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
Australians tell ABC's Your Say they are struggling more than ever with housing costs
Ben Knight ABC (No paywall)Harry Jang is a 24-year-old ACT resident, who's hoping to buy his first home soon — a one or two-bedroom apartment. So, when the two major parties launched their big housing policies on the weekend, he was watching closely. "I think it's great. I think it provides a big spotlight and a real drive. It tells me that there is a focus on housing amidst all the economic concerns and cost of living," he said. "As to whether the policies will work — that's a different question."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-15/abc-your-say-federal-elec…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Half of all investment properties sold within two years of tenants living in them, AHURI study finds
Adelaide Miller and Emilia Terzon ABC (No paywall)Half of all investment properties are being resold within two years of tenants living in them, according to new data from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). The research, based on data from a large and long-running survey by the Melbourne Institute, shows people aged 25-34 years are more likely to buy a rental property compared to other age groups, but also more likely to sell quickly.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-16/new-rental-housing-data/1…
# Must read, Hot topic, Research alert Australia, .‘A time of great anxiety’: renters fear surge in no-grounds evictions before NSW ban comes into force
Daisy Dumas The Guardian (No paywall)Renters and advocates are worried there could be a surge in no-grounds evictions in New South Wales over the coming month as landlords act ahead of the law changing in mid-May. The Tenants’ Union of NSW says it’s a “real risk” and the Minns government has dropped the ball by not putting interim measures in place to protect renters. Luke Fennell and his family in 2023 faced a massive 40% increase in the rent of their Sydney home. Fennell knew challenging the rise was risky but fought for a 25% jump instead. Two months later, the engineer was served a no-grounds eviction notice.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/11/nsw-rente…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent.Explained: The laws that will prevent landlords from saying no to pets
Frances Howe The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)On Monday, NSW Premier Chris Minns announced that, from mid-May, landlords would not be able to reject a prospective tenant for having a pet without providing a valid reason. But, on Tuesday, his description of when landlords can and can’t reject tenants with pets left some confused. “If the landlord deems the property is not suitable for a pet, that’s a valid reason to reject the application, it’s just that you can’t put on the advertisement that no pets are allowed,” Minns told 2GB.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/explained-the-laws-that-will…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Rent.Greens’ Energy Policy Welcomed by Sydney Alliance – But More Needed to Ensure Renters Benefit
Sydney Alliance (No paywall)The Sydney Alliance welcomes the Australian Greens’ energy policy announcement today, which includes a significant expansion of funding for social housing energy upgrades and a new initiative to increase access to solar energy for renters. We hope this represents the beginning of a race to the top on long-term cost-of-living solutions that are good for people’s health and for the planet. All households—regardless of income or housing status—must have access to the benefits of the energy transition.
https://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/news-1/community-and-climate-w…
# NSW, Rent.Housing crisis deepens on the Coast
Coast Community News (No paywall)The Central Coast is facing a deepening housing crisis, with rising rental and mortgage stress, and a growing social housing shortfall, according to Everybody’s Home. Everybody’s Home is a national campaign launched in 2018 by a coalition of housing, homelessness and welfare organisations to achieve the change needed so everybody has a safe and decent place to live. It’s latest report says that while housing affordability is a national issue, the electorates of Robertson and Dobell are facing distinct housing challenges with people waiting over a decade for social housing, rents unaffordable across the electorate and rates of mortgage stress high.
https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2025/04/hou…
# Must read NSW, Rent.‘We are in a housing crisis’: Lismore residents accuse NSW government of demolishing homes that should be relocated
Jordyn Beazley The Guardian (No paywall)Seven months after the worst floods in Australia’s modern history lapped at the roof of Jenny’s* home, she moved back in. The sludge was mopped up, the electrics rewired and a new kitchen installed. The next year, in 2023, Jenny was offered the value of her home as part of the New South Wales government’s buyback scheme on Lismore’s flood plain. Aged in her early 70s, she took the deal after being assured her home would ultimately be relocated and someone else would make it their home. But now that home in northern NSW is set for demolition. It is one of 122 houses that will be or has already been torn down.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/13/we-are-in…
# Must read NSW, Disasters.Flood-damaged homes in Lismore demolished despite calls for relocation
Cath Adams and Hannah Ross ABC (No paywall)Janece Korn agreed to sell her house to the New South Wales government in the wake of Lismore's 2022 floods after being assured it would be made available to anyone willing to relocate it. She restored the 1940s bungalow in 2020 and again after the second storey was inundated in 2022. "I'm very emotionally attached to it," Ms Korn said. "I've got nine years of memories there."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-12/housing-demolitions-buyba…
# Must read NSW, Disasters, Rent.