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
The Great Australian Dream is now being able to afford the rent
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)For too long, the measure of success in Australia was owning a house with a backyard and a Hills Hoist. The quarter-acre block, with space so plentiful beyond the three or four bedrooms that there was ample room for a barbecue, a makeshift cricket pitch and perhaps even a pool. But the Great Australian Dream is no longer about owning a house, it’s being able to afford the rent.
The first Resolve Political Monitor survey for the Herald since the March election leaves little doubt about that. A growing number of NSW voters are anxious about skyrocketing rents. Unsurprisingly, almost two-thirds of voters list rising grocery prices and energy bills as the biggest squeeze on their household budget.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-great-australian-dream-i…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.NSW Housing Minister looking for ways to unlock land
Gillian Bennett ABC (No paywall)In the next five years it's estimated there will be a shortfall of more than 100,000 homes across the country.
To help ease the crisis, the New South Wales government wants state government agencies to hand over any land they're not using.
Guest: Rose Jackson, NSW Housing Minister
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/nsw-hous…
# Hot topic, Audio NSW, Housing affordability, Planning and development, State Government.Which suburbs could renters afford on increased welfare payments?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Low-income households could not afford to rent the typical unit in any suburb of any major city despite increases in welfare payments and rent assistance.
The federal government announced a $40 fortnightly increase to income support payments, such as JobSeeker and Youth Allowance, in Tuesday’s budget, as well as a 15 per cent increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance – the first real rise in more than three decades.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/which-suburbs-could-renters…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, State Government, Welfare.Revealed: Sydney suburbs where billions of dollars worth of public housing stock was sold
Michael McGowan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A massive dossier of property sales has revealed almost $3.6 billion in public housing stock and land was disposed of by the previous NSW government during its 12 years in government.
Housing Minister Rose Jackson has ordered a pause on further sales as the new government combs through a trove of documents showing the Coalition offloaded 7628 properties across the state between 2011 and 2023.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/revealed-sydney-suburbs-wher…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Planning and development, State Government.When Noeleen Smith retired eight years ago she was looking forward to settling down and finding an affordable place to live outside Sydney.
Keira Proust ABC (No paywall)When Noeleen Smith retired eight years ago she was looking forward to settling down and finding an affordable place to live outside Sydney.
When Noeleen Smith retired eight years ago she was looking forward to settling down and finding an affordable place to live outside Sydney.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-13/residential-land-lease-co…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Land lease communities, Older people, Personal stories.One in 10 homes in Sydney’s inner west is empty. The council wants them taxed
Andrew Taylor The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Sydney council has proposed a tax on empty homes to address the housing affordability crisis and increase the number of rental properties.
Inner West Council has also suggested banning no-fault evictions, lengthening tenancy periods to up to 10 years and charging higher rates to retail landlords who keep shopfronts empty.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/one-in-10-homes-in-sydney-s-…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, Sydney.Rental bidding: proposed reforms won’t keep a roof over renters’ heads
Cat Woods Law Society Journal (No paywall)Rental bidding occurs when prospective renters engaging in bidding offer an agent or a private landlord a higher amount than the advertised price for a rental property in an attempt to convince the landlord to approve their application. If other potential tenants realise what is happening – or they are invited by the agent or landlord to make higher offers – the agent or landlord may exploit this bidding process to extract the maximum rent for the landlord.
Also labelled a “rental auction”, rental bidding is not illegal in NSW, and difficult to regulate. It is a practice that lacks transparency, so that if it is occurring, rental applicants won’t necessarily be aware they have been in competition with their fellow tenants to bid for a particular property. They may simply be turned down without being given a reason. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to ascertain how prevalent the practice is in the real estate market.
https://lsj.com.au/articles/rental-bidding-proposed-reforms-wont…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media, Research alert NSW, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Housing market.Lack of affordable housing is harming regional Australia, Anglicare chief says
Calla Wahlquist The Guardian (No paywall)The $40-a-fortnight boost to the jobseeker payment increases the number of affordable rentals across all of Australia from just four rooms in share houses to five.
That’s according to the Anglicare rental affordability snapshot, the Anglicare chief executive, Kasy Chambers, told the National Press Club on Tuesday. The 2023 snapshot, released before the federal budget last month, analysed 46,000 rental properties across Australia, based on whether rent would cost more than 30% of the household budget for various low-income households.
Chambers was speaking as part of a panel on housing affordability in regional Australia. She said when Anglicare began its rental affordability snapshot 10 years ago, there was a belief that regional areas were more affordable.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/16/lack-of-a…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Affordable housing, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability.