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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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.

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Archive

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Key topics

VIDEO: Greens MP warns 'political class' is set for reckoning with 'screwed over' renters

National Press Club | ABC
The Guardian (No paywall)

VIDEO: Speaking about the rental crisis at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather described himself as 'one of the only renters in parliament'. He said his generation has been told it will be 'thrown to the wolves' when it comes to tax handouts and adjusting housing policies. 'This is such a serious crisis and all we are doing is tinkering around the edges,' Chandler-Mather said, after explaining it would cost 20 times the average wage to buy a home in Marrickville in Sydney's inner west. 'I know that the prime minster was able to buy a home in Marrickville for $146,000, about five times the average wage,' he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2024/mar/06/gre…

# Hot topic, Video Australia, .
 

Greens will call on federal government to develop property and sell it for cheap

Tom Crowley
ABC (No paywall)

The Greens want the federal government to enter the property development game as part of a new housing policy to be unveiled on Wednesday afternoon. The party's housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, will use a National Press Club address to call for the government to develop 360,000 homes in the next five years. Distinct from social housing, these homes would be available for the wider public to buy and rent at discounted prices. Mr Chandler-Mather will tell the National Press Club the proposal would save participating renters an average of $5,200 a year, and participating homebuyers $260,000 on the price of their home. Speaking to the ABC ahead of his address, Mr Chandler-Mather blamed private property developers for the housing crisis.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-06/greens-call-for-governmen…

# Hot topic, Legal significance Australia, Public and community housing.
 

Melbourne tenant faces $100-$150 a week rent rise if she stays while suffering chronic health issues

Sarah Petty
realestate.com.au (No paywall)

Macleod tenant Taylor said she was “terrified” of finding a new rental as their lease was coming to an end at the same time she was dealing with chronic health issues. Her current landlord of three years has advised that their weekly rent would rise by $100-$150 a week if they were to sign on for another year. The 28-year-old mum said this was “a ridiculous amount” especially after only ever being required to pay an extra $10 a week with each year they leased the home. This would put a further strain on their family as two years ago, Taylor had to stop working when she became pregnant as she suffered a myriad of issues including hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition that causes severe vomiting and nausea.

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/melbourne-tenant-faces-100150…

# Australia, Eviction, Rent.
 

Airbnb bans hosts from using indoor security cameras in rentals

Associated Press
The Guardian (No paywall)

Airbnb said on Monday that it’s banning the use of indoor security cameras in rentals around the world by the end of next month. The San Francisco-based online rental platform said it is seeking to “simplify” its security-camera policy while prioritizing privacy. The change will take effect 30 April. “These changes were made in consultation with our guests, hosts and privacy experts, and we’ll continue to seek feedback to help ensure our policies work for our global community,” Juniper Downs, Airbnb’s head of community policy and partnerships, said in a prepared statement.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/11/airbnb-ban-in…

# Hot topic Australia, Privacy and access, Security and safety.
 

'Once-in-lifetime housing crisis' engulfing Vic

Melissa Meehan
Canberra Times (No paywall)

A program designed to provide homes to rough sleepers in Victoria during the COVID-19 pandemic will be rolled back despite a "once-in-a-lifetime housing crisis". The From Homelessness to a Home (H2H) program was funded as an emergency management response during the pandemic and Melbourne's rolling lockdowns. It helped 1845 people who were staying in emergency hotels find stable, medium and long-term housing, and supported them to establish and sustain their new homes.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8551229/once-in-lifetime-…

# Hot topic Australia, Rent.
 

A leading economist has come up with a radical plan to end Australia’s housing woes once and for all

Shannon Molloy
news.com.au (No paywall)

A leading economist has proposed a bold plan to finally solve Australia’s housing woes – and a country nearby has done something similar with great success. Cameron Murray, chief economist at Fresh Economic Thinking and author of the new book The Great Housing Hijack, said the model doesn’t need to be at the expense of the private market. “Homeownership insulates you from rental market cycles, because if rents go up by 30 per cent but you’re in your own home, you’re free,” Dr Murray said. “The way I see it, we’ve got a third of Australians in private rentals, but if that was reduced to 10 per cent, then the cost of market increases would be reduced by two-thirds.”

https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/a-leading-eco…

# Hot topic Australia, Rent.
 

TAS Labor: It’s time for a better future for renters

Labor Tasmania
(No paywall)

Labor’s top priority is taking urgent action on the cost of living – and that includes urgent action on housing. A Rebecca White Labor Government will give Tasmanian renters a better future by implementing a range of measures to help them make their house a home, and help with the cost-of-living crisis. To ensure a better future for renters, a Labor government would let renters make a house a home. We will allow renters to hang pictures, plant veggie gardens, affix furniture to the walls for [safety](https://www.mamamia.com.au/bolt-it-back-for-reef/), and put in child safety gates and mobility aids. We will also allow renters to have pets, and make clear that assistance animals are always allowed in rental homes.

https://taslabor.org.au/news/media-releases/it-s-time-for-a-bett…

# Legal significance Australia, Rent.
 

Think short-stay rentals like Airbnb are out of control? Numbers are down, especially in our biggest cities

Zhenpeng (Frank) Zou & Thomas Sigler
The Conversation (No paywall)

Further restrictions on short-term rental properties listed on platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz are on the table in Australia. Public pressure to ease the housing crisis is mounting. This makes quick-fix solutions to make housing more affordable increasingly attractive to governments. But any policy should be evidence-based. So what can we learn from the latest data on short-term rentals? The findings of our analysis might surprise you.

https://theconversation.com/think-short-stay-rentals-like-airbnb…

# Hot topic, Legal significance, Research alert Australia, .
 

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