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
Tenants in proposed Waterloo Park get relocation notices
Geoff Turnbull The South Sydney Herald (No paywall)Evelyn Morris is an 86-year-old Waterloo resident who has lived in Cooper Street for 27 years. She was an active tenant representative for many years until she lost mobility. On 26 March, she answered the door and received her six-month notice of relocation letter. Her home is where Council’s new park will be built, but only the 99 tenancies on the western side of the park received notices. Evelyn has lots of questions that are not answered in the relocation factsheet she was given or the general information provided about the redevelopment. She thinks others will have similar questions.
https://southsydneyherald.com.au/tenants-in-proposed-waterloo-pa…
# Hot topic NSW, .Major new Wollongong public housing development put on the fast track
Ben Langford Illawarra Mercury (No paywall)An artist’s impression of the Warrawong Parklands released on Monday, and a basic drawing of the designs for the public housing apartment buildings from the Homes NSW scoping report. Plans for a major new public housing development across the road from the newly announced Warrawong parklands have been put on the fast track by the NSW government. The 54-unit development would be built on Northcliff Dr in Warrawong, at the Margaret St corner opposite the Kully Bay sports ground.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/9208083/warrawong-54-u…
# NSW, .Albanese locks in plans to scrap investor tax breaks as way through housing crisis
Paul Sakkal The Age (Paywall)Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has marked out a contentious tax reform package to boost home ownership as a way to counter populism. He is also pledging to rebuild Australia’s fuel stocks and floating the prospect of caps on coal and gas prices if the war in Iran further spikes commodity prices. Albanese declared he would put housing affordability at the core of his agenda, giving the strongest indication to date that he plans to wind back the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing. Labor may also announce new supply measures to meet its target of building 1.2 million homes, which it is on track to miss.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-locks-in-pla…
# Hot topic Australia, .Standing Together for Public Housing
RAHU Renters and Housing Union ()In 2025 a campaign to protect public housing was formed in response to the Victorian state government’s plan to demolish all 44 of Melbourne’s high‑rise public housing towers. Seventeen speakers outlined their opposition to the government’s plan to demolish the towers. They called on the government to release detailed evaluations of the structural condition of all the towers. They argued that demolition should occur IF and ONLY IF it is demonstrated that the buildings are unsound and cannot be retrofitted at reasonable cost. If this is demonstrated, they agreed that replacement public housing should be built nearby or elsewhere on the estate FIRS
https://rahu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Standing-Together…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.Hard time for renters as landlords squeeze tight market
ABC (No paywall)Australian renters continue to have a hard time finding a home, despite vacancy rates slowly improving from post-COVID pandemic lows. Vacancy rates across Australian capital cities and the regions remain below 2 per cent, and competition for rentals is expected to remain strong, a report has found. While higher interest rates could slow investor activity in 2026, tight rental market conditions mean rental costs would continue to grow, the PropTrack Westpac Investor Report for 2026 found.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-26/hard-time-for-renters-as-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Footscray rental dubbed Melbourne’s ‘worst’ after listing sparks outrage online
Ainsley Koch and Sarah Keszler 7 News (No paywall)A West Footscray property listing has been slammed as potentially Melbourne’s worst rental. The listing, advertised by Raine & Horne, for what appears to be an older-style backyard fibro shed was advertised as a “charming yet cosy” one-bedroom unit for $220 a week. The property in Melbourne’s inner west was marketed as having bright features and modern fittings but social media users were quick to point out its glaring issues. “It looks like they made it out of every single different sheet of asbestos that they could find,” one person commented in an online video. “It looks like the whole house will set fire if I look at that piece of duct tape holding one of the cables together too hard.”
https://7news.com.au/news/footscray-rental-dubbed-melbournes-wor…
# Australia, Rent.‘I’ve been homeless and slept rough’: Adelaide renter’s warning on One Nation
Duncan Bainbridge InDaily (No paywall)I’m a renter in South Australia. I’ve lived with housing instability. I’ve been homeless and slept rough, so I know exactly what it means to stretch every dollar and still come up short. On paper, I’m exactly the kind of voter many commentators assume would drift toward One Nation. But I didn’t. That’s why much of the analysis following the South Australian election feels off the mark. Yes, the overall result was predictable: Labor returned to government and Peter Malinauskas remains premier. But another part of the outcome has drawn far more attention: the rise of One Nation and its support in working-class communities and outer suburbs. Many commentators are now asking how Australia should respond. From where I sit, the answer is straightforward: listen to ordinary people and implement policies that actually improve their lives.
https://www.indailysa.com.au/news/opinion/2026/03/24/ive-been-ho…
# Must read Australia, .Australia’s rooftop solar boom left apartment residents behind. Here’s how to fix it
Saman Gorji and Alireza Ganjovi The Conversation (No paywall)Most Australians now understand the basic promise of rooftop solar: lower power bills, cleaner electricity and, for some households, the option to charge an electric vehicle at home for far less than the cost of petrol. But that promise was built around a particular kind of housing – the detached house with a privately controlled roof, a private meter board and a driveway or garage where the owner can install whatever equipment they need. If you live in an apartment, unit or townhouse, the story is often very different. That’s becoming a national problem.
https://theconversation.com/australias-rooftop-solar-boom-left-a…
# Australia, Strata.