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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Milly’s rental application was successful. Until this question was raised
Jim Malo The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Milly McMurray applied for an aged two-bedroom flat in Coburg North. They’d been accepted, paid the rent and bond, and thought there would be no harm in asking a question.
“I understand that there isn’t a heater that meets minimum standards at the property and that there will be a split system put in,” they emailed. “I’m wondering what the timeline of this maintenance is? Can I expect there to be a heater by the time I move in?”
After the property manager insisted the heater was up to standard, which the previous tenant, McMurray’s friend, had informed them it wasn’t. McMurray disclosed they had a chronic health condition, exacerbated by the cold.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/milly-s-rental-application-…
# Hot topic Australia, Landlords and agents, Personal stories, Young people.Renters worse off as landlords begin evictions to skirt new Queensland laws, tenants group says
Andrew Messenger The Guardian (No paywall)Landlords seeking to avoid new Queensland laws limiting rent increases to once a year have left numerous renters worse off, according to the state’s tenants’ rights service.
The Palaszczuk government on Thursday said it would review the laws – just two weeks after they took effect – amid reports landlords had evicted tenants in order to get around the regulation.
The housing minister, Meaghan Scanlon, released a discussion paper proposing changes to ensure rents couldn’t be increased more than once a year, even if a tenant left and was replaced.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/14/renters-w…
# Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, Housing market.The housing crisis is pushing more Australian renters into poverty. We need urgent change
Brian Howe The Guardian (No paywall)Not a day goes by without a new headline on the rental housing crisis. But let’s not pretend that rental affordability is a new issue or that short-term tactical responses will stand in the place of a comprehensive housing strategy with sustained effort from every tier of government.
I was Australia’s 20th federal housing minister and believe that there is a sound case to investigate some form of intervention in the private rental market which is clearly failing too many renters. Disturbingly, one in five of these renters live in poverty compared with less than one in 10 people who own or are buying their homes.
While rental policy is primarily a state issue, the federal government does have an interest in the regulation of surging rental prices. Canberra is required to provide housing subsidies to low-income renters largely through Commonwealth rent assistance — a program of payments now worth more than $5bn a year.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/14/the-tradit…
# Hot topic Australia, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, Housing market.Lendlease strikes $650m build-to-rent deal for Melbourne CBD
Carolyn Cummins The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Property giant Lendlease has struck a deal with Japan’s largest home builder, Daiwa House, to develop a large-scale build-to-rent tower in the heart of Melbourne and help alleviate the housing affordability and shortage crisis.
The project, within Lendlease’s Melbourne Quarter project, will include a lap pool, karaoke and music studio, and a bowling alley, with 797 build-to-rent apartments spanning 45 floors. The end value is estimated at $650 million.
Melbourne Quarter is a $2.9 billion mixed-use office, residential and retail project at 646-666 Flinders Street and will be home to 14,000 workers and more than 3800 residents on completion.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/lendlease-strikes-650m…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing market, Planning and development.Britain’s Most Famous Landlord, the King, Made $34 Million From Rising Rents
Jane Bradley The New York Times (No paywall)Rents in the United Kingdom are rising at a record pace, a trend that helped the nation’s most famous landlord, King Charles III, make a big payday.
Charles received 26.2 million pounds, or about $34.3 million, this year from his vast property empire, known as the Duchy of Lancaster. Charles inherited the estate when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died last fall.
The 45,000-acre estate is roughly the size of Washington D.C. and generates millions of dollars a year in rental income, without paying corporation taxes like most businesses in Britain are obliged to. (Charles voluntarily pays an undisclosed amount of tax on his private income).
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/world/europe/king-charles-ren…
# Must read, Hot topic International, History, International, Landlords and agents.As UK housing costs soar, anxiety grips homeowners and renters: 'I'm in meltdown'
Slyvia Hui and Pan Pylas ABC (USA) (No paywall)For Sadie James, the cost-of-living crisis in Britain just never seems to ease.
First, it was skyrocketing energy and food costs stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Now, the 61-year-old worries whether she can keep a roof over her head.
James, who lives in south London, has struggled for years to stay on top of her finances. Just as she was starting to clear her debts, she's back to square one: Her rent keeps rising, and on top of higher food and energy bills, her welfare payments just can't keep up.
“I’m actually in a meltdown each time I think about it," said James, who cannot work because of underlying health problems. “I’m literally depressed, I’m angry, I’m totally overwhelmed about it because I don’t want to lose my home.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/uk-housing-costs-soar-…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.‘Vast’ growth in value of England rentals since 1990 would have built 3m council homes
Robert Booth The Guardian (No paywall)Private landlords in England have made enough money from rising house prices in the last three decades to build at least 3m council homes, research suggests.
Owners of private rental properties have seen their assets grow in value by £400bn since 1990, equivalent to the amount needed to build more than 50 times the number of council homes that were actually built in England in that period.
The windfall calculation, commissioned by the Renters Reform Coalition campaign group and based on Office for National Statistics data, comes as landlords demand tax cuts to help ease the impact of rising interest rates. The National Residential Landlords Association has said many landlords “simply cannot afford to soak up” rising costs and will have to sell up or raise rents.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/18/vast-growth-in-v…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Rent prices across Mid-West up 30% with no cost rentals available in the region
Emer Walsh The Irish Examiner (IE) (No paywall)The number of homes available to rent in Ireland's Mid-West is just half what it was less than a year ago, with prices rising by almost 30% as supply shrinks.
According to the most recent Mid-West Rental Monitor published by Limerick Chamber, increasing rental prices are having a significant impact on people's ability to save for a home, with the current interest rate environment also creating additional challenges for prospective homeowners.
Calling for affordable rental options in the region, Seán Golden, chief economist at Limerick Chamber noted that to date, no cost rental has been delivered across the Mid-West, adding that this needed to change "as a matter of urgency."
https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/economy/arid-41185933.html
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.