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
Rents still too high, despite recent drop - advocate
Radio NZ (No paywall)A renters' advocate says tenants are still paying too much rent, despite an increased supply of rental properties driving down costs in some parts of the country. April data from Realestate.co.nz showed a surge in rental listings, resulting in lower average rents - particularly in major cities. Wellington's average rental price was down 7.2 percent year-on-year to $647 and Auckland's down 3.3 percent to $702. The national average was down $14 a week. But Renters United president Zac Thomas said the data also showed that in half of New Zealand's regions, the cost of rent has either stayed the same or increased compared with this time last year. "The reality, what we see at least, is that New Zealand is one of the worst places in the developed world to be a renter," he told RNZ.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/560546/rents-still-too-high-…
# Must read International, Rent.SPAIN’S HOUSING CRISIS LATEST: NEW TENANT REVIEW PLATFORM PUTS ABUSIVE LANDLORDS ON ALERT
The Olive Press (No paywall)A RENTAL property review app is empowering tenants to ensure their future homes are safe, healthy and liveable. The app Reviu allows tenants to share their renting experiences and read information about new properties they’re considering renting. The Barcelona Institute for Urban Research created the app last year. At first glance, an apartment can look great, but there is always much to be discovered once you’re settled, and not all of it is positive. Reviu hopes to take away the mystery, with tenants sharing their lived experiences of the home, the neighbours and the wider area.
https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2025/05/11/spains-housin…
# Must read International, .‘The room has started cracking’: concern at condition of stopgap housing in England
Jessica Murray and Sammy Gecsoyler The Guardian (No paywall)(TW: SA.) In his role as handyman at a guesthouse being used to house homeless people, Ricky Lee had keys to every bedroom. He had previously been placed at Eastfield guesthouse in Peterborough as a homeless person himself, and had moved into a caravan in the grounds, where he lived for free in return for carrying out maintenance jobs on site.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/apr/29/the-room-has-starte…
# International, .Spain changes rental rules – and landlords are not happy
Farah Mokrani EuroWeekly (No paywall)A quiet but seismic change has just hit the Spanish housing market — and if you’re renting or planning to rent in Spain, you need to know what’s happening. Thanks to a sweeping legal reform, tenants in Spain can now stay in their homes even after their rental contract expires — and there’s nothing landlords can do about it, at least not immediately. The government says it’s about protecting vulnerable renters in a time of housing crisis, especially in cities like Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, where rent prices have soared to record levels. But landlords are calling it a direct attack on property rights, and many are already threatening to pull their properties off the rental market altogether. So, what’s changed?
https://euroweeklynews.com/2025/05/06/spain-changes-rental-rules…
# International, .Tenants win €3,000 from landlord who told them he was selling house, but re-let it
Jack WhiteIrish Times (No paywall)
A Galway landlord who claimed he was selling a house when he terminated a tenancy, but went on to advertise the property at a rent nearly 50 per cent higher, has been ordered to pay €3,000 in damages. Cathal Lennon, who had been renting the house in Merlin Park, Murrough, along with Robyn Kirby for nine months, claimed they received a text message from landlord Stewart Shephard asking them to leave within one month as he wished to sell. This was subsequently changed in April of last year to three months’ notice, with Mr Lennon saying the pair were unable to find alternative accommodation until July.
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/housing-planning/2025/05/12/t…
# Hot topic International, Rent.More good news for tenants
Susan Edmunds Radio NZ (No paywall)It's a good time to be a tenant, new data suggests. Realestate.co.nz said the supply of rental properties across New Zealand was at the highest level of any April in almost a decade, last month. There were 5868 new listings on the site in the month, up 24.1 percent year-on-year. The last time the number listed was that high was in April 2016. Auckland had the largest number of new listings followed by Canterbury and Wellington. Wellington's average rental price was down 7.2 percent year-on-year to $647 and Auckland's down 3.3 percent to $702. The national average was down $14 a week.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/560504/more-good-news-for-te…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Listening to Renters' Voices
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)
This report summarises the key outcomes of a series of innovative Renters’ Forums hosted by the Tenants’ Union of NSW in partnership with the Sydney Alliance and the NSW Rental Commissioner, NSW Fair Trading between May and November 2024. The central purpose of these forums was to directly engage renters across NSW, particularly those from often marginalised communities, to share their experiences and propose solutions related to the challenges of renting. This initiative aimed to ensure that renters' voices were heard by decision-makers and to foster a deeper understanding of the systemic issues within the NSW rental market.
'No-grounds' evictions to end in New South Wales
ABC (No paywall)There's some good news for renters in New South Wales coming into effect later this month, with the state government ending 'no-grounds' evictions and making it easier to keep a pet. It comes as a report from Anglicare reveals that out of the more than 51,000 rental listings reviewed nationwide, less than one per cent were deemed affordable for a full-time worker on the minimum wage.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/-…
# Hot topic, Audio NSW, Eviction, Rent.