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
The great dilemma: Who will look after mum or dad?
Noel Whittaker The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)How to take care of ageing parents is becoming a huge issue for many baby boomers. ... the family is often overwhelmed by the range of options available, together with the advantages and disadvantages of each. These may well include retirement villages and land-lease communities. When it all appears too difficult, families often simply say “mum or dad can come and live with us”. Unfortunately, it is usually anything but simple.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/the-great-dile…
# Australia, Families, Older people.Glasgow landlord refused licence for 20p per shower rental tenement
Sarah Hilley (No paywall)A landlord of a Glasgow property where tenants had to put 20p into a coin meter to use the shower has been refused a licence. Councillors raised concerns about the 'pay per go' shower at the four bedsit tenement in 94 Cartvale Road, Langside at a meeting. And SNP politician Rhiannon Spear said she couldn’t “believe her ears” when she heard people paid to wash every time.
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-landlord-refused-lice…
# International, Rent, Utilities water energy internet.How I bought and sold a home in pandemic (amid marriage breakdown)
Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Aussies are on the move. COVID-19 hasn’t just de-stabilised everything, it has decentralised a big proportion of us, too. Suburb to suburb, town to town, state to state, so many Aussies are selling up and buying elsewhere because the pandemic has proven they can work from anywhere. ... Here are the six new things I learned about buying and selling in the past three crazy months.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/how-i-bought…
# Australia, Housing market.'Out of control' Wellington rents pushing students to ditch studies for work
Jake McKee (No paywall)There is concern university students will start moving away from the capital because of high rental prices as some students struggle to juggle their studies with their bills. (RNZ)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/453995/out-of-control-wellin…
# International, Housing affordability, Students.Outasite Lite
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The anticipation is over. The Appeal Panel of the Tribunal has handed down the decision in Kincumber Nautical Village Pty Ltd v Morris & Ors and it is not good news for home owners. ... And lots more news
https://mailchi.mp/tenants.org.au/land-lease-communities-site-fe…
# NSW, Land lease communities, Campaigns and law reform.NSW makes its biggest investment in tackling domestic violence
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government will make its single largest investment in tackling domestic violence, spending almost $500 million on extra refuges for women and children fleeing their homes. The spending will form a significant part of the state government’s COVID-19 economic recovery package and will add 75 women’s refuges, taking the number in NSW to 161. More than $464 million will be spent over four years on a model focused on self-contained accommodation to support women and children escaping domestic and family violence. The accommodation is located next to services including counselling, legal assistance, education, and employment support. The sites also contain meeting rooms, audio-visual equipment for court appearances, communal kitchens, and playgrounds.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-makes-its-biggest-invest…
# New policy announcement NSW, Domestic violence, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Sweeping housing legislation could reshape New Zealand cities for decades to come
Eva Corlett The Guardian (No paywall)New Zealand’s cities could be reshaped for decades to come, after the government joined forces with the opposition to announce sweeping bipartisan housing legislation that aims to counter urban sprawl and boost supply by up to 105,000 new homes in the next eight years. In a rare display of cross-party collaboration, the housing minister Megan Woods and environment minister David Parker took the podium with the National Party’s leader Judith Collins and its housing spokesperson Nicola Willis on Tuesday, to introduce a bill that will cut urban-planning red-tape and enable up to three houses, three storeys tall, to be built on most sites without requiring consent in the country’s major cities. ... Housing and environment advocacy groups like City for People – which Stewart helped establish – Generation Zero and Renters United have long pushed for densification. “This new cross-partisan reform is to be celebrated. It is a vital step to tackling our housing crisis by ensuring people’s right to a quality home is paramount. The real character of our cities are people and thriving communities,” the groups said. But they would like to see other levers pulled: “generous rental subsidies, accessible housing, support for papakāinga [Māori housing] developments, and investments in sustainable water, open space and transport infrastructure.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/19/sweeping-housing-l…
# International, Housing market, Planning and development.5 steps to take if you’re struggling with rent
Georgia Lenton-Williams (National Debt Helpline) (No paywall)A recent report by the Tenants’ Union of NSW and Youth Action found that rental housing affordability was a big concern among renters under 30, with 84% of respondents selecting the cost of rental properties as the issue that mattered most to them. (Tilly Money)
https://tillymoney.com.au/5-steps-to-take-if-youre-struggling-wi…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Housing market, Young people.