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
Homeowners warned as council to crack down on growing blight amid push for AirBnB rule change
Nick Whigham Yahoo News (No paywall)Walking around the streets of Sydney, you might've noticed lock boxes sprouting up like mushrooms. It's an increasingly common sight, especially in areas popular with tourists. City of Sydney councillor Adam Worling wants to see that change. The council is currently examining how key lock boxes could be removed from public spaces, with homeowners offering short term rentals to be forced to find a more orderly system. "This came about because on my daily walk to the dog park I was horrified to notice that someone had screwed a lock box into one of the city trees," he told Yahoo Finance. "So that's what got the ball rolling".
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/homeowners-warned-as-council-t…
# NSW, .Social housing on the way at Woy Woy
Coast Community News (No paywall)Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers joined Central Coast MPs Emma McBride (Dobell) and Dr Gordon Reid (Robertson) recently to inspect the construction site of 21 new social and affordable homes being built at Woy Woy. The project is being funded through the Federal Government’s $10B Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), which was established in 2023 to finance the construction of new social and affordable homes across Australia. The delivery of the Woy Woy project is being undertaken by tier-one housing provider Pacific Link Housing, with construction by Skope Constructions.
https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2026/06/soc…
# NSW, Public and community housing.Rights on Paper, Eviction in Practice
Nancy Earl Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Vulnerable tenants are often expected to navigate housing problems at the very moment they are least able. At the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), vulnerable tenants may present with serious issues such as threatened eviction, rent arrears, access issues, hoarding, unauthorised occupants, failure to attend a hearing, and more. However, in practice, these issues are usually linked to a wide range of other factors, including disability, mental illness, trauma, hospitalisation, cognitive impairment, family violence, lack of support, sudden loss of capacity, and others. These underlying factors may not be apparent in the NCAT application itself. When this happens, the tenancy process continues through NCAT even if the tenant is unable to participate properly.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/rights-paper-eviction-practice
# NSW, Eviction, Rent, Tribunal NCAT.NSW State Budget 2026-27: Renters' bonds
Leo Patterson Ross Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)There are many aspects of the NSW State Budget we could talk about, but we want to draw your attention to just one thing. What is going on with renters bonds? Today we saw the release of the NSW State budget for 2026-27 and amongst the cost of living efforts, and revenue being down on expectation, there's also an elephant in the room that more people need to be talking about. The NSW Government is choosing to forego up to $200 million a year in revenue that wouldn't cost government or the community a thing: the interest on renters bonds.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/nsw-state-budget-2026-27-renters…
# Hot topic NSW, Bond.The rental hurdle that’s stopping young adults from moving out
Lucy Slade Australian Financial Review (Paywall)Amelie Hansen, 19, is studying law and business in Sydney while employed as a disability support worker. Despite earning a reasonable income from her part-time job, she says she cannot move out of her mum’s home. “I don’t have a single friend who is renting, and anyone who is going to college, their parents are fully funding it,” Hansen tells The Australian Financial Review.
https://www.afr.com/property/residential/the-rental-hurdle-that-…
# NSW, Rent.Staying home in Warren Rd Marrickville
Zuzia Buszewics Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)In a press release from September 2025 announcing the adoption of the Fairer Future Plan, Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne said that the Council was “taking decisive action to make sure the next generation of Inner West citizens have homes to live in”, and “stop the exodus of young people and essential workers from the Inner West and make sure that in the decades to come our children and grandchildren can have a home in the community they love”. Around the same time, Development Application notices appeared at the gates to 50-52 Warren Rd in Marrickville.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/staying-home-marrickville-warren…
# NSW, Eviction, Rent.Developer gets green-light to turn Sydney boarding house into luxury homes after tenants rehoused
Phoebe Pin ABC (No paywall)A rundown boarding house which was once a haven for vulnerable people in inner Sydney is set to be converted into luxury apartments after a lengthy legal fight. Private developer LFD Homes has been granted approval on appeal to transform the 32-bedroom Selwyn Street site in the leafy suburb of Paddington into four luxury homes. It is the latest update in a long-running legal battle between the developer and the City of Sydney, which in 2023 rejected the proposal due to concerns about the loss of affordable housing stock in the area.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-25/luxury-apartment-approved…
# Must read NSW, Rent.South Africa is short of 2.6 million homes: Vienna’s approach to social housing offers useful lessons
Andreas Scheba and Judith Lehner The Conversation (No paywall)South Africa faces a housing backlog of at least 2.6 million units, for more than 12 million people. The state supply of new, subsidised housing has declined over the past decade and the government’s housing policy is shifting. It sees the private sector as becoming the main provider of “affordable housing”. The market, according to the Banking Association of South Africa, is households earning up to R34,400 gross per month (US$2,111). Yet most residents in South African cities earn far less than that. (The national median household income in 2023 was R7,980 or US$490.) Much more affordable accommodation is therefore needed.
https://theconversation.com/south-africa-is-short-of-2-6-million…
# International, Public and community housing.