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
America’s new housing crisis turns the US into a nation of renters
Martha Williams Daily Mail (UK) (No paywall)The US housing market has entered a deep freeze, with record-low home sales and rising fears that America is becoming a nation of renters. Only 2.5 percent of US homes changed hands between January and August 2025, according to Redfin. That is just 25 per 1,000 and is the lowest in at least 30 years. During the 2021 pandemic boom, that figure was closer to 40 per 1,000. Existing-home sales in 2024 fell to the lowest since 1995, even as prices continued climbing — the national median home price hit $407,500, up nearly 5 percent year-on-year.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/real-estate/article-15281911/america…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Poland's 'fixer-upper' incentive offers people discounted rent | DW News
DW News (No paywall)Poland is offering discounted rent to people willing to renovate apartments in need of repairs. The measures are meant to ease pressure on the overpriced housing market.
# Video International, Rent, Repairs.Asbestos waste is killing a remote First Nations community – and the WA government has known for decades
Antoun Issa DeepCut News (No paywall)WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this article contains images and names of deceased persons. It’s the largest contamination zone in the southern hemisphere – eight times the size of Sydney Harbour. For two decades, the WA government has known that asbestos from now-defunct mines in the Pilbara was spreading, far and wide, killing members of an ancient First Nations community – the Banjima. “For Banjima, it is now a part of our oral history about how our families lived on Wittenoom,” Johnnell Parker says, referring to the now-erased mining town that sat 1,420kms north of Perth.
https://www.deepcutnews.com/p/asbestos-waste-is-killing-a-remote
# Must read Australia, Aboriginal renters, Disasters, Discrimination, Rent.The rapid rise of renters in their 60s: ‘I hate the idea of house-sharing – but I have no choice’
Kate McCusker The Guardian (No paywall)Now that she is retired, Deborah Herring’s days are hers to fill – usually with leisurely walks, museums and trips to the theatre. But she still manages to spare a thought for her ex-colleagues at the private boarding school where she taught religious studies for 14 years. “In their nice, expensive Oxfordshire village, I think they’d be frankly horrified about my situation,” she says with a laugh.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/13/rise-older-rente…
# Hot topic Australia, .Renewed push for longer rentals
ABC (No paywall)There are renewed calls for Australian renters to have the option of longer leases as one way to increase certainty amid the housing crisis. Australian renters can negotiate lengthier tenancies but standard leases are six or 12 months, whereas some countries have decades-long tenure. And Queensland, WA, the NT and Tasmania are urged to catch up with the other states and ditch no-fault evictions.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/am/renewed-push-for-longe…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, .Property investors say they're 'boosting rental supply', but it can be a rhetorical trick
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)When property investors claim they're increasing the supply of rental housing, you always need to ask them to clarify that statement. Are their investments boosting the supply of rental housing by financing the construction of new rental dwellings, which is adding to the overall stock of residential properties? Or are their investments "boosting the supply of rental housing" because they're purchasing pre-existing owner-occupied properties and converting them into rentals, which reduces the supply of owner-occupied dwellings and does nothing to increase the overall supply of housing?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-16/property-investors-boosti…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Tasmanian renters wanting a pet just got new protections. Here's how to get approval
Meg Whitfield and Monty Jacka ABC (No paywall)Starting from early next year, landlords in Tasmania will not be able to stop renters from owning pets unless they have a "reasonable" rationale backed by an independent tribunal. The law change represents a big shift for Tasmania's rental landscape, where currently fewer than 20 per cent of advertised rentals say they will consider applicants with pets. Advocates say the updated laws, which passed parliament on Wednesday, will help families keep their beloved cats and dogs, while also reducing the number of animals being surrendered to struggling shelters.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-12/tasmanian-government-intr…
# Hot topic Australia, Pets, Rent.Grim warning about renting in Australia
Tarric Brooker news.com.au (No paywall)When the pandemic first arrived on Australia’s shores in early 2020, it came at a time of relative balance for the nation’s rental market. At a capital city level vacancy rates sat at a healthy 3.8 per cent, with annual rental price growth at a national level sitting at a little under 1.1 per cent. After a period of very strong rental price growth between 2005 and 2012, the remainder of the 2010s were defined by relatively low levels of rent rises. With the outbreak of the pandemic, a rollercoaster ride for the nation’s various rental markets would be triggered, which continues to this day.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/grim-…
# Hot topic Australia, .