $2 trillion since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/rba-sits-tight-over-chri…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.They bought a puppy for their son in lockdown. Strata did something ‘absurd’
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)When health worker Georgia Dawson applied for permission to keep her dog in her apartment, she was stunned to be told her building was considering imposing a bond on all pet owners of $2000.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/they-bought-a-puppy-for-the…
# Hot topic NSW, Strata, Families, State Government.Sweden: SUT launches 10 proposals for a sustainable housing policy
(No paywall)Hyresgästföreningen (Swedish Union of Tenants) is calling for a policy for more and better homes. Here are the SUT proposal for a comprehensive policy for the Swedish rental market ... (International Union of Tenants News)
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/sweden-sut-launches-10-proposals-…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Housing market, Planning and development, Tax.The energy divide begins at home. These figures explain why.
Taneesha Amos-Hampson (No paywall)Put simply, our most vulnerable people, including those who are financially insecure and many who are renting, have less access to virtually every form of energy efficiency tool and technology than those who are financially comfortable. We have created a system – or allowed one to develop — that ensures the people who can least afford it will be paying most for their energy bills. (Energy Consumers Australia)
https://energyconsumersaustralia.com.au/news/the-energy-divide-b…
# Must read Australia, Utilities water energy internet, Minimum habitability standards.Good cause eviction has momentum leading into 2022
Rebecca C Lewis (No paywall)From the United States ... After efforts to get legislation passed to limit when a landlord can evict tenants and raise rents failed to move in Albany earlier this year, housing advocates went local. Over the summer, they began organizing to pass so-called good cause eviction bills in upstate cities, aiming to enact municipal protections as the statewide fight continued. In a few short months, advocates saw success – four cities, including Albany and Poughkeepsie, enacted good cause eviction laws. “It’s been surprising in some ways how quickly these local good cause campaigns have moved,” said Brahvan Ranga, a political organizer with the housing group For the Many, which helped mobilize those upstate campaigns. That local success has given the statewide push for new tenant protections fresh momentum. The fight for good cause laws represents a fairly unique situation with municipal movements paving the way for potential statewide action. And advocates and some lawmakers alike feel confident that 2022 will be the year for landmark housing reforms. (City & State New York)
https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2021/12/good-cause-evictio…
# International, Eviction, Rent, No-grounds evictions.Evictions Survey: What’s Happening on the Ground
National Housing Law Project (No paywall)From the United States ... This fall, the National Housing Law Project surveyed 119 legal aid and civil rights attorneys in 41 states, DC, and Puerto Rico to see how tenants were faring after the federal eviction moratorium ended in August 2021. ... This survey captures an important moment in time and offers a look at what is actually happening on the ground now. It also offers ideas for how to improve our current housing and court systems, which have usually put tenants last. (National Housing Law Project)
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Perth homeless shelter Boorloo Bidee Mia less than a quarter full while rough sleepers remain on streets
NIcholas Perpitch ABC (No paywall)Homeless woman Shonna Brown is preparing to spend Christmas under a stairwell near the Mitchell Freeway on-ramp, as the McGowan government defends its decision to keep new accommodation for rough sleepers less than a quarter full. Communities Minister Simone McGurk said she made no apology for housing fewer than 30 homeless people at Boorloo Bidee Mia since it opened in August, despite there being room for 100 adult rough sleepers.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-08/perth-homeless-on-streets…
# Australia, Homelessness.Australian house prices will keep rising and it’s truly depressing for those hoping to get into the market
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)In news that unfortunately will shock no one who has thought about buying a house at any point in the past year or so, the latest residential property price figures from the bureau of statistics show that in the past 12 months prices have risen by record levels. ... It truly is a depressing story for those hoping to get into the housing market or have hopes that their kids might one day be able to afford a place of their own. ... Housing affordability has been utterly destroyed in the past two years, and while house prices are expected to not rise as fast as they have in the first nine months of this year, they look set to continue to grow for many more months to come – and certainly at a rate faster than do wages.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/dec/09/aus…
# Hot topic Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.