Housing News Digest
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
The radical alternative to Sydney’s $150m civic square plan
Julie Power and Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Woolworths and six other buildings opposite Sydney’s Town Hall would be saved from demolition with a public plaza carved from existing structures as part of a radical “what if” proposal to stir debate around Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s $150 million new public square. As planning accelerates on Moore’s plan, Sydney architects DunnHillam have floated the idea that the seven buildings in central Sydney could be repurposed for another 100 years of use instead of “the wholesale demolition” proposed by the City of Sydney.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-radical-alternative-to-s…
# Hot topic NSW, .How much debt households had when interest rates were 17 per cent, compared to now
Dan F Stapleton Domain (No paywall)Australian households are carrying almost three times as much debt as they were in 1990, most of which is housing debt, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows. Experts said the increased debt load was magnifying the impact of interest-rate movements on household budgets. “Interest rates are essentially the cost of debt, so if households have higher levels of debt, they’re going to be a lot more sensitive to the cost of that debt,” said Tim Lawless, Cotality research director, which crunched the data.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/how-much-debt-households-had-when…
# History Australia, .Is it smarter to have a dumb home? ‘We’ve seen clients unable to flush toilets’
Katie Strick The Guardian (No paywall)When the smart home devices Elly Bailey was expecting in the post never showed up at her Gold Coast home, she was frustrated. As a technology reviewer, these products were crucial for her work. When she eventually found the cause, she had to laugh. It wasn’t a sticky-fingered neighbour or a rogue delivery driver causing her to miss parcels but her smart doorbell – the very thing she’d hoped would prevent missed deliveries, and part of exactly the range of internet-connected devices she was meant to be reviewing.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/18/smart-home-v-…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet.A growing trend saw Max, 23, rent a room with a retiree 54 years his senior
Eleanor Wilson 9 News (No paywall)There's a 54-year age gap between Melburnians Laurie Darby and Max Flett, but the retired teacher had no problems welcoming her 23-year-old gardener into her spare room. With an empty bedroom and rising bills, Darby pitched the unconventional idea of intergenerational home sharing after Flett opened up about his own housing struggles. "She was just like 'I've got a spare room - how about you chuck me some cash and you can stay here as long as you need while you're studying'," Flett said.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/intergenerational-living-spare…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Share houses.South Coast Build to Rent homes construction to start
Landcom ()The new Build to Rent project on the South Coast will start construction in the coming months to deliver much needed housing supply and security for the region's renters. The NSW Government developer Landcom has signed with regionally based Zauner Construction Pty Ltd to deliver the construction of 60 new homes in Bomaderry. This development will deliver approximately 60 apartments, with at least 20% designated as affordable rental housing. The building will demonstrate best practice sustainable design to maximise energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and provide a healthy environment for residents with fresh air and natural light.
https://www.landcom.com.au/news-and-insights/news/south-coast-bu…
# NSW, .Homeless mother refused social housing after Centrelink payments deemed too high
Kenji Sato ABC (No paywall)Rissa Blakeley says she fears for her children's safety when night falls on their homeless camp in Petrie, north of Brisbane. The mother of seven was refused social housing because her income — which comes solely from Centrelink — was deemed to be too high. Ms Blakeley said she received parenting payments for six of her children, which put her above the income cut-off for social housing. Ms Blakeley said her Centrelink payments were, on average, about $2,800 a fortnight.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-24/homeless-mother-denied-so…
# Australia, Public and community housing.Tax expert worried Australia on path to neo-feudal society as housing wealth drives inequality
Patrick Commins The Guardian (No paywall)One of the country’s leading tax experts says the explosion in housing wealth has put Australia on the path towards a neo-feudal society where your prosperity depends in large part whether your parents own land or property. The director of the Australian National University’s Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Bob Breunig, said “that’s the trajectory we’re on”. “I don’t think we are back to pre-French Revolution times, but I am worried about that,” he said during a second day of hearings by a parliamentary committee into the operation of the capital gains tax.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/24/australia…
# Australia, .HAFF Round 3: When Institutional Scale Trumps Community Control
Tobias Busch Land in Common (No paywall)Last week, two of HAFF’s four funding streams were fully subscribed in less than four days. The headlines will celebrate this as evidence of sector readiness. But let’s be clear about what actually happened: a $10 billion public investment was carved up by organisations with the capacity to lodge applications the moment the portal opened. The design of the tender ensures that funding flows to large, professionalised institutions rather than to the communities who will actually live in the housing being built.
https://landincommon.substack.com/p/haff-round-3-when-institutio…
# Hot topic Australia, .