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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Convene a citizens’ assembly to deliberate on housing prices
Luca Belgiorno-Nettis The Mandarin (No paywall)The issue of housing affordability isn’t going away — even though it seemed that the Albanese government had settled the matter in September last year. Now the Greens are baulking over the ‘Help to Buy’ bill. “A landmark legislation to deliver the biggest investment in affordable and social housing in more than a decade” is how they described it. Leaving aside the social housing program, the affordable housing component relies on two main planks: “A national target to build 1.2 million homes in well-located areas in 5 years, and a $3 billion new homes bonus.” Just before Christmas, the NSW government was quick to get behind this by announcing its proposal to rezone many areas to higher density.
https://www.themandarin.com.au/240895-convene-a-citizens-assembl…
# Hot topic Australia, .Albanese’s housing ‘fix’ helps a tiny pool of voters. The rest will notice
David Crowe The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Federal parliament tackled one of the mammoth challenges in Australian society this week. In a vote that split the House of Representatives and saw the Greens side with the Liberals, the lower house divided on whether to set up a new way to help people buy their first homes. Labor won the vote, but that does not mean it has won the argument. Housing, the most pressing problem for so many voters, took its rightful place as the dominant debate in Canberra. Nobody could accuse federal politicians of ignoring the real pressures in the community.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-s-housing-fix-h…
# Legal significance Australia, .Time to end the trauma of no grounds evictions
Zuzia Buszewicz Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Eviction without reasonable grounds causes profound distress. That is my immediate conclusion after reading the responses over the last few days to our recent survey on no grounds evictions and renting in NSW. Renters who shared their experiences of eviction come from different areas and range in age and family unit composition. The majority have been severely emotionally impacted by being asked to leave their home for no reason. The results make it clear that having the rug of relative housing safely pulled from under your feet by a ‘no grounds’ eviction notice causes real distress, even leading to anxiety episodes and bouts of depression.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/time-to-end-trauma-no-grounds-ev…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent.A Tenant Is Served A No-Grounds Eviction Notice Every 18 Minutes In NSW
George Shiers Pedestrian (No paywall)A tenant in NSW is served a no-cause eviction every 18 minutes, putting renters at fear of losing their homes over simple requests. In the state, 30,000 households a year are given no cause evictions, with two out of three of those on fixed term agreements, according to Tenants Union NSW. Fixed term agreements are common in NSW, making up 58% of rentals, and those that receive a no-cause eviction are given 30 days to find a home. As a result, renters advocates say tenants are afraid to speak up with fears that even basic requests for maintenance or negotiation of a rent increase could lead to an eviction.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/a-tenant-is-served-a-no-grounds-e…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction.Sydney tenants say they were asked to vacate rental for requesting repairs
Taylor Troeth realestate.com.au (No paywall)These renters asked their property manager for almost a whole year to fix dangerous defects in their apartment – they say they were instead slapped with a rental increase and given 30 days to move out. Sydney couple Faizan and Emma moved into their apartment in Sydney’s northwest in December 2022 and claim asking for repairs was the primary reason they were asked to leave. It comes as rental experts continue to call for urgent reform of NSW’s tenant evictions policy, which they argue allow landlords to give unfair reasons to end leases. The couple said that when they moved in they noticed a tiny amount of damage on the floors, but nothing to cause concern.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/sydney-tenants-say-they-were-…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Repairs.Genuine affordable pledge made by Council
Paul Bibby Echo (No paywall)Byron Shire Council has publicly pledged that the first block of land it is acquiring under its Affordable Housing Contribution Scheme (AHCS) will be used for genuinely affordable housing, and remain so in perpetuity rather than adhering to the state government’s much-maligned affordability criteria. The promise came during last week’s Council meeting, as councillors discussed a planning proposal for a low and medium-density housing development in Rankin Drive, Bangalow.
https://www.echo.net.au/2024/03/genuine-affordable-pledge-made-b…
# NSW, Rent.Michael Pascoe: Wanted – a government game to try this housing fix
Michael Pascoe The New Daily (No paywall)Another day (or week or month or whatever), another series of disheartening and depressing housing stories and statistics, all pointing to there being absolutely no end in sight to the crisis and no solution contemplated by any government. Oh, there are Band-Aids of one sort or another, some of them helpful for some people, but no government can even pretend their policy bibs and bobs will make a significant difference.
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2024/03/06/michael-pascoe…
# Hot topic NSW, .Airbnb launches crackdown on low-quality listings
David Swan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Global holiday rental giant Airbnb has launched a crackdown on low-quality listings by removing more than 100,000 properties worldwide in a bid to clean up its platform and address what it says can sometimes be a below-par experience for guests. The company announced the measures on Tuesday alongside a new tool for Australian councils to track the number of Airbnb properties in local areas as state governments, including NSW, mull new levies on short-term stays to address an ongoing housing crisis.
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/airbnb-launches-crackdown-on-l…
# Hot topic NSW, .