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
As rents reach record highs, here's a capital city breakdown of the most affordable suburbs
Hanan Dervisevic ABC (No paywall)Australia's rental prices have reached a new record high, breaking through the median $600 a week barrier for the first time. The average household now needs to spend 31 per cent of its income to pay the median rent, up from 26.7 per cent in March 2020. With many households struggling to pay the rent, here's the latest data from CoreLogic that looks into the cheapest rental suburbs in each capital city.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-24/cheapest-rental-suburbs-e…
# Must read, Research alert Australia, Rent.Renters know they are the losers in Australia’s housing system, and as their anger rises, so will their protest vote
Emma Dawson The Guardian (No paywall)If you thought the fight over housing policy got ugly in 2023, hold on to your hats. Parliament isn’t back until next month but the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has already declared “until Labor backs the Greens’ push to freeze and cap rent rises and stop giving billions of dollars to wealthy property moguls, the housing crisis will just get worse”. Make no mistake, them’s fightin’ words.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/16/the-greens…
# Must read, Legal significance Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.‘A pretty grim picture’: Biggest expense for many households blows out
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Asking rents have risen at least twice as fast as wages in most capital cities since the pandemic hit, putting pressure on tenants facing a cost of living crisis. Wages have grown 10.6 per cent from the December quarter of 2019 to the September quarter of 2023, the most recent figures available from the ABS show.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/a-pretty-grim-picture-bigge…
# Hot topic Australia, Bond, Public and community housing, Rent.'It's a crisis' : Indigenous housing advocates argue for government intervention to alleviate Aboriginal homelessness
Dechlan Brennan National Indigenous Times (No paywall)Indigenous homelessness and a lack of adequate housing supply have been pushed to the forefront by Aboriginal Housing Victoria (AHV), with legislative changes, as well as more empty land being freed up for First Peoples some of the suggestions put forward in a recent submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission.
https://nit.com.au/19-01-2024/9373/its-a-crisis-indigenous-housi…
# Must read Australia, Aboriginal renters, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Rent.Landlord wins thousands in compensation after tenants 'abandoned' property over cockroaches
By Emily Power Domain (No paywall)A pair of Sydney tenants have been forced to pay their landlords $3000 for “abandoning” a rental property they found to have cockroaches. They were required to pay the sum for breaking the lease after only four days and ended up in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales. The renters were seeking the return of their $3000 bond and a holding deposit of $1000 they paid to secure the property, and the two landlords were after compensation.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/landlord-wins-thousands-in-compen…
# NSW, Bond, Repairs, Security and safety, Starting a tenancy, Tribunal NCAT, You want to leave.Sydney single mother pressured by landlord to leave rental just nine months into lease
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)A Sydney landlord put pressure on a single mother to leave her rental home after just nine months, eventually relisting the property at $300 more a week when the tenant’s lease expired. Fiona*, who has two children, last year rented a two-bedroom apartment in Arncliffe for $690 a week through agency Century 21.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/14/sydney-re…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent.Rent rebels: the tenants who fought for their rights and won
Sarah Marsh The Guardian (No paywall)The UK is turning into a country of renters – with one in five now paying a landlord monthly. Not every rental property is up to scratch, however. This week, the Guardian’s Living Hell series has highlighted the issue of unstable and unsafe housing and landlords who exploit loopholes in the system. There may not be many ways to improve poor living conditions but some tenants have taken on their landlords – and won.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/nov/18/rent-rebels-the-te…
# International, Rent, Tribunal NCAT.Australians won’t see more public housing anytime soon. Here’s why:
Ethan Gilbert Crikey (No paywall)To save public housing, it's vital to sort out the fiscal imbalance between the federal government and the states. Over the past decade in Australia, how housing for those in need is delivered and maintained has radically shifted. Public housing, which is managed and owned by state and territory governments, is on its way out. Community housing, which is managed (and often owned) by private not-for-profit organisations, is on its way in.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/01/16/australian-public-housing-f…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing.