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
Practical steps towards eco-renting
Johnathan Barnett Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)We are living through a crisis of record high rents and record low vacancy rates. More people are renting for longer before buying a home, if they can buy at all. More than ever before, the question of how to build healthy, sustainable communities in Australia requires considering the relationships between renters, landlords, and their properties. Sustainability in rental homes is not only an environmental issue. Inefficient homes compound health and financial problems, especially for people who are already struggling and can only afford low-quality housing. As the climate crisis deepens, these problems will only get worse.
# Must read NSW, Rent.Renters rejoice: the dreaded double bond dance is over
Eden Radford Canstar (No paywall)Moving to a new rental home in New South Wales just got a little cheaper, with the NSW Government announcing yesterday that its Smart Rental Bonds scheme is now available statewide. The service allows renters to transfer their existing rental bond directly into a new lease, with successful trials across select regions through the last few months. This eliminates the need for renters to come up with thousands of dollars upfront for a new property while waiting for their old bond to be released.
https://www.canstar.com.au/news/renters-rejoice-the-dreaded-doub…
# Hot topic NSW, Bond.NSW government paid for homeless man to be sent back to New Zealand instead of offering housing
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)The New South Wales government paid for a homeless man in Wagga Wagga to be sent back to New Zealand instead of offering him temporary accommodation, in an attempt to move on residents living in an encampment by a river. The local council and state government have been attempting to clear out the encampment for several months after a newborn baby died in May when its mother gave birth to twins in a tent. Residents of the encampment have faced increasing pressure to move on, including “compliance action” requests for them to leave or be fined up to $1,100.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/13/nsw-gover…
# NSW, .Lucy and David's Story
Make Renting Fair (No paywall)What do you do when your kids are growing up, needing more space and privacy, but no matter how you slice it, you can’t afford a bigger home? This was a question before Lucy and David, whose daughter and son were rapidly outgrowing their shared bedroom. The Inner West-based early childhood educator and nurse spent months looking at the listings, wondering if they could trade in their mortgaged 2-bedroom unit for a larger home, but in Sydney's hyper-inflated housing market with skyrocketing auction prices, they stood no chance.
# NSW, .Unit rents soar as Homelessness NSW calls for protections
Homelessness NSW (No paywall)Analysis of Cotality rental data for the 12 months to August 2026 shows unit rents in the Bourke local government area rose from $208 a week to $346 a week, an increase of 66 per cent. Warrumbungle and Hay recorded increases of 60 per cent and 39 per cent respectively over the same period. “The rental price of units is vitally important because often they are the only type of housing that people can afford,” said Homelessness NSW CEO Dom Rowe.
https://homelessnessnsw.org.au/unit-rents-soar-as-homelessness-n…
# NSW, Rent.NCAT Snapshot
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The Tenants' Union NCAT Snapshot aims to provide transparency on the use of the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). This dashboard will be updated regularly to ensure the public has access to up to date information on who and why landlords and tenants are using the tribunal. This dashboards allows us to compare the rates that tenants and landlords are applying to the tribunal. The evictions snapshot highlights the percentage of eviction applications out of all landlord applications as well as all applications (landlord and tenant). The application breakdowns allow us to explore the types of applications both landlords and tenants make to the tribunal.
# Must read, Research alert NSW, Eviction, Tribunal NCAT.Housing construction grows on Coast
Coast Community News (No paywall)Recent ABS figures on new home approvals indicate that housing construction activity across the Central Coast performed strongly during 2025/26, says the Housing Industry Association (HIA). “During the past financial year, a total of 1,317 dwelling approvals occurred, an increase of 8%,” HIA Hunter Executive Director Craig Jennion said. “During the 12 months to June 2026 detached housing approvals increased by 18%. “In contrast, multi-unit approvals declined by 6%. “Detached homes remained the preferred choice for homebuyers, accounting for 65.4% (of sales) on the Central Coast.
https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2026/09/hou…
# NSW, .News Corp’s realestate.com.au to stop forcing agents to list all properties with it after ACCC action
Catie McLeod The Guardian (No paywall)Realestate.com.au will no longer be able to force agents to list all properties on the site after an intervention from the consumer watchdog requiring the platform’s owner to remove restrictive provisions from its contracts. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Monday announced it had accepted an enforceable undertaking from REA Group, the News Corp-controlled real estate listings behemoth that runs realestate.com.au. An enforceable undertaking is a formal, written commitment between a business and the ACCC which can be enforced by a court.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/14/news-corp…
# Australia, .