Back to the Future for Renters

Today, the 21st of October, 2015 is Back to the Future Day. Movie-goers are celebrating the day that Marty McFly arrived in the future in the second film of the series. Marty came originally from 1985, and it made us wonder what had changed.
So what did renting look like in 1985? See below- the short story, there are many more renters than there used to be, and we're paying a lot more rent! Wages haven't gone up as much as rents have, and groceries have barely gone up at all (in fact in real terms, the kinds of items we've included here have come down in price).

Also in 1985 then NSW Housing Minister Frank Walker announced the first tenants advice services to be funded by the interest earned on tenants bonds. This was a big step up in capacity from the previous network of entirely voluntary services. At the time, we were the first state to utilise bond interest money in such a truly innovative, sensible way.
Now in 2015 we're asking for those services to continue to be funded at fair and sustainable levels in the More Bang for Your Bond campaign- in just a few weeks time we'll be presenting our petition and postcards at parliament house. Details to come, but there's still plenty of time to show your support!

Great Scott!

Tenancy Haiku

We're always on the lookout for creative ways to express ourselves here on the Tenants' Union's Brown Couch - and this week we thought it would be fun to try our hand at Haiku.

Here's one from Chris:

Section 10

Sharing a house with

A named tenant. We shook hands -

I'm out in the cold.

...and here's my own attempt:

Home for life

Written into law,

No aspiration of home.

No change comes with spring.

***

We'd love to see what others can come up with - why not give it a go?

If you're so inclined, Tweet your Haiku or post it on Facebook. Mention us, and we'll share it on.

If you drop us a line with your contact details, we'll also give you one of our fabulous 'Tenants Make Cities' shirts for your trouble.

My 3 Cents Tenancy Trivia

You may remember we mentioned the good value TAAS's represent- a cost of just 3 cents a day to renters in NSW, paid by renters in NSW.

We'll be talking more about your 3 cents in coming weeks but to celebrate the imminent launch of the Tenants' Rights Manual (4th Ed.) on Monday we're having a trivia competition. The winner will receive their very own copy of the Tenants' Rights Manual to take pride of place on their bookshelf, their bedside table, or under a wobbly piece of furniture.

 

Not just any copy- THIS copy

The Tenants' Rights Manual is one of the many results of the more than 30 years of experience and insight from dedicated tenants advice workers which has culminated in the TAAS network today.

At noon we're going to send out the question on Twitter and Facebook, first person to answer correctly on either site will win. (A clue, the answer will be found somewhere on the TAAS website at www.tenants.org.au)

If you're the winner, we'll direct message you to get postal/delivery details.

The Rules

1. Winning answers must come from personal accounts (sorry NGOs, we still love you!)

2. Delivery will be to NSW addresses only (because this only covers NSW tenancy law)

3. Current workers in the TAAP network are excluded

Good luck, and if you miss out this time don't worry, we'll be doing more trivia competitions in the future!

Update: The question was "What is the maximum flow rate your shower can have before you don't have to pay for water usage?"

Congratulations to Troy Walker from the Hunter region who was the first correct answer on our Facebook page with "9 litres per minute"

Well played Troy!