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Welcome to our blog. Tenants' Union staff and occasional guests offer commentary and analysis of our renting system. We hope to inform, educate and debate the legal, political and cultural aspects of this renting life. For an official quote for media use, or questions regarding our research, policy or publications please contact us. For more articles see the Brown Couch archive, the Clearing House, and news. For factsheets see tenancy info.

 

Zuzia Buszewicz | 06/03/2024

Time to end the trauma of no grounds evictions

Renters asked to leave their home for no reason tell us the impact of these evictions is severe. Responses from renter to our our recent survey make it clear that having the rug of relative…
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Olivia Nielsen-Gurung | 20/02/2024

Roaches in your rental – to leave or not to leave

No-one should have to live with roaches! They are gross. But hating roaches and the existence of roaches in the property might not be a good enough legal reason to end a tenancy without having…
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Zuzia Buszewicz | 29/01/2024

Housing Australia, the Accord and others ways the government wants to boost supply of housing.

Re-joining the Tenants’ Union allowed me to jump back into the details of the ongoing housing and rental crisis in Australia and NSW and investigate the mechanisms recently put in place by the…
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Jemima Mowbray | 15/01/2024

New Year, New NSW Renting Laws Resolutions: A three-point kickstart plan for better renting in 2024!

It's that time again, when we all make resolutions. If NSW renting laws are looking at making some changes (and they should!) here are three key priorities that should be at the top of…
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Leo Patterson Ross | 19/12/2023

Rents and migration – what does the data tell us?

There has been a resurgence in the last couple of weeks, amplified by the Federal government, that pulling back migration numbers will lead to some easing of pressure on our renting system. We…
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Leo Patterson Ross | 14/12/2023

The season for empathy – for renters too

Over the last week, the annual tradition of a real estate agent sending out an email warning their renters not to fall behind in rent over Chistmas was continued, this time by an agency in VIC.…
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Rathy Srikanthan | 27/10/2023

How housing impacts health and well-being

How does housing status impact wellbeing, and who are the most impacted? How does wellbeing impact housing status? And why is the relationship between housing and wellbeing a pressing issue? In…
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Rathy Srikanthan | 25/10/2023

Access to justice? What the NCAT snapshot tells us

The Tenants' Union NCAT Snapshot and NCAT Evictions Map are interactive resources that share key insights into how landlords and renters have used the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal…
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Jack Moon | 01/09/2023

Rental realities in NSW: New insights from the End of Tenancy Survey

Renters in New South Wales face an increasingly precarious housing situation, grappling with the challenges of avoiding unaffordable rent hikes and eviction notices. To better understand the…
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Riley Brooke | 10/08/2023

What you need to know right now to make renting fair in NSW

We’ve worked hard to get this far, but there’s work still to be done! Along with renters and other supporters in the community, we have been campaigning with Make Renting Fair on our 6 demands…
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Leo Patterson Ross | 02/08/2023

Modernising Consumer Protection in Renting: From Individualised to Systemic Protections

Over the last 50 years, tenancy acts have been directed by the results of the national inquiry conducted by Ron Sackville as part of the Whitlam poverty inquiries. The recommendations of that…
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Rita Wilkinson | 19/07/2023

Own Goal? Thinking about the impact of the FIFA Women’s Cup on rental housing

FIFA Downunder is just a day away as the 2023 Women’s World Cup Finals are played across nine cities in Australia and New Zealand over July and August.  It is truly a mega-event, and a really…
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