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
Northern Ireland social landlords extend agreement not to evict over pandemic-related arrears
Nathaniel Barker Inside Housing (Paywall)Social landlords in Northern Ireland have agreed to extend their commitment not to evict tenants who have fallen into rent arrears as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Deirdre Hargey, the region’s communities minister, wrote to housing associations and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) asking them to extend the agreement until 4 May 2022. ... “I have asked the housing executive and housing associations to continue to honour this voluntary agreement until May 2022, in line with my recent decision to extend the emergency 12-week notice-to-quit period in the private rented sector.”
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/northern-ireland-socia…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19.'Crime scene': Outrage overe $850pw rental
Alex Turner-Cohen (Paywall)From Melbourne ... Renters are outraged after being asked to fork out $800 a week on a house that is literally falling apart. The expensive rental can boast a ripped up kitchen, a backyard with graffiti on it and dirty walls as well as an exposed light bulb dangling precariously from the stairwell.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/outrage-over…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.‘Nationwide problem’ of poor quality housing
Alex Thomson (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... We spoke to the designer Wayne Hemingway, an adviser to the Mayor of London on housing and design and a former chair of Building for Life, and Chris Thompson, managing director of Citu, the developers of the Climate Innovation District in Leeds. (Channel 4)
https://www.channel4.com/news/nationwide-problem-of-poor-quality…
# Video International, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.‘My family were sacrificed in that area. My blood is ingrained in the soil’
Billie Eder The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Tracy Howie can think of nothing worse than seeing “rooftops, jetties and boats” dot the old asylum at Peat Island on the Hawkesbury River. “There is a highly significant engraving site around the Peat Island area, and it is directly related to our creation story,” the Indigenous community leader said. Yet, her worst fears could be realised if a state government proposal for tourist facilities and accommodation on Peat Island and nearby Mooney Mooney is approved.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/my-family-were-sacrificed-in…
# NSW, Heritage listings, Housing market, Planning and development.‘Dying on the streets’: at least 44 homeless people have died in Perth this year
Luke Henriques-Gomes The Guardian (No paywall)At least 44 people known to homelessness services died in Perth in the first nine months of 2021, researchers have found. Associate prof Lisa Wood of the University of Western Australia said hospital records matched with client lists from service providers confirmed all had experienced homelessness in the past four years. About 30 were known to have had no fixed address or had been rough sleeping when they died, Wood said, while other cases were still being assessed.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/17/dying-on-…
# Australia, Health, Homelessness.End to China’s estate market boom could spell trouble for the economy
George Magnus The Guardian (No paywall)In China today, the buzz is all about how the government there too has stumbled into an energy crisis with widespread power cuts. Yet this and other supply shocks will eventually pass, while the $300bn (£218bn) of debt enveloping China’s second biggest property developer, Evergrande, is of greater significance. It suggests China’s long housing boom is over, and bodes badly for the increasingly troubled economy, with implications for the rest of the world too.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/15/chinas-booming-rea…
# International, Housing market, International, Landlords and agents.As Melburnians such as Olivia and Daniel buy cheaper land in Geelong, supply is close to running out
Erin Cooper ABC (No paywall)Up until the pandemic, Olivia Lewis and Daniel McCormack had always thought they would buy their first home somewhere in Melbourne. They've now chosen to put down a deposit for land in Geelong, but the Cranbourne couple said it wasn't much of a choice at all. "It is financially impossible for any first home buyer to purchase out in this area … moving away is really the only feasible option for us," Mr McCormack said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-14/geelong-building-boom-lea…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Sydney house rents hit record high and unit prices back on the rise: Domain Rent Report
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)The cost of renting a house in Sydney has reached new heights, with asking rents increasing by at least $50 a week in three months in some regions, despite the city’s lockdown.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-house-rents-hit-record-hig…
# NSW, Rent, Housing market.