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
Being a Sydney renter is a moving tale, but all my evictions have all been honourable
Jayce Carrano The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)If a change is as good as a holiday – and moving houses is definitely a change – then I have had four holidays in a year. My forced tour de force took me from Stanmore to Erskineville to Darlington to Stanmore (closer to Macca’s this time) to Stanmore (closer to Macca’s than ever before). I averaged a new home every 89 days, absolutely rinsing adult hermit crabs who get a new pad every 500. And like a hermit crab, I was happy with humble homes that others might describe as discarded debris.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/being-a-sydney-renter-is-a-movin…
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Rent.Ayaki got two rent hikes in two years. Now he dreads a third
Kate Burke and Jim Malo The Age (No paywall)Sydney house rents have soared to new heights, jumping by $100 per week in some pockets in just three months. But the pace of rental hikes has slowed for the second straight quarter as cost of living pressures bite. Sydney’s median house rent has reached a record of $730 per week, rising 1.4 per cent over the December quarter and 12.3 per cent over the year, the latest Domain Rent Report, released on Thursday shows. Rents are now 40 per cent higher than in December 2019.
https://www.theage.com.au/property/news/ayaki-got-two-rent-hikes…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent.The battle for Victoria Street, Kings Cross – fifty years on
Wendy Bacon Michael West Media (No paywall)Why is there more homeless today, per capita, but fewer squatters?
Fifty years ago this week, hundreds of people gathered in Victoria Street, Kings Cross, to support a group of squatters who had been evicted by truckloads of Kings Cross bouncers hired by a property developer Frank Theeman.
https://michaelwest.com.au/homeless-squatters-protestors-propert…
# History NSW, Eviction, Rent.Advocates speak out on scapegoating migrants as cause of housing crisis
Abha Haval City Hub (No paywall)More than 40 housing organisations have joined forces in expressing their concern over migrants being scapegoated as the primary cause of the housing crisis, calling on the prime minister and opposition leader to show leadership on the issue. The organisations – which include the Australian Council of Social Services, the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia and National Shelter – wrote a letter, saying the housing crisis was caused by poor policy choices by successive governments, including continuous undersupply of social housing and investor tax incentives.
https://cityhub.com.au/advocates-speak-out-on-scapegoating-migra…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, .Adapting the old to accommodate the new could ease Sydney’s housing crux
Chris Johnson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The conflict between our urgent need for more housing, especially affordable housing, and the important role heritage plays in keeping us connected to our past, does have a way forward. Adaptive reuse of heritage buildings is a worldwide approach to housing that understands older buildings need to be used and not demolished, while accepting that modern life is generally different to the way our forebears lived a century or two ago.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/adapting-the-old-to-accommod…
# Hot topic NSW, .VIDEO: Sydney retains title of most expensive rental market
ABC (No paywall)The median rent in Sydney is now $150 more a week than it is in Melbourne despite official land values in NSW falling. Columbian student Andrea Lagudo has been hunting for weeks…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-09/sydney-retains-title-of-m…
# Hot topic NSW, .As a Syrian I feel the pain of Palestinians as their homes and lives are destroyed. This is domicide
Ammar Azzouz The Guardian (No paywall)For those who survive the destruction of their home, the pain and grief often endure. Some people who are forcibly displaced wait in exile to return to the places from which they were uprooted, to homes that are now ruins. History shows us that some people wait a lifetime. Meanwhile, many of those who remain in war-torn cities grieve for their beloved ones who were killed at home and lie beneath the collapsed buildings, unable to be buried in dignity.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/30/syrian-pal…
# Must read International, Discrimination, Security and safety.People around the world are living in non-traditional housing to cope with rising cost of living
Jenny Cai and Angelica Silva ABC (No paywall)From living out of a hotel room to a houseboat in a marina, some people are turning to "non-traditional" methods of housing to put a roof over their heads. These types of living arrangements often represent a shift in lifestyle choices. But for some in major cities around the world, it's a forced decision due to limited options amid rising cost-of-living pressures. While studying in Hong Kong over the past year, Tiffany Lu chose to rent a hotel long-term instead of an apartment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-27/alternatives-to-tradition…
# Hot topic International, .