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
Number of empty homes surging in three key areas of Melbourne
Rachael Dexter The Age (Paywall)The number of homes sitting empty across Melbourne surged by 16 per cent last year, despite a housing crisis and the government increasing taxes on unused properties. The biggest increase in unoccupied homes was in the booming Hume, Merri-bek and Boroondara council areas, according to an annual audit of residential water use in all council areas across the city. Independent economic think tank Prosper Australia’s annual Speculative Vacancy report shows the number of empty dwellings across Melbourne rose from 27,408 to nearly 32,000, increasing the proportion of vacant properties from 1.5 per cent in 2023 to 1.7 per cent in 2024.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/number-of-empty-home…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.The great failure of the property industry
Stewart Sweeney John Menadue (No paywall)In every era, certain industries become so large, so politically embedded, and so culturally unexamined that their performance ceases to matter. They are judged instead on the confidence with which they declare themselves indispensable. In contemporary Australia, that industry is property. It has woven around itself a powerful myth: that towers equal progress, population growth equals prosperity, and the private development model is synonymous with the national interest.
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/12/six-great-failures-and-one-…
# Australia, .Woolworths accused of exploiting affordable housing schemes to push new developments
Pat McGrath ABC (No paywall)Woolworths has been accused of exploiting affordable housing development schemes to ram through new supermarkets and luxury apartment buildings, some of which have previously been blocked by local councils and a state planning tribunal. The retail giant is planning at least 10 new developments around the country that incorporate new supermarkets and apartment complexes as part of its push into the residential property market. In New South Wales and Victoria, the company has been utilising fast-track schemes that allow developers to sidestep councils and apply directly to the state government for approval.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-02/woolworths-accused-of-gam…
# Australia, .All my friends are buying investment properties. Should I buy one too?
Paul Benson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)I’m single, 44, and finally at a point where I have a bit of extra money to invest. My friends are jumping into investment properties, but I’m hesitant – the costs with my home feel high, and the property is a constant hassle. I have been steadily building an investment portfolio through a couple of ETFs, which has worked well for me over the last 6 years. But that requires me to have extra cash on hand ready to invest. Property lets you leverage, but outside my principal residence, is it really worth it? If I want to build wealth without going down the property path, what realistic alternatives should I consider?
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/all-my-friends-are-buying…
# Hot topic Australia, .Opticomm customers across Australia losing free-to-air television and facing internet outages
Grace Atta ABC (No paywall)When Leah Wray and her family moved into a new suburb on the outskirts of Darwin in 2023, she was sold on the promise of it being a "smart community" with top-of-the-line underground technology. But two years later and Ms Wray says "ultimately it was the opposite of that", with reports of regular internet outages and recently, the loss of free-to-air television. And she's not alone, with tens of thousands of residents across Australia — typically living in greenfield suburbs — experiencing similar issues.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-01/opticomm-free-to-air-tele…
# Australia, Land lease communities, Rent, Utilities water energy internet.Landmark High Court judgment undoes steep NT Government rent hikes
GrataFund (No paywall)This morning, four First Nations remote renters won their case unanimously in the High Court, successfully invalidating the Northern Territory Government’s widely-criticised ‘Remote Rent Framework’. The NT Government had hiked rents by up to 200% in 2023 for remote NT communities during a housing and cost-of-living crisis. Asher Badari, Ricane Galaminda and Lofty Nadjamerrek from Gunbalanya, along with Laramba woman Carmelena Tilmouth have made history in the High Court by striking out the unlawful actions of the NT Government. The High Court found unanimously that the NT Government did not afford the tenants impacted by the new model procedural fairness, therefore rendering the ‘Remote Rent Framework’ unlawful.
# Hot topic Australia, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Rent.Renters win bond relief as 10,000 homes exit Victorian rental market.
Nathan Mawby realestate.com.au (No paywall)Victoria’s landlord exodus has continued with an about 10,000 home fall projected for the state’s supply of rental residences across the past financial year. Investors have been deterred by a raft of rules and initiatives aimed at protecting the state’s tenants have been passed into law and rolled out. The latest five major changes to the state’s rental rules will come into force on 25 November. The first is a ban on no fault evictions, where landlords will now need a valid reason to issue a notice for tenants to vacate, even once a lease has ended. Next is raising the bar on minimum standards for rentals, where properties will need to be compliant in all areas before being listed, not just before tenants move in.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/renters-win-bond-relief-as-10…
# Hot topic Australia, Bond, Rent.‘I would just like to see more people housed’: inside NSW’s social housing changes
Penry Buckley The Guardian (No paywall)Over the past few weeks, Carolyn Ienna has been watching the public home they lived in for 30 years disappear. First, the inside was gutted and piled up in the former back common area. Then, the roof and most of the windows were removed. “I know if I go there too often, I’m just going to get really sad,” says Ienna, a Wiradjuri person. Despite a three-year campaign to save the 17 public houses at 82 Wentworth Park Road in Glebe, the New South Wales government’s demolition has begun in earnest.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/22/carolyns-…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, .