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
Sydney lockdown: Tenants lack eviction protections, adequate financial support, advocates warn
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Sydney tenants lack eviction protections and adequate financial support for the latest lockdown, tenant advocates warn after the state government did not go beyond encouraging landlords to be lenient. ... On Tuesday, the NSW government announced a grants package to help thousands of businesses, but it stopped short of measures to help renters – who make up a third of the state’s households – stay in their homes if they lost work and struggled to pay rent. Instead, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet urged landlords to work with tenants who may be going through financial hardship. ... Tenants were left vulnerable again with the lack of financial assistance or clear guidelines and protections, said Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive officer of the Tenants’ Union of NSW. “The lesson of the past 18 months is that negotiation doesn’t work where the two parties aren’t given really clear guidelines about what counts as lenient and coming to the table,” Mr Patterson Ross said.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-lockdown-tenants-lack-evic…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, State Government.Financial support, eviction protections urged for renters amid Sydney lockdown
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Sydney tenants are at risk of falling behind on their rent amid the city’s latest lockdown, with renters’ groups particularly concerned for how income losses will affect those already trying to pay off deferred rent from last year. Swift financial support and protections will be needed to help tenants through Sydney’s second citywide lockdown, with renters now more vulnerable than they were last year – many casual workers already burning through savings to get through 2020. Thousands of renters have already sought advice on the Tenants’ Union of New South Wales website, since Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong went into lockdown on Saturday, said chief executive officer Leo Patterson Ross, with renters more likely to be in casual employment in hard-hit industries such as hospitality and tourism. ... Some tenants are still protected under a six-month transition period from the eviction moratorium, which ended in March, but those now falling behind on rent for the first time or who had paid off previous deferrals would have to rely on regular tenancy laws, Mr Patterson Ross said. There were no incentives in place either for landlords to enter into negotiations to reduce or defer rents, he added.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/financial-support-and-eviction-pr…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, State Government.‘He was someone’s son’: Suburb farewells a friend and gentle giant
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)On an eerie Friday afternoon, as lockdown descended on Sydney’s east and the city braced itself for worse to come, a small group of mourners gathered in an otherwise desolate North Sydney CBD. Peter, a homeless man who had turned an alcove on windy Arthur Street into his makeshift abode for the past year, died last week on a cold winter’s night. He was 48.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/he-was-someone-s-son-suburb-…
# NSW, Homelessness, Personal stories.Housing assistance in Australia
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (No paywall)In 2019–20, just over 800,000 Australians lived in social housing in over 436,000 dwellings across the country. The majority (69%) of social housing dwellings were public housing stock and Community Housing (24%) with increasing numbers in community housing. Commonwealth Rent Assistance was provided to just over 1.7 million income units at the end of June 2020. Chock-a-block with data. Check their media release at: [https://www.aihw.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/2021-1/june/436-000-social-housing-dwellings-across-australia].
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/housing-assis…
# Research alert Australia, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Federal Government, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.There was a lower proportion of social housing in Australia last year than a decade ago
SBS (No paywall)There are some 436,000 social housing dwellings in Australia, accommodating more than 800,000 people. But the nation's stock is not keeping pace with growth in the rest of the housing sector, a new report released on Wednesday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed. The institute's report on housing assistance showed the proportion of social housing decreased from 4.7 per cent of all dwellings in 2010 to 4.2 per cent last year.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/there-was-a-lower-proportion-of-soci…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Housing market.Covid in Scotland: Landlord eviction action 'last resort'
BBC (No paywall)Scottish councils, housing associations and private landlords have said they will only take eviction action against tenants as a "last resort". In joint statements, the groups committed to supporting tenants facing difficulties during the pandemic. The Scottish government had placed a temporary ban on eviction orders. It follows an announcement last week of plans to create a £10m fund for people struggling to pay rent as a direct result of Covid.
# International, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.Why are tenants being charged just for paying their rent?
Michael McGowan The Guardian (No paywall)In 2018 Melbourne tenant Orlando Skeete was told he would have to start paying rent via a company that planned to charge him a series of fees, including a 1.1% charge on all credit- or debit-card payments. This is not uncommon – real estate agencies are increasingly outsourcing the process of rent collection to third-party companies, which charge tenants just for paying their rent. Reporter Michael McGowan explores this confusing system, which is leaving many tenants out of pocket, and Skeete explains how he fought back, using nothing but a bike, an ATM and relentless determination
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2021/jun/29/why…
# Audio Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.‘A step in the right direction’: Stokes reveals plans for 3000 homes and three towers at Waterloo estate
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Planning Minister Rob Stokes has smoothed the path for 3000 homes to be built in towers reaching 30 storeys under the first stage of the Waterloo public housing estate redevelopment in Sydney’s inner south. Mr Stokes has approved revised plans for Waterloo South to go on public exhibition, in a compromise aimed at breaking a deadlock between the City of Sydney and the state’s housing authority over the scale of development. The plans - which will go on exhibition later this year - push hundreds of vulnerable residents at the estate closer to having their homes demolished for a mix of private, affordable and public housing. ... Waterloo Public Housing Action Group chairman Richard Weeks, briefed on the plans on Tuesday, said residents had long been in limbo and “the majority of tenants down here have just given up worrying about anything”. Mr Weeks was pleased the towers would be arranged around the large public park but said the development should include more affordable housing for Indigenous workers who couldn’t afford homes in Redfern-Waterloo. For a comment from Shelter NSW, go to: [https://mailchi.mp/shelternsw/waterloo-south-estate-renewal-proposal-minister-for-planning-gives-the-green-light-for-next-stage?e=91e8d836a5].
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-step-in-the-right-directio…
# NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Estate renewal, Housing market, Local Government, State Government.