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
Tenants fighting rent increases
CTV News ()The TAL rental board can’t keep up with the number of tenants fighting rent increases.
# Video International, .Renting in Canada Roundup: Time for a national rent freeze?
Steve Tustin Rentals for Newcomers (No paywall)Does Canada need a national rent price freeze? Could you be a "forever" housesitter? Are you one of the Canadian renters getting a significant inheritance? As always, we've got the answers for domestic, newcomer and international student renters in this week's Renting in Canada roundup. Here's our look at what's making news in Canada's Trump tariff-anxious rental market. First, kudos to Sudbury resident Lasse Borgos. He's been house-sitting for over three years, which has made renting more affordable. Despite planning to move to a more permanent home in May, he sees the practice as a viable housing solution. Faith Greco has the story for CBC News.
https://www.rentalsfornewcomers.com/news/renting-in-canada-round…
# International, .Chinese woman’s unconventional solution to soaring housing costs: Renting a bathroom at office for Rs 545 a month
Trends Desk Indian Express (No paywall)The surging rent prompts many individuals to adjust to low-standard living situations, but one young woman in China has found an unconventional way to cope with the issue. Instead of renting an apartment, an 18-year-old woman in Hunan has chosen to live in a bathroom at her workplace to avoid steep rent prices. Yang works at a furniture store in Hunan. Faced with the high rent of 800 yuan (approximately Rs 9,415) per month, she negotiated with her employer’s wife to use the company’s restroom as her living space, the South China Morning Post reported.
https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/chi…
# Hot topic International, .Uninsurable and unaffordable: climate change and the rising cost of housing
The Guardian (No paywall)As housing affordability in Australia has worsened in recent years, it’s also brought the cost and challenges of adapting to climate change into sharp focus. More frequent and extreme weather events are already having an impact on housing, further reducing our stretched housing supply and contributing to increasing insurance costs. Climate change’s long-term impacts on mental health and economic resilience are also bubbling to the surface. The research sector is likely to play an important role as we attempt to tackle these dual crises, and researchers around Australia are working hard to understand how these problems relate to each other, and come up with solutions.
https://www.theguardian.com/deakin-university--bold-ideas-with-i…
# Must read Australia, .‘Australia is a landlord’s market’: rents still at record high despite slow growth, report shows
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Rents are growing at the slowest rate in four years thanks in part to increased supply, but are still at record highs, Domain’s March quarterly report has revealed. It comes as Anglicare Australia launches a heat map showing rental affordability in each electorate, with Kingsford Smith, Bradfield, Sydney and Warringah in New South Wales and Fadden in Queensland the five least-affordable electorates in the country. Annual house rent increases have slowed to multi-year lows across many of the capital cities but all were still at record highs, with increases of...
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/03/australia…
# Australia, Rent.AUDIO: Property prices and rents reach record highs
ABC (No paywall)Australian property prices continued to recover from a short-lived dip to hit fresh highs in March as borrowers and prospective home buyers await a decision on interest rates today.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-01/naus_corelogicnr_0104/105…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, .Moving house has never been so stressful. Which is why you need an elite squadron of helpers
Maddie Thomas The Guardian (No paywall)Late last year the lease on my flat came to an abrupt end. I’d read the headlines. I knew what was ahead of me. I was apprehensive, but determined. Everyone dreads moving house. But as Australia and the world face a crippling housing crisis, with rental affordability reaching all-time lows, the experience has become even more stressful. When I moved house five years ago, I got the first flat I applied for. We edged out one other couple who wanted it, and that was that – the deal was done. How times have changed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/14/moving-hou…
# Australia, .When are you entitled to reimbursement as a renter organising repairs?
Anna Chisholm ABC (No paywall)Ever sweltered in a rental with a broken air conditioner waiting for an update from your property manager and wondered if you can just call someone in to fix it? The answer is not as straightforward as you might have hoped. Tenancy laws in Australia differ between the states and territories, but there are common approaches to getting things fixed in a rental that may help. Not all property repairs are created equal. Alice Pennycott is the principal lawyer for the tenancy team at Circle Green Community Legal in Western Australia. "There are different provisions that apply for standard repairs or ordinary repairs and then urgent repairs," Ms Pennycott says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-30/can-you-organise-own-repa…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Repairs.