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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Sunshine and Gold Coast properties have boomed since 2020, now they're leading the real estate downturn
Owen Jacques and Olivia Mason ABC (No paywall)It's a long way from a bust, but the booming property prices in Queensland’s two biggest regional centres are clearly cooling, with values now falling faster than almost anywhere else in the state. The Sunshine and Gold Coasts in the state's south-east became a safe harbour for interstate migrants looking to flee the heavy COVID restrictions in New South Wales and Victoria throughout the pandemic. The rush of new arrivals and subsequent demand for homes meant property prices surged consistently until earlier this year. In the two regions – which sit north and south of Brisbane – property prices are still more than 40 per cent above what they were before the pandemic.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-06/gold-sunshine-coast-prope…
# Australia, Housing market.A real estate agent data breach would be devastating for renters. They collect too much personal information
Samantha Floreani The Guardian (No paywall)Thanks to Optus, millions of people are now acutely aware of what can happen when companies don’t take privacy and security seriously. But telcos aren’t alone in collecting and storing too much of our personal information. The real estate industry is often overlooked in conversations about data security, but it is one of the most invasive, with potentially devastating consequences for renters across the country. Also, check out 'Real estate agents keep as much privacy data as Optus - Should you be concerned?' on ABC Breakfast at: [https://www.abc.net.au/sydney/programs/mornings/floreani/101499272]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/04/telcos-are…
# Audio Australia, Privacy and access, Rent, Landlords and agents.Spring is well and truly here
Housing For The Aged Action Group (No paywall)Spring is well and truly here and we are back with another edition of Older Tenants Voice, launching our Victorian Election Platform, a packed line-up of events for Seniors Festival, along with all the usual news and reviews from the team at HAAG.
https://mailchi.mp/34c9b89706d1/older-tenants-voice-summer-editi…
# Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Campaigns and law reform, Homelessness, LGBTIQ+, Older people.Kaila was forced to live in a motel with her two kids. The rental crisis made her homeless
Louise Milligan, Ali Russell, Charlotte King and Andy Burns ABC (No paywall)In a motel room behind a tavern in Bellingen in mid-northern NSW, single mother Kaila Jobson is trying, so hard. Boiling up the kettle for hot dogs to feed her kids because she doesn't have a stove, lying awake at night anxious, hoping her crying baby doesn't wake the other motel guests. Trying to stop her four-year-old from getting ratty when he's watching cartoons on a smartphone while she strips motel room beds. Putting together futile rental applications, over and over again. Kaila works six days a week cleaning the motel's rooms and tending the tavern's bar. She's living here because she says she applied unsuccessfully for about a hundred properties in the gentrified area that was once a fairly sleepy country hamlet. Now, she has simply nowhere else to go. ... Regional areas like the surrounding Coffs Coast used to be the sort of places people working in low- to middle-income jobs like hospitality, retail, nursing and aged care could reasonably expect to find a home. A Four Corners investigation has shown thanks to the critical lack of social and affordable housing, they're not anymore. (ABC Four Corners) You can check out the 'Four Corners' report at: [https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/no-place-to-call-home/14072740]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-03/homelessness-four-corners…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Disability, Federal Government, Homelessness, Personal stories, Regional NSW.'I've had a dog for four years and my landlord has no idea': Tenants who hide pets
Emily Hutchinson (No paywall)Tenants across the country fess up to hiding their pets from their property manager or landlord for fear of missing out on a rental or having to give up their furry friend. ... "Unfortunately people feel pushed into hiding pets because they don't feel they have other alternatives. It can be very difficult finding and being approved for a pet-friendly rental and the default no pets position can be very daunting at the home-hunting stage," said Tenants Union NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross. ... "It is important that the law and culture is changed here to allow more people to have pets where it is appropriate for the kind of pet and the kind of home," said Mr Patterson Ross. (www.realestate.com.au)
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/ive-had-a-dog-for-four-years-…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents, Pets.What would another interest rate hike mean for renters?
ABC (No paywall)The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hike the interest rate for the sixth month in a row, affecting mortgage holders and Aussie renters feeling the squeeze. A Productivity Commission report has found the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement to be "ineffective" at improving access to affordable housing and that a major overhaul is needed. (ABC Radio National)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/what-wou…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, Rent, Affordable housing, Housing market.Crunch meeting: RBA faces test on another large rate rise
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Reserve Bank board is under pressure to end its super-sized interest rate hikes at its meeting on Tuesday as it faces growing fears its aggressive tightening of monetary policy will crush the property market and destabilise the economy in the face of strengthening global financial headwinds. Amid signs that inflation pressures in the Australian economy are continuing to grow, the bank will debate whether to lift official interest rates to a nine-year high or start to slow down its rapid succession of rate rises. Also, read the article entitled: 'Reserve Bank set for another double-sized interest rate rise as borrowers brace for pain' by Michael Janda and Emilia Terzon on ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-04/rba-set-for-fifth-straight-double-sized-interest-rate-rise/101497328].
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/crunch-meeting-rba-faces…
# Australia, Housing market.Brisbane residents urged to dob in Airbnb short-stay properties as council rolls out rates hike
Lucy Stone ABC (No paywall)Brisbane residents are being asked to dob in properties they suspect are being used for short-term accommodation such as Airbnb. The move comes three months after Brisbane City Council introduced a new rates category for short-term accommodation properties, hiking their rates by 50 per cent. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on Tuesday announced residents would be sent a letter with their next rates bill, asking for information on local properties that were being used for short-term rentals via platforms such as Airbnb, Bookings.com, and Stayz. "I'd be happy if this new rating category didn't raise a single dollar," Cr Schrinner said. "Brisbane currently has a severe housing shortage because not enough homes are being built to meet demand. Also read article entitled: 'Rat on the rentals: Dob in your Airbnb neighbours, says lord mayor' in 'The Sydney Morning Herald' at:[https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/rat-on-the-rentals-dob-in-your-airbnb-neighbours-says-lord-mayor-20221003-p5bmpu.html]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-04/brisbane-residents-urged-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Local Government, Short-term holiday letting.