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
Too many bedrooms, not enough homes
Peter Mares Inside Story (No paywall)When government MPs talk about tackling Australia’s housing crisis their mantra is “supply, supply, supply.” Michelle Ananda‑Rajah used the phrase when she was launching new homes in her electorate of Higgins. Backbenchers Graham Perrett and Peter Khalil deployed it in support of the government’s Help to Buy scheme in parliament. The slogan was on the prime minister’s lips as he spruiked new housing measures agreed at national cabinet on 10 May. But the link is not as straightforward as it appears.
https://insidestory.org.au/too-many-bedrooms-not-enough-homes/
# Hot topic Australia, .How we manufactured a housing crisis
Ray Boydell The Fifth Estate (No paywall)If you thought you understood the housing market had to do with supply or planning or immigration you haven’t read this summary of the facts. Try this: if Australians lived the same way they did in the 1950s (in houses of about 100 square metres) the current housing stock could accommodate an additional 30 million people, more than double the current population of 26.7 million. This is a deep dive and one not one of our readers should miss.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/how-we-manufactur…
# Must read Australia, .Australians skipping doctor’s appointments, heating amid housing crisis
Jessica Wang news.com.au (No paywall)A large-scale survey into Australia’s housing crisis has revealed high proportions of Australians hit by rising rents and housing stress are skipping doctors appointment, reducing their energy use – like forgoing heating and airconditioning – and leaving their car at home. Ahead of the first People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis hearing on Thursday, data from 1528 renters, homeowners, and people without stable accommodation found more than one in two respondents (58 per cent) were spending more than 30 per cent of their household budget on housing, placing them in housing stress. The probe was convened by advocacy body Everybody’s Home, and included submissions from dozens of community providers, and advocacy groups. According to April 2024 figures from CoreLogic, median weekly rents increased by 8.5 per cent to $627 year-on-year. The weekly rent in NSW hitting $770 – the highest out of all state and territories.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/australians-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.People's Commission hearing begins into worsening housing crisis
SBS (No paywall)VIDEO: A national campaign is elevating the voices of those impacted by Australia's housing crisis. In a bid to push state and federal governments for solutions, parents and domestic violence survivors were among those who shared their stories on day one of hearings.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/video/peoples-commission-hearing-beg…
# Must read, Hot topic, Video Australia, .Urgent plea for legal shake up to keep families off the streets
7 News (No paywall)VIDEO: Victims of the state's crippling housing crisis have shared their heartbreak and horror stories, at an emotionally charged public hearing. They're calling for an urgent shake up, and legal rethink, to keep struggling families off the streets. After a massive rent hike, Lucie pleaded with her landlords agent. "All I could afford was $750 [a week]... Her reply, was an eviction notice."
# Must read, Hot topic, Video Australia, Eviction.Aussie landlord shot down after rent increase whinge backfires
news.com.au (No paywall)A landlord has copped backlash after whinging about not being able to illegally increase her tenant’s rent.
The rant, which was posted in the Landlords Australia Facebook group, started with the homeowner revealing they were hiking up their tenant’s rent, but there was one particular rule they were finding “frustrating”. “I find the 12 month limit between increases frustrating as it’s actually encouraging me to put it higher than I would have as I only get one shot at it,” she wrote. The landlord add that she if she were to err on the “low side” when it comes to the increase, then it was a “long time” before she could adjust it. In the majority of Aussie states and territories, rent can only be increased once every 12 months and, in many areas, the landlord must provide 60 days notice before the increase occurs.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/aussie-landl…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Public housing regularly being offered to people on NSW waitlist who have died
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)At least one person has died every month before finally being offered public housing in New South Wales, new data has revealed. Data provided to Guardian Australia after a freedom of information request shows that between April 2019 and March this year, 77 people who had already died were offered housing. This included 12 people in 2020 and 2021, 17 in 2022 and 11 in 2023. So far this year homes have been offered to two people who died while on the public housing waiting list. The real number of people who have died while on the waiting list will be higher because in some cases Homes NSW was told of a person’s death before the offer was made.
https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardi…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Public and community housing.NSW Govt caps site fees and embedded electricity network prices in Bill review
Ian Horswill The Weekly Source (No paywall)A statutory review of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act, completed in 2021, made 48 recommendations to change the Act. The bill implements 21 of the recommendations. Anoulack Chanthivong, NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, has launched the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Amendment Bill 2024, which will amend the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013. Among the changes, the bill will limit operators to using a single element to calculate a site fee increase under the fixed method, to improve clarity and certainty about such fee increases.
https://www.theweeklysource.com.au/community-living/nsw-gov-caps…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media, Legal significance, New policy announcement NSW, Land lease communities.