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
There are now 50,000 short-term rental properties in NSW. The area with the most isn’t Byron Bay
Christopher Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The number of NSW properties placed on platforms such as Airbnb has hit 50,000 as the state’s housing minister considers major changes to the rules governing short-term rental accommodation in a bid to fix the state’s housing crisis. Measures under consideration include slapping a levy on holiday homes on the short-term rental market and placing a cap on the number of days properties may be let out for. Regional property owners have bristled at the prospect of a tax or levy, saying properties rented out to tourists were often not suitable for long-term rental accommodation. An industry group representing the short-term accommodation sector says capping the number of days a property can be let out has failed to boost the supply of housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/there-are-now-50-000-short-t…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.‘No doubt we will see more homelessness’: Rents increase at more than six times the rate of wages
Jemimah Clegg The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Australian renters have suffered another blow as rent increases outpaced wage growth in the latest quarter, new analysis shows. Experts say other interim measures, such as rent caps and slowing immigration, are needed until more homes are built to ease pressure on renters. Asking rents for houses rose by more than six times the rate of wages in the March quarter, a comparison of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) wage price index with Domain rent data showed. Wages ticked up by 0.8 per cent, while combined capital city asking rents for houses jumped 5 per cent. Meanwhile, unit rents increased by more than four times the rate of wages, growing 3.3 per cent across all capitals for the quarter.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/no-doubt-we-will-see-more-h…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent.Cutting permanent migration may make housing cheaper, but it will definitely make us poorer
Brendan Coates & Trent Wiltshire Grattan Institute (No paywall)Rents are skyrocketing and public anxiety about migration is on the rise. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has responded by proposing to cut migration. The Opposition plans to lower the number of permanent visas offered each year, from 185,000 to 140,000 for the next two years, 150,000 in 2026-27 and 160,000 per year after that, and to reduce the number of humanitarian visas issued each year from 20,000 to 13,750.
https://grattan.edu.au/news/cutting-permanent-migration-may-make…
# Must read, Research alert Australia, .Victoria is raising minimum rental standards – it’s good news for tenants and the environment
Nicola Willand, Lyrian Daniel, Emma Baker & Trivess Moore The Conversation (No paywall)Following the lead of countries like New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Australian states and territories are moving slowly towards improving the basic quality and performance of rental housing. Victoria is leading the way in Australia. The state government this week proposed new minimum requirements for rental properties and rooming or boarding houses. These changes would be phased in from October 2025. The new standards will greatly improve the quality and comfort of rental housing. They will also make it cheaper to live in. It’s the most far-reaching response by any Australian government to the huge and well-documented problems of affordability and poor conditions in our rental housing.
https://theconversation.com/victoria-is-raising-minimum-rental-s…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Utilities water energy internet.As her anguished pleas fell on deaf ears Louise watched her Australian dream splinter in front of her
Norman Hermant and Sean Davey ABC (No paywall)Louise Goode's fight for the place of "emotional comfort" she called home lasted a quarter of a century, until it was demolished in front of her as she screamed for help. Louise Goode’s quarter-century commitment to a home in Melbourne’s inner north was crushed in a matter of minutes. As she watched from behind a thin construction fence, a digger moved into position, and started to tear the house apart. “Stop! Stop! Stop!” she shouted. Her voice breaking from rage and frustration, she opened a gap in the fence and ran in front of the machine, forcing the operator to shut it down.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-07/louise-goode-20-plus-year…
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.Retirement communities could ease housing shortage while improving outcomes for older Australians, peak body says
Vanessa Jarrett ABC (No paywall)Over 55s lifestyle resorts could be part of the solution to the nation's housing crisis by freeing up more properties for families, according to the nation's peak retirement living body. Retirement communities have seen a significant increase in popularity, as the population ages, and people start to downsize. Eighty-one-year-old Glenys Kirkwood downsized eight years ago, and now lives in Taramind Place, an over-55s estate at Rockhampton in central Queensland.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-11/retirement-communities-ov…
# Hot topic Australia, Land lease communities, Rent.Tenants have their say about Waterloo
Geoff Turnbull The South Sydney Herald (No paywall)In the first half of 2023, at community events, online and through government and non-government agencies, tenants had opportunity to provide their views as part of the Waterloo Public Housing Tenant Survey. Three-hundred-and-twenty residents completed the survey, covering questions about internet access, health and wellbeing, the Waterloo community as well as dealings with government and non-government agencies. The researchers from the University of NSW reported that 58 per cent of tenants feel part of their community, 69 per cent know their rights and responsibilities and 57 per cent feel their community is a good place to live, while 45 per cent said they would move out if they were given the opportunity.
https://southsydneyherald.com.au/tenants-have-their-say-about-wa…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.Rich, poor, educated, newly arrived, separated ... in 1990, researchers started following the lives of 167 babies — this is how it worked out
Daniel Ziffer ABC (No paywall)Is life what you make it? Or does the start you get make you? A study that followed 167 babies, from birth until the age of 34, has some answers. Isabel has travelled the world, gained academic degrees and learned multiple languages. But she hasn't ticked off many of the life milestones she had expected: like owning a house, holding a secure job or starting a family. In recent years Isabel has worked in cafes and relied on her family for housing. "I always thought, especially in my 20s, I would have a kid by 30. And then at 30, I thought I would have a kid by 34. And now I'm like, 'Oh, we'll see.' And I always thought I would sort of be like this 'office person' wearing fancy suits to work," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-06/in-1990-researchers-start…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing.