The plan to sell off public housing will destroy a community
The Tenants’ Union condemns the proposed sell-off of 293 public housing properties at Millers Point and The Rocks, announced in March by the O’Farrell Government. The sell-off will cause hardship and grief to the people of Millers Point, and make all of us the poorer. Millers Point is irreplaceable, both as inner-city social housing and as part of our State heritage - not just in its buildings, but in its historic use as public housing, and in the long family and community ties of many of the people living there. Read more
In its announcements, the NSW Government has given the impression that taxpayers' money - and lots of it - is being paid to tenants. This is incorrect. The truth is that not a dollar of money raised from taxpayers is paid to public housing tenants or otherwise credited to their rent accounts. Tenants pay money to Housing NSW, not the other way around. Read more
There are also incorrect impressions going around in media reports about tenants whose families have lived in Millers Point for generations. In fact, there's a variety of people living there, and most got their tenancies according to the usual rules for social housing. Some others have been there since before the Housing Commission took over in the 1980s. These tenants worked in harbourside industries, and some of them were from families that had lived and worked in the area for generations. Read more
We encourage you to sign the petition to save the Millers Point community, forward this email to friends, and stay tuned for campaign updates.
Letter from Millers Point
A daughter of Millers Point writes about her community
I sit here with tears in my eyes so I cannot pretend that I do not have a deeply personal and emotional connection to the proposed removal of the social housing residents of Millers point. I grew up in a terrace in Lower fort street and my mum still lives there as she has done so for 40 years.Read more.
Tenant News just printed
Special student and share house edition
Our quarterly printed publication for tenants has just been produced and is on its way to thousands of tenants across NSW. This special edition is focussed on student renters and those living in share houses, with articles on:
International students rights
Peace, comfort and privacy
Life in a share house
The Regis Towers lock-out
Share house legal rights
Read Tenant News online, or call us on 8117 3700 if you would like us to send you copies for free.
Two submissions on affordable housing
We have recently made two submissions - one to the Australian Senate Economic References Committee Inquiry into Affordable Housing and one to the NSW Inquiry into Social, Public and Affordable Housing. Firstly, they review the current state and recent history of the housing market, with particular attention to the huge inflation in house prices over the past two decades; the causes of inflation in policy settings that encourage speculation; and the further effect of speculative inflation in the loss of affordable rental housing. Secondly, within the context of these wider problems of housing market policy, we consider the current state and recent history of the social housing system, with particular attention to the insufficient supply of social housing. Read more
NSW tenants – you're billionaires!
According to the annual report of the NSW Rental Bond Board, at some point last year the total value of tenants' bonds lodged with the rental bond board ticked over $1 billion for the first time. Find out where the interest on tenants' money goes - read more
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Legal information in this email is intended as a guide to the law and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice. It applies to people who live in or are affected by, the law as it applies in New South Wales, Australia.
For tenancy advice, contact your local Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service. Details at tenants.org.au.
Our mailing address is: Tenants' Union of NSW, Suite 201, 55 Holt St, Surry Hills, 2010, NSW.
