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
'Breaking point': rejected for a rental 70 times, this mother and daughter have now bought a tent
Caitlin Zerafa (No paywall)After 70 rental rejections, a long-term Sunshine Coast resident says she’s bracing for life in a tent with her elderly mother and their two pets. Jayanne Hughes and her 70-year-old mother Dianne, who is recovering from major surgery, will soon have to leave their Alexandra Headland rental property of almost 17 years. The timing could not be worse as the rental market on the Sunshine Coast continues to tighten ... Close to “breaking point”, Ms Hughes, who works in mental health, has been forced to purchase a second-hand tent that they will have to live in if they can’t find a suitable home in coming weeks.
https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2021/10/22/rental-rejection…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Women.Bush Summit 2021: Paul Toole’s vow to solve NSW housing crisis
Matthew Benns and Lachlan Leeming Daily Telegraph (Paywall)New Deputy Premier Paul Toole has vowed to tackle the housing crisis in the bush that has seen rents double and people even forced to sleep in their cars. “We’re going to open up more blocks of land we’re going to cut the red tape through the planning system to allow housing development to occur within a number of areas to open them up,” Mr Toole said. The NSW government’s Regional Housing Taskforce, set up to address the housing issues in the bush, will release a raft of recommendations later this month on measures to address the shortfall. It cannot come too soon for employers in the bush already struggling to find workers in the regions and desperate for homes to house the people they do manage to recruit. ... Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive of the Tenants’ Union of NSW, said the state needed “a big [public and community housing (words omitted from article)] construction boom” for housing supply to catch up with runaway demand. “We’re seeing double figure rent increases in so many of the regions. People are being asked to move and, having nowhere else to go, they’re sleeping in cars,” he said. He said ousted tenants were calling the union for help while camped in the overcrowded homes of family and friends. “They’re really shocking and sad stories,” he said. “At the end of the day, people can’t find homes that they can afford.”
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/bushsummit/bush-summit-2021-de…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW, State Government.Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast beachside boom to push housing costs higher than Brisbane
Owen Jacques and Amy Sheehan ABC (No paywall)Lockdown-fatigued buyers wanting to escape the city are pushing up house prices on the Sunshine and Gold coasts which are forecast to overtake Brisbane prices within three years. ... St Vincent De Paul's John Harrison works with those facing the crushing weight of the booming property market in Noosa and across the Sunshine Coast. He said some struggle for as long as they can — maybe even taking on boarders or sub-tenants — before being forced out of town.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-25/sunshine-coast-gold-coast…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market.Housing emergency declared by northern NSW MP as rental costs go 'crazy'
Bruce MacKenzie ABC (No paywall)Greens MP Tamara Smith says the housing situation in her electorate of Ballina, on the NSW north coast, has grown from a crisis into a full-blown emergency. New data from Domain shows median rents in the Ballina Shire have risen by 25 per cent in 12 months, to $650 a week. The neighbouring Byron Shire is still the most expensive place to rent in regional New South Wales with a median rental cost of $850 a week, up 22 per cent in the past year. "That's crazy, it's a crazy hike," Ms Smith said. "It's beyond a housing crisis ..."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-26/ballina-mp-declares-housi…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market, Regional NSW, State Government, Work, employment, Young people.Government announces £65m to support vulnerable households with rent arrears
Tim Clark Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United KIngdom ... The government has committed £65m to support vulnerable renters and low-income households who may have fallen behind on paying their rent. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said that the new funding comes on top of a £500m household support fund to help vulnerable families over the coming winter. The DLUHC said that the funding will be given to councils in England to support low-income earners in rent arrears, “helping to prevent homelessness and support families to get back on their feet”. The £500m fund will provide £421m to help vulnerable people in England, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80m.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/government-announces-65m-to…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.New proposal would pave way for tenant associations in San Francisco
(Paywall)Legislation introduced Tuesday would require residential landlords in San Francisco to recognize tenant associations formed in their buildings and to meet with them upon request — up to four times a year. (San Francisco Business Times)
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2021/10/19/tenants…
# International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform.Rethinking Affordability - SMALL FOOTPRINT
Luke Clark and Elizabeth Price (No paywall)Small footprint design presents an opportunity to radically change our approach to affordable housing. Not only on the scale of individual apartments but also in the planning of our city blocks and existing buildings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wdl0-F00IU&ab_channel=NEVERTOOS…
# Video Australia, Affordable housing, Housing market, Planning and development.Housing affordability collapses despite record low interest rates
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Housing affordability across Sydney has collapsed to its lowest level in at least a decade and is on track for the same point in Melbourne as the benefits of record low interest rates are overwhelmed by soaring property prices and stagnant wages growth.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/housing-affordability-co…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.