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
How the Greens rebranded from environmental activists to the 'party of renters'
Isobel Roe ABC (No paywall)In Adam Bandt's maiden speech to parliament in 2010, neither housing nor renters rated a mention. The Greens leader, then-newly minted Member for Melbourne, focused predictably on the threat of inaction on climate change, calling on the parliament to "urgently master our relationship with the natural world." Fast forward 15 years to last week, where Mr Bandt fronted cameras in Brisbane wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words: "FIGHTING FOR RENTERS". When asked by the ABC to list his top priorities ahead of last night's launch, the Greens leader placed the rental crisis at number one, followed by adding dental to Medicare, then universal childcare, ending native logging, and lastly, action on climate change.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-01/greens-party-rebrands-ahe…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.As Australia votes, a housing affordability crisis is top of voters’ minds
Wing Kuang Al Jazeera (No paywall)When Mary votes in Australia’s national elections on Saturday, the country’s chronic shortage of affordable housing will be at the top of her mind. For two years, the 59-year-old former postal worker has been staying in short-term accommodations in regional New South Wales along with her daughter and her dog. Mary receives income from fortnightly unemployment assistance of 836.50 Australian dollars ($540.54) and seasonal hospitality and retail jobs, but she cannot afford the median rent on a house or apartment of 560 dollars (US$360) a week. Mary, who asked to be referred to by her first name, tried applying for social housing but was told the waiting list was “very, very long”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/1/as-australia-votes-a-hou…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, Rent.Renting in Victoria: 2024 Snapshot
Commissioner for Residential Tenancies Victoria (No paywall)This Snapshot aims to improve general knowledge about renting in Victoria and to correct some of the misconceptions that exist about the scale and nature of renting. This edition is the fourth annual publication. The Snapshot provides summary data, utilising available data sets from: the Australian Census; Residential Tenancies Bond Authority; Consumer Affairs Victoria; Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal welfare agencies, and community legal services including Tenants Victoria.
https://www.rentingcommissioner.vic.gov.au/the-rental-sector/res…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, .Australia’s Housing Crisis Needs More Than a Renovation
Andreea Papuc Bloomberg (Paywall)Perhaps no other movie depicts the Australian Dream of owning a home more than the 1997 classic comedy The Castle, in which the Kerrigan family takes on developers to save their house. Fast-forward 28 years and nobody is laughing. For the first time, Millennial and Gen Z voters will outnumber those aged over 60 at polling stations on Saturday. Housing is a — if not the — top concern in this federal election. Most are resigned to never being able to get into one of the world’s most unaffordable markets. Policies put forward by the two major parties are unlikely to make things better.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-04-29/australia-…
# Australia, .‘My biggest mistake’: One decision lands this renter in difficult situation
Orana Durney-Benson Domain (No paywall)A Victorian renter who paid 12 months of rent in advance is now in a difficult situation after their landlord had a change of heart. “Before signing a lease we asked if the landlord has any intentions selling the property, they confirmed they did not,” the renter wrote in an anonymous Facebook post. The tenant claims four months into the lease, the landlord told them they wished to sell the property. “We explained respectfully that we couldn’t remain as tenants during the sales process,” the renter wrote.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/my-biggest-mistake-one-decision-l…
# Hot topic Australia, Starting a tenancy, You want to leave.“This house is killing me slowly”: Stink over delayed repairs
Ally Hall The Western Weekender (No paywall)“I’m not even classed as a number anymore,” is what single mum Billie-Jo Baker told the Weekender after months of struggle in public housing in Kingswood. The trouble began at the end of last year when a rotten smell began rising from the drains of her second-storey bathroom. Homes NSW sent plumbers to the residence, and they found the stench was caused by a lack of water flow. “They gave the diagnosis saying that they had to drop the piping down so that the water can flow out and not sit in the pipes,” Baker said. “They explained that all the hair and gunk doesn’t wash off, it sits there, and that’s what’s causing the smell coming up through the drains.
https://westernweekender.com.au/2025/04/this-house-is-killing-me…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, Rent, Repairs.Growth in luxury rental prices in Melbourne and Sydney among the highest in the world
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)In what will be considered excellent news for many Australian investors, the growth in rents for luxury homes in Melbourne and Sydney has been named in the top five globally. Rents rose by 5.5 per cent in Melbourne over last year, according to the latest research from international real estate firm Knight Frank and its Prime Global Rental Index Q4 2024, and by 4.7 per cent in Sydney. Melbourne was bested only by Tokyo’s 6 per cent, while Sydney was also a runner-up to Zurich’s 5.5 per cent and Monaco’s 4.5 per cent. These dwarfed the average luxury rental growth of 2.2 per cent over 2024 for the basket of 16 cities.
https://www.domain.com.au/advice/growth-in-luxury-rental-prices-…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.City of Newcastle strengthens commitment to boost supply of affordable housing
City of Newcastle (No paywall)City of Newcastle's Affordable Housing Contribution Scheme reached a major milestone after Councillors endorsed a planning proposal at last night's Ordinary Council Meeting to bring it into effect.
The scheme sets out how contributions towards affordable housing will be collected from new developments. Executive Director of Planning and Environment, Michelle Bisson, said the scheme showed that City of Newcastle was not just talking about the need for more affordable housing, but acting to achieve it. "The Affordable Housing Contribution Scheme has been developed through extensive consultation and analysis to ensure that it is does not impact on development feasibility and overall housing supply," Ms Bisson said.
https://newcastle.nsw.gov.au/about-us/news-and-updates/latest-ne…
# Hot topic NSW, .