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 30% rent rule was a warning. Now it's policy.
Mina Martin MPA Mag (No paywall)New Zealand's longstanding 30% rule for housing affordability is back in the spotlight ahead of the 2026 budget — and for many renters, it is no longer a ceiling but an uncomfortable reality. Stats NZ data from the 2023 Census shows that 26.5% of renting households were already spending at least 30% of their income on rent, up from 26% in 2018 and 24.2% in 2013. Of those, 18.3% were spending 40% or more, and 12.8% were committing half their income or more to rent — proportions that have held steady since 2018.
https://www.mpamag.com/nz/news/general/the-30-rent-rule-was-a-wa…
# International, .Waterloo South Residents Reject Minister’s Claims As Save Waterloo Rally Goes Ahead
Chloe Sargeant City Hub (No paywall)Public housing tenants and housing advocates are pushing back against comments made by NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson as a rally against the demolition of Waterloo South public housing gets underway today. The Save Waterloo rally began at midday at Redfern Community Centre before marching to the Save Waterloo Encampment at the corner of Cope and McEvoy Streets, where organisers will host a Drag Show Against Demolition from 2pm. The protest comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding the Waterloo South renewal project, which will see hundreds of existing public housing dwellings demolished as part of a major redevelopment.
https://cityhub.com.au/waterloo-south-residents-reject-ministers…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.‘I don’t earn enough to rent anything’: How Sydney’s grand housing vision was whittled away
Max Maddison The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Seven months after taking power, Chris Minns used an address for the annual Sydney Institute lecture to outline his solution to the state’s worsening housing crisis. Sydney would be denser, and homes would be built faster in well-located areas close to public transport. Crucially, many would be formally classified as affordable housing, meaning key workers and those on low and middle incomes would not be locked out. “We can show the people of Sydney that in solving this housing crisis we can create a better Sydney in the process,” Minns told guests during the black-tie dinner in Pyrmont in October 2023.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/i-don-t-earn-enough-to-rent-…
# NSW, .The short-term stay that tax reform may make permanent
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)The federal government’s overhaul of property taxes will force investors in short-term rentals to rethink their plans and could free up homes in the nation’s major capital cities, with Anthony Albanese arguing outlets like Airbnb have become a factor in the property market. Amid expectations that house prices will ease over the next year because of the government’s planned changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing, property analysts believe there will be a flow-on impact to the holiday rental sector.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-short-term-stay-that…
# NSW, .Redevelopment of beachside housing estate in Bellambi divides tenants and advocates
Penny Burfitt ABC (No paywall)Wayne Morris's three-bedroom social housing terrace in Wollongong has a million-dollar view. Walk out of his back door, down a short concrete path and out the gate, and you will find yourself overlooking Bellambi Beach. Mr Morris takes pride in the house he has carefully maintained for 12 years. It was full of family photos, luscious indoor plants, Rabbitohs merch and a very chatty parrot. Under a rezoning confirmed last week, his home and those of his neighbours in the Bellambi Estate would be replaced with thousands of new units in the next 15 to 20 years.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-18/bellambi-redevelopment-be…
# NSW, Public and community housing.One arrested as police clear out Waterloo public housing demolition protest camp
Declan Bowring ABC (No paywall)A 22-year-old female was arrested as NSW Police cleared out a protest camp that had been disrupting the demolition of public housing at Waterloo in Sydney's inner city. Dozens of officers, including mounted police, reportedly arrived at the site at 7am today to assist Homes NSW in removing the camp, which had been set up on the lawn of the public housing estate since May 25. The woman was arrested for trespassing and was taken to Mascot Police Station, where she was charged with entering inclosed land, not prescribed premises, without lawful excuse.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-19/arrest-police-clear-water…
# NSW, Public and community housing.The many multimillion-dollar homes of a ‘professional ratbag’
Lucy Macken The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)By his own admission, Kim Sarkin has been struggling to get on his feet financially since he arrived in Australia more than 18 months ago. Not that you would know it from his choice of real estate. Since Sarkin and his wife, Hayley, left New Zealand with their three children in tow, they have rented seven multimillion-dollar properties in some of Sydney’s most expensive suburbs – and defaulted on the rent on all of them. In a bid to recoup their losses, half a dozen of those landlords have resorted to legal action, taking their claims for more than $100,000 in unpaid rent to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). In the process, they have revealed allegations of fake references and doctored receipts for purported rent and bond payments.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-many-multimillion-dollar…
# NSW, .The Glebe home, squatter’s rights and the fraud trial
Michaela Whitbourn The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Sydney lawyer, his wife and son have stood trial for fraud over an alleged plot to assume ownership of an inner west home, in an unusual case of squatter’s rights meeting the criminal law. Peter Colquhoun, a former principal of Rozelle firm Colquhoun & Colquhoun, was charged along with his wife Margaret and son Andrew with dishonestly obtaining the Glebe property by deception. The rundown property was renovated by Margaret and Andrew after the former owner died, and sold by them in 2022 for $3.67 million. The trio stood trial this year in the NSW District Court, resulting in Peter being acquitted while Margaret and Andrew were convicted of fraud. The court heard Margaret and Andrew took steps to assert ownership of the property under the law of adverse possession, known colloquially as “squatter’s rights”.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-glebe-home-squatter-s-ri…
# NSW, .