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
St George Matters with Chris Minns: Freezing the Sale of Social and Public Housing
Chris Minns The Leader (No paywall)This week, I announced that my Government is freezing the sale of all social and public housing to preserve the already limited housing stock.
In a housing affordability crisis, the previous NSW Government sold off $3.5 billion worth of public housing. There is no justification for privatising and selling off public housing - especially amid a worsening housing crisis and over 50,000 applicants on the public housing waiting list.
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/8209009/st-george-matters-wit…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement NSW, Public and community housing, Planning and development, State Government.First home buyer beats 26 others to one-bedroom unit with $847,000 bid
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)A whopping 27 buyers registered to bid on a one-bedroom Newtown unit that sold for $847,000 at auction on Saturday.
A first home buyer made the winning bid for renovated apartment at 13/39 Laura Street, which had been guided at $650,000 throughout the campaign.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/first-home-buyer-beats-26-b…
# Hot topic NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Gov’t rental figure for first temporary housing village revealed
Mia Armitage Echo (No paywall)The Ballina Shire Council has revealed receipt of $100,000 in land rent for its first temporary emergency housing village on the Northern Rivers.
Details of the lease between the state and local government for land at the Wollongbar Sports Fields had been kept secret from the public until this week.
When the lease was first presented to the Ballina Shire Council in April last year, council staff said its terms were to remain ‘strictly confidential’.
https://www.echo.net.au/2023/05/govt-rental-figure-for-first-tem…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement NSW, Public and community housing, Housing affordability, Planning and development.Scrapping seeker diaries to help people in temporary accommodation
Rose Jackson NSW Government (No paywall)Homeless and vulnerable people accessing temporary accommodation across the state will no longer have to prove they have been rejected from private rentals to receive support.
Our homeless community deserves our compassion and support. Forcing people to apply for rentals they know they won’t get for a tick-a-box exercise is unfair and cruel.
Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness Rose Jackson said that from 1 July people in temporary accommodation won’t need to complete a rental diary to demonstrate they are actively looking for housing.
https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/scrapping-seeker-diaries-t…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement NSW, Campaigns and law reform, DCJ Housing, State Government.Yes, we need more housing, but we also need stricter building regulations
Julian Hare The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Yes, we need more housing, there is a shortage, but what needs to happen first is the introduction of stricter building regulations to ensure that every apartment block built is free from building faults that render those apartments uninhabitable, leaving the owners in debt and homeless (“Rich suburbs must build higher: tsar”, May 31).
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/yes-we-need-more-housing-but…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing market, Planning and development, Sydney.Australia’s rental affordability drops to worst levels in nearly a decade
Mostafa Rachwani The Guardian (No paywall)Australian rental affordability has dropped to its worst levels in nearly a decade, with the average household spending a third of its income on rent, as the impacts of the Covid pandemic continue to be felt on the market.
Lower income households pay even more, with more than half of their income going towards their rent, according to new research from ANZ and CoreLogic.
The ANZ CoreLogic housing affordability report has found rental affordability – the portion of income required to service a new lease – is at its highest level nationally since June 2014, with 30.8% of an average income required to service a new lease.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/29/australia…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Real estate agents accused of relisting properties at higher prices as rents rise by more than $500 in some suburbs
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)People looking for rental homes say properties they are applying for are being taken off the market before being re-listed at higher prices.
On 24 April, Linda, who did not want her last name used, applied for a property in Yeronga in Queensland, for $530 a week. The inspection was busy, so she did not think she had much of a chance, but three days later she received an email from the agents incorrectly stating that she had withdrawn her application.
“Then I looked at the ad and saw they had increased the rent price and were holding another inspection.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/27/real-esta…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.WA's rental laws are finally being updated. Here's everything you need to know
Keane Bourke ABC (No paywall)More than a decade after Western Australia's rental laws were last updated, change is afoot.
After being delayed by COVID, the government has today announced a raft of changes that it says will balance the needs of both renters and landlords.
One of the biggest changes is that rents will only be allowed to be increased once a year – down from twice currently.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-26/everything-you-need-to-kn…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability.