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
Aussie game creators want your rental horror stories for new video game
Julian Price 9 News (No paywall)Every renter has one, from mouldy walls to broken ovens, rental horror stories are as common as door handles on doors.
It's simply fact that some landlords just aren't as good as others.
After a dodgy landlord experience of their own, award winning Sydney video game creators, Pete Foley and Scott Ford, decided to create their own new game to raise awareness of the things renters need to put up with.
https://www.9news.com.au/technology/sydney-video-game-creators-f…
# Australia, Personal stories, Renting culture.Advocates criticise Victoria’s decision to allocate affordable housing by ballot rather than need
Stephanie Converey The Guardian (No paywall)The Victorian government’s new affordable rental housing will be allocated to tenants by random ballot rather than need, with applications to be processed by a company already under scrutiny for what advocates have called a “troubling” use of renters’ data.
The first tranche of 34 houses from the 2,400 promised in the affordable housing rental scheme – part of the Andrews government’s “big build” construction blitz – were advertised in January.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/20/its-worry…
# Must read, New policy announcement Australia, Privacy and access, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, Landlords and agents.Most states ban rent bidding, so why are desperate renters still allowed to offer more?
Michelle Elias SBS (No paywall)You've inspected a flat to rent and like the look of it.
You can afford the asking price and think you've got a good chance.
Then you learn the agent has invited people to offer more than the advertised price and someone has said they'll pay an extra $100 a week.
You can't compete and you miss out. You've just become a victim of rent bidding.
South Australia became the latest state to move forward on a ban on rent bidding this week, hoping it could help ease rising rental prices.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/article/most-states-ban-ren…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents.Calls for government intervention amid 'very serious' rental crisis
ABC ABC (No paywall)Dr Michael Fotheringham has called for state and federal governments to intervene, saying there is a lack of available rental stock across Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-21/calls-for-government-inte…
# Video Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, State Government.Real estate agents called out on TikTok for creative rental ads
A Current Affair Staff A Current Affair (No paywall)Aussies have taken to TikTok to call out real estate agents they accuse of using creative language to incorrectly describe properties amid the nation's rental crisis.
"They should be embarrassed by some of the things they put out there," Rachel told A Current Affair after she went viral on TikTok for pointing out some of the worst.
https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/rental-crisis-aussie-r…
# TUNSW in the media, Video Australia, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.‘Are you asking us to sleep under the Harbour Bridge?’: 3 myths about international students and the housing crisis
Angela Lehmann The Conversation (No paywall)There is a story doing the media rounds that international students – particularly from China – will now “flood” back to Australia. It is claimed this will push up already high rents for scarce housing in our major cities.
This story is one of three myths that risk setting up international students as scapegoats for Australia’s ongoing housing crisis. However, immigration data and our monitoring of social media, where international students share their experiences, simply don’t support these narratives.
https://theconversation.com/are-you-asking-us-to-sleep-under-the…
# Must read Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Students, Sub-letting.A rental application service is selling extra data protection for $20. Not everyone is sold
Jim Malo and Abbir Dib The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)A rental application platform is offering to withhold identification documents from real estate agents at an additional cost of $20 to renters.
The tenancy application portal 2Apply launched the service in response to high-profile data breaches such as the Optus, Harcourts and LJ Hooker hacks.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/a-rental-application-servic…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media Australia, Privacy and access, Security and safety, Landlords and agents.Shameless realtors are already grinding out property listings with ChatGPT
Noor Al-Sibai Futurism (No paywall)It seems that real estate agents are already using OpenAI's controversial ChatGPT artificial intelligence software to pump out property listings so they can free up time to do what they do best: part would-be homeowners from their money.
# International, Housing market, Landlords and agents.