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
‘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.Tenancy laws are changing in NSW
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)After many years of campaigning, the changes in the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2024 represent a significant improvement for NSW renters. The Act ends 'no grounds' evictions, makes it a little easier to have pets in your home, caps rent increases at once yearly for most agreements, and improves rental payment rules. However, the Act passing does not mean that all the changes have come into effect. The changes that have already come into effect are: a cap on rent increases to once in a 12 month period (for most agreements); a ban on asking you to pay for a background check when applying for a rental property; the NSW Rental Commissioner will sit on the Rental Bond Board; toilets must be dual flush to meet water efficiency standards.
# Must read, Legal significance NSW, Eviction, Rent.Pet-owning renters won the battle, but might landlords win the war?
Jimmy Thomson The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Fears that apartment blocks could be overrun by animals were given another (probably irrational) tweak this week with the announcement that the NSW government is rolling out new laws that prevent landlords from imposing blanket bans on pets. Given that more than 50 per cent of unit block residents are renters, and owners corporations (bodies corporate) long ago lost their ability to impose unreasonable restrictions on companion animals, we can expect to see a few more fur-babies in the hallways and lifts of apartment blocks.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/pet-owning-renters-won-the-b…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.