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
Turning the housing crisis around: how a circular economy can give us affordable, sustainable homes
Ralph Horne and Julie Lawson The Conversation (No paywall)Households across Australia are struggling with soaring energy and housing costs and a lack of housing options. Mixed with a climate crisis, economic volatility and social inequality, it’s a potent set of policy problems. Australia needs a circuit-breaker – a bold national project to tackle the climate crisis and support households by shifting to a more sustainable housing industry.
This is a project based on circular economy principles. The emphasis is on reducing materials and resources, optimising building lifespan, designing for reuse and zero waste, and regenerating nature. By getting the most out of finite resources, we can minimise waste and shrink our carbon footprint.
Our research for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) applies these principles to housing. We developed a comprehensive strategy for the sector’s transition to a circular economy. It gives priority to local jobs, access to affordable housing, resilient and functional design, and carbon-neutral, energy-efficient operation.
https://theconversation.com/turning-the-housing-crisis-around-ho…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.The tiny Aussie seaside town where the cost of renting has gone up by 250 per cent in five years
Maria Gil Domain (No paywall)On South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula rests the picturesque coastal town of Port Elliot. Just 84 kilometres south of Adelaide, it offers beauty, history and a relaxed atmosphere.
But over the past five years, the cost of renting in Port Elliot has skyrocketed. The median asking rent price for a house has risen by 250 per cent to $1050 a week, according to the latest Domain Rent Report.
By way of contrast, Sydney’s Vaucluse – the most expensive suburb in which to rent in Australia – has seen rents increase 55.6 per cent over the past five years.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-cost-of-renting-has-gone-up-b…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Queensland rental market hardest hit by rental price hikes
Rowan Crosby The Property Tribune (No paywall)The rental crisis continues to bite down hard on tenants around Australia, with Suburbtrend’s latest Rental Pain Index showing all states, except for the territories, saw average rent, as a percentage of income, above 30% – a figure that typically indicates rental stress.
The hardest hit states were Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA) and New South Wales (NSW).
Kent Lardner, founder of Suburbtrends said QLD not only leads the pack in terms of rental pain but also boasts the largest average 12-month rental increase at 16.33%.
https://thepropertytribune.com.au/market-insights/queensland-ren…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Why is Melbourne the cheapest capital city to rent a house?
Allison Worrall Domain (No paywall)Melbourne is Australia’s second-largest city, a sporting mecca, arguably the cultural capital of the country and a hugely popular landing destination for migrants. So, why is it the most affordable city in which to rent a house?
Melbourne’s median house rent has climbed to $520 – a record high after seven consecutive quarters of rent rises, according to the latest Domain Rent Report. There is no doubt the housing market is dire for Melbourne renters, many of whom are struggling to find or keep a roof over their heads in the face of steep rent hikes and a shortage of properties on the market.
But, even after unprecedented rental growth, Melbourne’s median house rent remains far below Sydney ($700), Canberra ($675) and Darwin ($650).
https://www.domain.com.au/news/why-is-melbourne-the-cheapest-cap…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Residents fight ‘traumatising’ mass eviction from Williamstown industrial estate
Rachael Dexter The Age (Paywall)Residents being evicted from a storied industrial estate in Melbourne’s inner west are pleading for mercy after their council suddenly enforced zoning rules that changed more than 30 years ago.
Young families and elderly people are among the residents who have launched a petition and will attend a meeting on Tuesday night to argue for Hobsons Bay City Council to amend the industrial zoning of the area to allow them to stay.
Techno Park Drive in Williamstown had housed refugees and migrants since World War II, before it was sold into the private market in the late 1980s and rezoned as an industrial area, meaning people could no longer legally live there. The council considers it unsafe as a residential area.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/residents-fight-trau…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Housing affordability, Local Government.Renters more likely than owner-occupiers to face health risks from house quality, expert says
Sam Nichols ABC (No paywall)When 28-year-old Shay moved to Sydney late last year, she was warned that finding a rental would be incredibly competitive and would take time.
Both predictions came true.
"I would have seen maybe 50 [properties]," she tells ABC RN's The Money.
For weeks Shay and her housemate inspected properties, many of which were charging "an extreme price" but "weren't worth it" because they were decrepit or covered in mould.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-11/australian-renters-mould-…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Health, Housing market, Mould.Australia's worst 15 suburbs for rentals: Where tenants are hurting most
9News Staff 9 News (No paywall)A new report has identified the toughest rental pressure points across Australia.
Suburbtrends analysed a number of factors when putting together the "rental pain index" (RPI), to give an overall score out of 100.
Here are the worst 15 suburbs for rentals in Australia.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/rent-crisis-australia-worst-su…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Emma has paid $500,000 in rent. Now, she is homeless
Rhiannon Lewin 7 News (No paywall)Emma Lenz says renting in Australia has “broken” her after she was left homeless and forced to sleep in an old caravan along with her two children.
The single mother, 41, her 13-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, from Darling Downs, a farming region in Queensland’s south, says they were recently booted from their rental home after the landlord sought to increase the rent.
“I had no idea where I was going to go,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
https://7news.com.au/news/qld/emma-has-paid-500000-in-rent-now-s…
# Hot topic Australia, Families, Homelessness, Housing affordability.