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
Clause that would have prevented landlords ending lease dropped from Queensland rental reforms
Jessica Marszalek and Domanii Cameron (Paywall)A clause that would have prohibited Queensland landlords from ending a lease has been dropped in major rental reforms to be introduced in parliament today. See what the changes mean for you. Landlords will be able to end a lease at the end of its term without reason and retain rights to refuse pets in redrawn rental reforms that signify a major back down to the industry. (Courier Mail) You can read about this on the Queensland Government's website at: [https://www.rta.qld.gov.au/about-us/legislation/rental-law-reform-proposals]
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/clause-that-would…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent, State Government.Renters deserve warm homes in winter
Riley Brooke Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Like many Sydneysiders who rent, I live in an apartment that, in winter, is perpetually flippin’ freezing. My apartment is one of five in a subdivided former townhouse, and the bathroom and storage room of my apartment are an add-on to the back of the property, outside of the property’s original brick walls. You can actually see to the outside through the crack between the brick wall back of the original house and the walls of the added section. The door to the added section has a large gap underneath, and doesn’t close properly. This all means there is very little stopping the cold from getting in, and very little keeping any heating I put on inside the building – so it’s freezing!
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/renters-deserve-warm-homes-winte…
# Must read NSW, Rent, Minimum habitability standards.Proposed changes to leasing and tenancy agreements for renters met with mixed reactions
Emilie Gramez ABC (No paywall)Proposed changes to residential tenancies legislation before the Queensland Parliament have met with a mixed reaction — fair and balanced according to the real estate lobby, but a "disappointment" according to those who represent tenants. The draft laws amend the grounds for ending tenancies, make it easier for renters to keep pets, and establishes minimum standards for rental properties. They also ensure people fleeing domestic and family violence are able to end a lease with seven days' notice. ... Tenants Queensland spokeswoman Penny Carr said the changes for pets and the family violence provisions were welcome, but the overall outcomes would not be good for tenants. "The government has very much watered down the most important platform that would help struggling renters out there across the state — helping to protect them from unreasonable and arbitrary termination of tenancies," Ms Carr said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-19/qld-rentals-renting-lease…
# Australia, Domestic violence, Rent, Minimum habitability standards, No-grounds evictions, State Government.How Airbnb and Uber use activist tactics that disguise their corporate lobbying as grassroots campaigns
Luke Yates The Conversation (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Recent practices among digital economy businesses such as Uber and Airbnb illustrate that numerous activities that run contrary to the Transparency International guidelines for ethical lobbying can take place without breaching any of the existing UK rules. ... [These] digital platforms have been cultivating corporate “grassroots lobbying” initiatives in which they resource and mobilise their users to lobby for deregulation or to block proposals or sanctions from government. They do this by using civil-society practices such as online petitions addressed to politicians, one-on-one meetings with representatives, protests and partnerships with existing civil society groups. You will find Luke Yates's report entitled: 'The Airbnb 'Movement' for deregulation: How platform-sponsored grassroots lobbying is changing politics' at: [https://research.ethicalconsumer.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Yates%202021%20-%20The%20Airbnb%20Movement%20for%20Deregulation%20report.pdf]
https://theconversation.com/how-airbnb-and-uber-use-activist-tac…
# International, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Siriusly Sydney? What a way to mark the anniversary of one of people power’s great triumphs
Helen Pitt The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Sydney ... sometimes you sicken me. On the very day that marks the 50th anniversary of the world’s first green ban in 1971 to save Kellys Bush – a precious remaining tract of bushland west of the Harbour Bridge – we awoke to news that would have horrified Jack Mundey and his union comrades. Three years after the last of the Sirius building’s housing commission residents were moved out, its new penthouse level apartment has been sold for $35 million.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/siriusly-sydney-…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Heritage listings, State Government.Stamp duty tax adds an unexpected extra billion to NSW budget
Ashleigh Raper ABC (No paywall)Sydney's booming property market has resulted in the state government collecting $1 billion more than expected in stamp duty revenue. ... But the better than expected result in 2020-21 hasn't changed the Treasurer's mind that stamp duty should be scrapped. "While stamp duty might be the number one revenue source the New South Wales budget receives," Mr Perrottet said. "It doesn't make it good tax."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-20/stamp-duty-adds-9-379-bil…
# NSW, Housing market, State Government, Tax.Watchdog investigates concerns tenants are being hit with fees to pay rent
Henrietta Cook The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Victoria’s consumer watchdog is investigating complaints that real estate agents are forcing tenants to fork out extra fees to pay their rent. An increasing number of real estate agents have outsourced the processing of rental payments to third-party companies, and tenants are charged a fee to use these services.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/watchdog-investigates-c…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.Australian nightmare looms even as Frydenberg prepares his election pitch
Peter Hartcher The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)This is a generational betrayal. Every Australian in my generation or older who thinks he or she is a brilliant investor because of fat housing price profits is simply a participant in the betrayal of the next generation. Why? Home ownership is now out of reach for Australians under the age of 35, according to a new report from the University of NSW City Futures Research Centre. Seventy per cent of all housing wealth in Australia is now concentrated in the hands of the over 65s. ... So if you were aged 21 to 35, and earning the national average income for people in your age group – $58,635 a year – the price of a Sydney house was rising every day by an amount equal to one week’s wages. The message to average Australians is to despair of being able to do what your parents very likely did – buy a home. What a brilliant national achievement. We’ve priced the next generation out of the ability to buy a home. We have only 26 million people inhabiting an entire continent but cannot supply affordable housing in our major cities. ... Australian inequality will never be as bad as America’s. Not so long as we have policies like Medicare, the NDIS, and a compulsory superannuation levy. But if wages continue to stagnate while asset prices soar, inequality will tear at the social fabric.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-nightmare-looms-even-…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.