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
Picking tenants on 'vibes': How estate agents can exploit personal data
Annika Burgess ABC (No paywall)Applying for a rental property in Australia has been compared to the invasiveness of obtaining a government security clearance. Renters have reported being asked about their lifestyle, personal relationships, and even if they had prominent tattoos. Digital rights and tenant advocacy groups have raised concerns about how that information is stored and potentially used to make discriminatory decisions. New privacy laws and application standards are being rolled out this year across some states and territories. Will they be enough to rein in a rental market experts say had become a "free for all"?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-16/rental-market-application…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media Australia, Security and safety, Starting a tenancy.Daniel achieved the Great Australian Dream. Then he found something better
Caroline Zielinski The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)When Australian home owner Daniel Emery moved to Germany to be with his girlfriend Sarah three years ago, he returned to renting. The 32-year-old software engineer once rented in Adelaide, but he was struck by the freedom afforded to Germany’s tenants and their open-ended rental contracts. “You can usually paint the apartment as you like – with the understanding you will return it to its original state when you leave – and there is usually no defined contract end, just a notice period either party needs to give before looking to terminate the contract,” he says.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/daniel-achieved-the-great-a…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.RBA's interest rate cut will affect renters, but not in the way you might think
Madeleine Wedesweiler SBS (No paywall)The Reserve of Australia's (RBA) cash rate cut will give mortgage holders repayment relief — but its impact on renters is more difficult to ascertain, economists say. The central bank's board cut the official cash rate on Tuesday by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.10 per cent. It is the RBA's first rate cut since 2020, and follows softer-than-expected December quarter consumer price index figures that brought annual underlying inflation close to the RBA's target band of 2-3 per cent. For an average owner-occupier with a $600,000 loan, that cut translates to a $92 reduction in their minimum monthly repayments.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/an-interest-rate-cut-would-a…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent.‘Poverty is not a crime’: outrage after California city passes law targeting homeless encampments
Dani Anguiano The Guardian (No paywall)A northern California city passed a law targeting unhoused people that will ban camping on public property and make “permitting, aiding, [or] abetting” encampments illegal – a provision that has caused worry among non-profits and advocates. The city council in Fremont, California, adopted the sweeping new ordinance – which has been described as one of the strictest in the state – on Tuesday with Fremont’s mayor arguing such action was necessary to ensure residents’ health and safety in the Bay Area community of 226,000. (Thank you Matt Bullen for shining a light on this article for us!)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/12/fremont-californ…
# Must read International, Security and safety.WA government's new build-to-rent incentives aim to boost rental housing stock
Phoebe Pin ABC (No paywall)Anyone who has lined up for a home open in recent years would attest to how difficult it can be to secure a rental in Western Australia. Now, WA Labor has promised to implement a scheme to encourage big developers to invest in build-to-rent projects if re-elected. The state government says the plan will help grow the Perth rental market, with the city last year crowned the least affordable for renters in the country. But just how much of a difference will build-to-rent incentives really make?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-18/build-to-rent-scheme-west…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Australian houses are getting larger. For a more sustainable future, our houses can’t be the space for everything
Bhavna Middha and Nicola Willand The Conversation (No paywall)The average Australian household size has decreased from 4.5 people per household in 1911 to 2.5 people in 2024. At the same time, the average house size has increased, from 100 square metres in the 1950s to 236m² in 2020. The average living space in Australian households is now 84m² per person. The way we live in our homes – our habits and daily routines – is also growing and changing with our housing, and the way we want to live can shape the size of our homes. For a more sustainable future, we need to embrace living in smaller spaces.
https://theconversation.com/australian-houses-are-getting-larger…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Renters feel little relief after rate cut
Nick Grimm ABC (No paywall)
As she delivered the nation's first interest rate cut in more than years, the Reserve Bank governor was making it clear that Australians shouldn't necessarily expect another one, anytime soon. Michelle Bullock wants to remind households that the pain of the cost-of-living crisis isn't over yet. That's especially true for renters and anyone else struggling to stay ahead of prices and other costs that continue to rise, despite inflation easing.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/worldtoday/renters-feel-l…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, .Barcelona counters the effects of over-tourism – Municipality buys apartment block to prevent eviction of tenants
Proto Thema (No paywall)The municipality of Barcelona will buy an apartment building known as “Casa Orsola” to prevent the eviction of many tenants living in it, including a teacher whose threatened eviction has become a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis and months of movements against hypertourism. Josep Torrent, 49, who has lived in the same apartment in this condo for more than 20 years, was among the tenants who were told their contracts would not be renewed after the investment firm Lioness Investments bought the Art Nouveau Casa Orsola building in 2020. The company planned to start letting the apartments for short-term
https://en.protothema.gr/2025/02/07/barcelona-counters-the-effec…
# Hot topic International, Eviction.