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
Dodgy detail in $850 Sydney rental apartment highlights major issue
Carly Bass Yahoo News (No paywall)Aussies have certainly felt the pinch with rising rental costs, and with higher prices and higher demand, it's getting harder to find something suitable.
But one listing in Sydney's inner-west highlights the dire state the rental market's in, with a commercial office space being flogged as a four-bedroom apartment for $850 a week. Doing this is "likely unlawful," NSW Teneants' Union CEO Leo Patterson Ross told Yahoo News Australia.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/dodgy-detail-in-850-sydney-rental-apar…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Security and safety, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Sydney.Rental bidding under investigation in NSW as Sydney’s property crisis grows
Jessica Wang news.com.au (No paywall)Despite being illegal in other states, NSW’s rental crisis has sparked a trend which is making it almost impossible for applicants to find a home.
Both Labor and Liberal politicians have backed calls to reform NSW rental practices, as the property crisis deepens amid rising rents and dwindling stock.
Rental bidding in particular has been highlighted as a major issue, despite the practice being banned in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland.
However, in NSW, agents and landlords can advertise properties without a fixed rate, or list a range. The practice can create a situation in which applicants can opt to pay a higher rent, pricing out those who aren’t able to.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/rental-biddi…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Landlords and agents.NSW landlords forced to pay tenants thousands of dollars over mould issue
Ally Foster news.com.au (No paywall)Two landlords have been forced to pay a couple thousands of dollars after failing to address a growing mould issue in the home they were renting.
The couple moved into the three-bedroom home in Narara, in NSW’s Central Coast region, in September 2021.
They had entered into a 12-month residential tenancy agreement for the property at the rate of $550 a week.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/nsw-landlord…
# Legal significance NSW, Repairs, Mould.New laws to stop rent bidding could be brought in
9 News 9 News (No paywall)The government could soon bring in new laws to stop rent bidding, a practice which drives up rental prices. NSW Tenants' Union CEO Leo Patterson Ross joins to discuss the potential impacts for the real state industry, renters, landlords and investors making mortgage repayments
# TUNSW in the media, Video NSW, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.‘It’s grubby’: Major investigation launched into ‘rent-bidding’
Luke Grant 2GB (No paywall)Sydney’s crushing rental market could see strict new laws brought in to ban the trend of ‘rent bidding’.
Rents have to be advertised at a fixed price in Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania, but not in NSW.
NSW Trading Minister Victor Dominello has said he’ll launch an investigation into the practice, to help protect our most vulnerable.
Shelter NSW CEO John Engeler told Luke Grant it should be made illegal.
“It’s grubby, un-Australian and not fair at all. It’s capitalising on people’s desperate need to secure housing.”
https://www.2gb.com/its-grubby-major-investigation-launched-into…
# Hot topic, Audio NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Landlords and agents.Landlords sell to reap capital gains, not avoid rental reforms: study
Tawar Razaghi The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Landlords sell their investment properties for lucrative capital gains, rather than dissatisfaction with tenancy law reforms, new research reveals.
Tenancy law reforms were at the bottom of the list of reasons why investors sold their properties, research by the Australia Housing and Urban Research Institute found.
The research also found no evidence of tenancy reforms in NSW in 2010 affecting the supply of rental properties in the state. The same number of rentals were added to the private rental sector after the changes as the previous trend, and ever fewer than expected exited.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/landlords-sell-to-reap-capi…
# Must read, Research alert NSW, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents.AUDIO: Elderly renters struggle to find accommodation amid rental crisis
Newsradio ABC (No paywall)\Many Australians are doing it tough right now as cost of living pressures take hold, and elderly renters are are no exception.
Australia has one of the highest proportions of seniors living in rental poverty across the developed world.
ABC NewsRadio's Thomas Oriti spoke to Fiona York, from the Housing for the Aged Action Group, about the ongoing renting crisis against elderly people.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-06/elderly-renters-struggle-…
# Australia, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Older people.Dave Hunt/AAP Homeless numbers have jumped since COVID housing efforts ended – and the problem is spreading beyond the big cities
Hal Pawson and Cameron Parsell The Conversation (No paywall)The numbers of people who are homeless have risen sharply across Australia, with soaring housing costs emerging as the biggest driver of the increase. The Australian Homelessness Monitor 2022, released today, reports that the average monthly number of people using homelessness services increased by 8% in the four years to 2021-22. That’s double the population growth rate over that period.
Just as in other countries, the 2020 COVID-19 emergency accommodation programs achieved sudden reductions in rough sleeping in cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. But these remarkable gains were only temporary.
https://theconversation.com/homeless-numbers-have-jumped-since-c…
# Research alert Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Regional NSW, Sydney.