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
Renters need to earn $500k to live here, so why is this the most in-demand rental hotspot in Australia?
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Thinking about renting in some glamorous location in the eastern suburbs as a much cheaper alternative to buying? Well, think again. While that area is currently the most sought-after in Australia for renters, it comes at a price. And a very, very steep price, at that. Currently, to rent comfortably in Vaucluse – defined as paying less than 30 per cent of your pre-tax income on your weekly bill – you’ll have to be earning over a staggering $511,000 per annum; more than seven times what you need for a house in the most affordable suburbs.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/renters-need-to-earn-500k-to-live…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Sydney loses half its Airbnbs as listings surge drives up regional rents
Lydia Kellner realestate.com.au (No paywall)Sydney’s Airbnb market is in freefall, with a dramatic exodus of short-term rental properties reshaping the city’s accommodation landscape. But while this might signal a glimmer of hope for long-term renters in the harbour city, it’s simultaneously fuelling a housing catastrophe in regional Australia, where a relentless “holiday gold rush” by investors is pushing local communities to breaking point. According to a report by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Sydney has witnessed a staggering 48.3 per cent drop in Airbnb listings since 2019. Melbourne isn’t far behind, experiencing a significant 23.8 per cent decline.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/sydney-loses-half-its-airbnbs…
# NSW, .Albanese talks about his ‘five biggest things’: What’s next?
Sean Kelly The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Right at the end of his press conference on Thursday, hit with yet another question on travel expenses, the prime minister said: “What I’m focused on today is an issue which is a revolution.” When people are writing books about this government, looking at the “five biggest things that we did, I tell you what, this will be one of them”. He was talking about – or trying to talk about – the social media ban.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-talks-about-his…
# Australia, .Navigating the Rental Market During Housing Crisis
iHeart Radio (No paywall)Renting in Australia is no longer just expensive. It is unstable, exhausting and quietly wearing people down.
In this episode of Navigating the Rental Market During Housing Crisis, I am joined by Alice Pennycott, Principal Lawyer (Tenancy) at Circle Green Community Legal in WA, and Leo Paterson-Ross, CEO of the Tenants' Union of NSW and a representative of the National Association of Tenant Organisations. This conversation names what renters know but rarely say out loud: the fear of being labelled difficult, the data you give up just to compete and the exhaustion of living on the edge. Contrary to what we hear often, this is not a wicked or unsolvable crisis. It’s systemic, human-made and entirely fixable — not through personal resilience, but by changing a system broken by design.
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-dr-johari-hussein-nassor-a-28…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, .Households now need six-figure income to comfortably rent in any capital city
Stephen Clarke ABC (No paywall)Renters need to be earning a six-figure income to be able to comfortably rent a house in any of Australia's capital cities, according to new analysis by Domain. It represents a more than 50 per cent increase since 2019, with households now needing to bring in at least $112,667 to rent a median-priced capital-city house without entering rental stress. Households spending more than 30 per cent of their pre-tax income on rent are in 'rental stress', according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-11/qld-rental-prices-data-si…
# Hot topic Australia, .Inquest into toddler's septic tank death sparks calls for improved maintenance in remote NT public housing
Elsie Lange ABC (No paywall)"Devastated." That's how Aboriginal Housing Northern Territory chief executive Leeanne Caton said she felt when she read the NT coroner's finding that the death of a toddler who fell into a remote public housing septic tank could have been prevented by sufficient maintenance. Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the last name of an Indigenous person who has died, used in accordance with the wishes of his family. "None of this would happen in an urban environment," Ms Caton said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-10/septic-tank-death-kumanja…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Disasters.Households now need six-figure income to comfortably rent in any capital city
Stephen Clarke ABC (No paywall)Renters need to be earning a six-figure income to be able to comfortably rent a house in any of Australia's capital cities, according to new analysis by Domain. It represents a more than 50 per cent increase since 2019, with households now needing to bring in at least $112,667 to rent a median-priced capital-city house without entering rental stress. Households spending more than 30 per cent of their pre-tax income on rent are in 'rental stress', according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-11/qld-rental-prices-data-si…
# Australia, Rent.Fixing the housing crisis isn’t complicated, governments just don’t want to do it
Richard Denniss The Point (No paywall)The easiest way to boost the supply of housing in Australia would be for governments to build new houses. And the easiest way to provide affordable rental accommodation would be to rent the new government-built houses to people at affordable rents. Fixing a housing crisis is not complicated. But instead of our state and federal governments building more housing, they now build a lot less than they used to. Indeed, our governments are so bad at supplying housing, and our expectations of them are now so low, that most people and most media simply forget to blame governments for failing so badly.
https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/251211-fixing-the-housing-crisi…
# Hot topic Australia, .