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
Only in Sydney: $15,000 a week rent to find cockroaches – and the landlady – on arrival
Lucy Macken The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When the American director of the Illawarra Hawks basketball team, Jared Novelly, arrived at the penthouse of The Hyde tower last year ready to move into his $15,000 a week rental he was not expecting to find his landlady still in residence. Nor did he expect to find faulty finishes, a cockroach-infested kitchen, a spider-infested barbecue and pool area on the rooftop, spilled ointments in the bedroom, and bags of dirty underwear and clothes. ... Jared Novelly is seeking exemplary and aggravated damages, costs and rent revision in a dispute over the condition of his luxury penthouse rental. In his landlady Marie Bolton’s defence, she states the penthouse was clean and claims the repairs she knew about previously have been fixed, and that other jobs were not done because of limited access. The four-day hearing in the Supreme Court is set to start on Monday.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/only-in-sydney-15-000-a-wee…
# NSW, Rent, Starting a tenancy, Tribunal NCAT.The $100,000 hit to potential home buyers as cost of living soars
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Potential home buyers have had their budgets cut by as much as $100,000 as banks reassess their rising cost of living. Families are the hardest hit as they have more essential costs, which account for the majority of inflation pressures, and fewer ways of cutting back on non-discretionary spending.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-100-000-hit-to-potentia…
# Australia, Families, Home ownership, Housing market.Real estate market transitioning from 'seller to buyer' as Tasmania's property sales drop
Hayden Cornes ABC (No paywall)Interest rate increases are to blame for property sales falling by nearly 20 per cent over the past three months in Tasmania, a real estate body says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-04/property-sales-fall-in-ta…
# Australia, Housing market.Australia has a problem with inflation, and that likely means more interest rate hikes to come
David Taylor ABC (No paywall)Why mortgage rates could climb considerably higher from here. [Read on] (ABC The Drum)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-05/more-interest-rate-hikes-…
# Australia, Housing market.Rental price growth slows from unprecedented highs as tenants hit ‘affordability ceiling’
Caitlin Cassidy The Guardian (Paywall)Record rental prices are beginning to ease however the market is unlikely to swing in favour of tenants anytime soon, housing experts warn. National rents experienced the smallest monthly increase in growth this year according to CoreLogic’s latest quarterly rental review, up by just 0.6% in September. But it came amid an annual growth trend of 10%. ... Everybody’s Home CEO Kate Colvin said Australia was “definitely still in a rental crisis” however locations had hit an “affordability ceiling”. ... Policy and advocacy manager at the Tenants’ Union of NSW Jemima Mowbray said it was hard to say the current stabilisation in prices was developing into a drop in the market because it was occurring on the back of increased median rent. “The good news is it’s not increasing at the pace it was,” she said. “But we’ve had such significant rent increases with such tight rates … it’s going to take a long time before we see renters in a situation where people on low incomes aren’t struggling.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/03/rental-pr…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Cybersecurity breaches call for rental data collection overhaul
Ben Knight (No paywall)Now is the time for governments to review tenancy laws to better protect tenants. Recent data breaches have highlighted concerns about just how secure our personal information is in the hands of companies. But there’s one sector where a large-scale cybersecurity breach would be devastating – real estate. A data breach in the rental sector is a growing concern for renters, who regularly hand over large amounts of personal information when applying for rental housing. Transparency over how this information is used, shared and secured is often unclear. Dr Chris Martin, Senior Research Fellow from the UNSW City Futures Research Centre, says the ability of real estate agents and landlords to collect vast amounts of sensitive information is a significant concern. The tenancy law expert says now is the time for governments to regulate data collection in the rental sector.
https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/social-affairs/cybersecurity-b…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Rent, Landlords and agents.What can we expect from prime minister Rishi Sunak on housing?
Ella Jessel Inside Housing (Paywall)Rishi Sunak has become Britain’s third prime minister in two months. ... The Southampton-born former hedge fund manager’s position on the economy is well known, but what are his views on housing, and what can we expect from him on policy?
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/what-can-we-expe…
# International, Public and community housing, Climate change, Minimum habitability standards, Planning and development.Rental applicants across the country pressured to pay for their own background checks
Bension Siebert ABC (No paywall)When Louise Camona was told her rent would be rising by $120 a week, she knew she, her husband and their four kids were going to have to find somewhere else to live. ... When Ms Camona found a property she liked, the online application form urged her to pay for her own background check to help her application "stand out from the pack". Ms Camona could choose not to pay, but she would have to tick a box that says "no thanks, I don't want to verify my identity" and her "star rating" as an applicant would be capped at four out of five stars. The 2Apply form, designed by tech company Inspect Real Estate, was also asking for extensive private information including the name, gender and age of their children, and the make, model and registration of their car. ... Tenancy law expert Chris Martin said receiving money from a prospective tenant outside of bond, rent and deposits could be illegal in a number of jurisdictions. "There's a good argument I think that that's unlawful under the rules in Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia," Dr Martin said. "It's less clear in other states and territories because of the way that the rules are worded."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-03/renters-pressured-to-pay-…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Starting a tenancy, Landlords and agents.