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
Here’s What Rent Costs Around the U.S.
Liz Brumer-Smith U.S News (No paywall)How much rent can get you across the country has changed dramatically after rental rates soared in the last few years. The pandemic ushered in an era of remote working, which allowed people to reconsider where they call home. Many moved to locations with more favorable weather or a lower cost of living. The rental market showed some small signs of cooling in December, when typical rents in the U.S. settled in at $1,957, according to the most recent Zillow Observed Rental Index (ZORI). That’s a slight (0.2%) dip from the previous month. However, rents are still up 3.3% from a year ago.
https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/articles/heres-what-re…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Rents fall nationwide for third straight month as demand cools, report shows
Elizabeth Napolitano CBS News (No paywall)Millions of Americans are getting a measure of relief when it comes to keeping a roof over their head: After skyrocketing during the pandemic, rent is falling nationwide. According to a new report from apartment marketplace Rent.com, the national median rent for residential properties fell 0.78% in December of 2023 compared to a year ago — the third consecutive month in which rental prices have fallen across the U.S.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rent-apartment-fall-demand-cools/
# International, Rent.Key to negotiating a better rent
Leo Patterson Ross for the Daily Telegraph Daily Telegraph (No paywall)What can you do if you receive a significant rent increase? First, check the increase is legal. Both NSW Fair Trading and the Tenants’ Union have great info to help check the form but the key requirement is generally increases have to either come with 60 days’ notice or be written into your fixed-term contract. In ‘periodic’ agreements rent also can’t be increased less than 12 months since the last increase. Unfortunately back-to-back fixed term contracts can be and are used to get around this – a loophole the government has indicated they will fix. Next, it’s time to prepare to negotiate or challenge at the Tribunal. Many people are surprised that there is not actually a legal limit on the size of a rent increase in NSW. It is up to you to challenge an increase for being excessive.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/property/how-to-negotiate-a-lo…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, .Sydneysiders rent bidding in hot real estate market
Craig Reucassel ABC (No paywall)In December 2022, the NSW Liberal government introduced regulations that prohibited licensed agents from soliciting rent bidding. In August 2023, the NSW Labor government updated these powers to include landlords and third party platforms. ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast listeners told Craig Reucassel that this has not stopped illegal and legal examples of rent bidding.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sydney-breakfast/rent-bid…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio NSW, .How bad is the rental crisis? I’m staying in Melbourne with my dog as I search for an affordable place in Sydney
Caitlin Cassidy The Guardian (No paywall)By my 28th birthday, I expected, naively, to own a little terrace house in a cute, leafy suburb – a two-bedder with a courtyard and an impressive bookshelf. Instead I am marking the milestone in the spare bedroom of my parent’s house in Melbourne, while I search, remotely, with my three now ex-housemates for a rental in Sydney that costs less than $2,000 a week.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2024/fe…
# Must read NSW, Rent, Starting a tenancy.Tenants' Union of NSW lodges complaint about Gumtree as rent bidding remains rife
Rosemary Bolger ABC (No paywall)Online marketplace Gumtree says it will change its rental property ads after the Tenants' Union of NSW accused it of breaching the state's anti-rent bidding laws. Rent bidding is when prospective tenants offer more than the advertised price to secure a place to live. It has been illegal for real estate agents to solicit or encourage bids in NSW since December 2022. The NSW government extended the laws to cover landlords and third-party platforms such as Gumtree and Snug in August last year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-08/rent-bidding-nsw-gumtree-…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, .Outrage over banned rental act on Gumtree
Michelle Bowes news.com.au (No paywall)Online marketplace Gumtree has backed down following a rental property fail on its website that was in breach of NSW tenancy laws.
Gumtree rental listings had previously allowed house hunters to bid for rental properties on its website, but the practice was called out by the Tenants’ Union of NSW, which said it was in breach of NSW anti-rent bidding laws.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/outrage-over-banned-…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, .‘Ridiculous, low-rent nonsense’: Housing minister takes aim at NIMBY mayors
Michael McGowan and Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has labelled the state government’s housing reforms “half-baked” with significant risks carrying a “series of unintended consequences”, but other local councils have swung in behind the government’s push for greater density. Amid the growing debate over the changes, NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson has singled out local mayors for “playing NIMBY politics” ahead of the local government elections this year, adding that that some had engaged in “ridiculous, low-rent nonsense”.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/ridiculous-low-rent-nonsense…
# Hot topic NSW, .