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
Planning official used husband’s AI tool to fast-track hundreds of Sydney housing proposals
Alexandra Smith and Max Maddison The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Hundreds of major developments fast-tracked by the NSW government’s flagship Housing Delivery Authority will be independently reviewed after the planning official in charge of the agency was stood down for using an unauthorised AI tool to assess the proposals. Aoife Wynter, the executive director of panels and housing delivery in the HDA and long-time planning official, has been placed on forced leave after it emerged she allowed AI software developed by her husband to be used on assessments.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/planning-official-used-husba…
# NSW, .One man's experience with homelessness reveals another side to Sydney's 2000 postcode
Briane Fiore ABC (No paywall)Parker once lived in postcode 2000, but not in a high-rise with Sydney Harbour views. The 21-year-old spent many nights on a bench in Hyde Park with hard timber digging into his back. Here, skaters dance around bin chickens and a musty scent rises from the damp earth and decaying leaves. He puffs on a vape, concealing his face from police on patrol. "[That] made my heart drop a little bit," he says, recognising an undercover officer who once caught him stealing food. "Chicken, mushrooms and a curry packet … I was trying to make a katsu."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-30/nsw-sydney-parker-homeles…
# Must read NSW, .The unequal costs that created a divided Sydney
The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)It will astonish few people that the Great Sydney divide creates unequal opportunities, but new research captures the weight of the burden carried by western Sydney residents. Data from the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research shows the economic divides remain as stark as ever with wealth, not geography, the new legend to the map of Sydneysiders’ daily lives.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-unequal-costs-that-creat…
# NSW, .'Tenants face displacement': 37 affordable housing units at Caringbah could go
Murray Trembath The Leader (Paywall)All the apartments in a five-storey block at 130 Willarong Road were designated affordable housing when development consent was given in 2017. Building bonuses were given because 50 per cent of the two-building development at 128-130 Willarong Road was to be affordable housing. However, in August this year, a new development application (DA) was lodged, seeking to remove the affordable housing restriction by retrospectively applying the new Low and Mid Rise Housing Policy, which automatically allows five-storey buildings within 400 metres of town centres and stations.
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/9125531/caringbah-housing-pro…
# NSW, .New stats same story: Lismore & NRs is unaffordable to rent
Simon Mumford The Lismore App (No paywall)This week's release of the annual Rental Affordability Index (RAI) report, proves that nothing has changed in the last twelve months. It is still unaffordable for the average wage earner to rent a house in Lismore and the coastal areas of the Northern Rivers. We all know how expensive Byron Bay real estate is, but now it is one of the most unaffordable locations in the entire country. That mantle normally sits with Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, such as Vaucluse, or Melbourne's inner eastern suburbs, like Toorak.
https://lismoreapp.com.au/NewsStory/new-stats-same-story-lismore…
# NSW, .Changes to rental laws
NSW Government (No paywall)From 1 July 2025, NSW Fair Trading started collecting information about reasons a tenancy has ended through Rental Bonds Online. The mandatory survey helps NSW Fair Trading understand how and why tenancies are ending. The survey asks who ended the tenancy and how. If the landlord ended a tenancy, they must also answer questions about the reason for ending it. Landlords and agents have 14 days from the initial bond claim to complete the survey. NSW Fair Trading can serve a penalty notice for non-compliance. From 2 March 2026, landlords and agents will be required to allow their tenant to pay rent by Centrepay. Only certain tenants are eligible for Centrepay.
https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/fair-trading/new…
# Hot topic NSW, .The UK and Aus ‘inspire’ each other on housing failure. Both need to remember public housing works
Tim Williams The Fifth Estate (No paywall)I have attempted to explain, in these pages and elsewhere, that we need to understand that the housing crisis is international. It is not confined to Australia or New South Wales, though, from the hysteria of NSW property lobbyists, you would assume that the problem is caused by public sector and particularly local government barriers to development in this state. I’ve urged them and the naïve politicians who have been listening to them to get out more. That is, to understand that no G20 country has delivered its housing targets in the past five years, which can hardly be blamed on the NSW planning system or Randwick Council.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/the-uk-and-aus-in…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.International students desperate for a bed being pushed into informal housing
Miriah Davis ABC (No paywall)When Adriana moved from Brazil to Australia three years ago she was sold: a world-class education, nice weather, good pay and a prosperous life. Adriana is among the more than 315,000 international students living in NSW to undertake vocational or tertiary study. But since arriving she has been unable to secure purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) due to high costs and overwhelming waiting lists, and has also been rejected for more than 50 private rentals. Her situation pushed her towards ShareSorted, one of four major furnished accommodation providers which operate within a housing "grey area" using a head tenant model where renters sign occupancy agreements.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-01/-international-students-t…
# Must read Australia, Rent.