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 bad is Sydney’s housing crisis? It’s an early sign of economic decline
Robert Pradolin The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The housing affordability issue isn’t just about intergenerational inequity: it is a warning sign of a brewing economic and social catastrophe. If we don’t fix the current crisis, it will affect us all. Research by University of Washington associate professor Gregg Colburn has demonstrated that housing market conditions – not individual circumstances, drug use, or mental illness – are the primary drivers of homelessness rates. Colburn, the author of Homelessness is a Housing Problem, has shown that the very conditions that plague Sydney – expensive housing markets and low vacancy rates – are the predictors of future homelessness crises.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/how-bad-is-sydney-s-…
# Hot topic NSW, .The renters caught in Byron Bay region’s housing crisis: ‘I feel like there’s a fire under my arse’
Royce Kurmelovs The Guardian (No paywall)Bessminda Groves is moving soon. Ever since she learned six months ago that she was likely to have to leave her current place, she has spent every day searching for somewhere new to live in Byron shire’s competitive rental market. “This is just part of what you have to do,” Groves says. “I know how long it takes to get into another space. When having to look, I really feel like there’s a fire under my arse.” According to the 2024 rental affordability index produced by National Shelter and SGS Economics and Planning, Byron Bay is one of the least affordable places to rent in the country, and surrounding towns across the shire on the New South Wales north coast are not much better.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/21/byron-bay…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Fifty rental homes to be built by 2026 for flood-affected residents
Mitchell Craig Ballina Times (No paywall)Plans for 50 build-to-rent apartments near Southern Cross University in East Lismore have been approved by the Northern Regional Planning Panel, marking progress on the Minns Government’s $30 million election commitment to address the Northern Rivers housing crisis. Lismore MP Janelle Saffin welcomed the project as a step towards filling gaps in the local housing market.“ The build-to-rent project at East Lismore is a welcome investment by the NSW Government to provide secure and affordable rental options for the Lismore community,” she said.“ Landcom’s build-to-rent project will help to fill gaps in the housing market, where there is a need for a greater mix of housing, with more smaller homes and housing suited to smaller households.“
https://timesnewsgroup.com.au/ballinatimes/news/fifty-rental-hom…
# Hot topic NSW, .Rental Pain still Acute in Lismore
Samantha Ellen Northern Rivers Times (No paywall)Lismore has made it into the top 5 of the Rental Pain index for September 2024 in New South Wales. And Mark Ezzat, his wife, Caroline, and their little boy, Andy, who is 2.5 years old, are the faces of the pain many renters who are moving to Lismore, are feeling when it comes to finding accomodation. “I am facing a big problem,” said Mark. “Before moving to Lismore, we were living in Tamworth and now we are currently living in a motel while we look for somewhere to live.”
https://thenorthernriverstimes.com.au/rental-pain-still-acute-in…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Dutton throws stones, but he and Albo both live in multimillion-dollar glass houses
Sean Johnson and Anton Nilsson Crikey (No paywall)Is Peter Dutton in any position to have a dig at the prime minister for his new $4.3 million clifftop house given the opposition leader’s extensive property investments over the years? After Anthony Albanese drew a sketch of Dutton on Nova 93.7 last year that looked a lot like a potato, the opposition leader returned fire when he appeared on the station this week and drew a picture of a clifftop house, with a message beside it wishing Albo a happy (and imminent?) retirement. The prime minister’s decision last October to buy a beach house in Copacabana with his fiancé Jodie was tin-eared given the housing crisis, but it was probably impolitic of Dutton to join the pile-on given how many properties he’s owned and profited from in the past.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/01/31/peter-dutton-anthony-albane…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, .Australia is in a youth homelessness 'crisis'. These are the most affected areas
SBS (No paywall)Tyrah Chan-Hampton experienced housing insecurity throughout her youth, but it took her a long time to identify with the word 'homeless'. She entered the care sector when she was 11 and was placed in kinship care with her aunt. They experienced homelessness, lived in a refuge, and then with extended family, where she shared a bed with her sister and cousin. She said she had often felt embarrassed due to the stigma attached to homelessness and housing insecurity. "I struggled a lot with shame for a long time ... it still sometimes stings just to say it," she said.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australias-youth-homelessnes…
# Hot topic Australia, .Tenancy rights tested in Tasmania after social housing provider changes locks with cat inside
Adam Holmes ABC (No paywall)Lorraine Jordan had lived in a social housing property with her son for seven years, but when he moved out, everything quickly changed. She had turned the three-bedroom house in Launceston into a comfortable home, keeping it well-maintained and adorning it with sentimental items, family heirlooms and photos of her children. Her son was the original tenant, but Ms Jordan's disability support pension (DSP) had been factored into the overall rent payment, she had been listed as an "approved occupant" in 2017, and she did not want to move out.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-02/social-housing-tasmania-d…
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.VIDEO: Tasmanian social housing tenant scores Supreme Court win
ABC (No paywall)The court case came down to the definition of 'tenant', and could grant greater rights for thousands of people living in social housing across Tasmania.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-02/tasmanian-social-housing-…
# Video Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.