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
Tenants forced to consider sharing rooms as rental crisis bites
Lucy MacDonald ABC (No paywall)Rates are the highest they've been in a decade, rents are rising, and Australia's reserve bank governor wants to see more people living in share houses.
But what do younger Australians, who are already living in share houses, have to say about the matter?
And what is the renting situation like for those at the coal face?
Alivia has been living in her rental in Launceston, Tasmania, for about a year.
The rent has just gone up again and she says the conditions aren't great.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-11/tenants-forced-to-conside…
# Hot topic Australia, Share houses, Housing affordability, Personal stories.Byron Bay Shire chases 60-day cap for holiday rentals in effort to solve housing crisis
Jessica Wang news.com.au (No paywall)Despite the fact his district is one of Australia’s major tourist hot spots, Byron Shire Mayor Michael Lyon says the impact of short-term rentals is causing more harm than good, with the council looking to place a 60-day annual cap on all short-term rentals in the area.
The cap is tipped to be in place by June 2024, with the hope operators will move to renting their properties full time, in a bid to address the region’s rental crisis.
While short-term rentals in Byron generated $189m in 2022, Mr Lyon says businesses were struggling to employ workers in the area, due to a lack of long-term accommodation.
https://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/nsw-act/byron…
# Hot topic Australia, Campaigns and law reform, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Angry notes left in mailboxes of Victoria town of Lorne amid Airbnb, housing crisis
Alex Turner-Cohen news.com.au (No paywall)A mysterious group are targeting the suburbs they blame for Australia’s rental crisis and over the weekend they hit a new affluent area.
A mysterious group are targeting the suburbs they blame for Australia’s rental crisis and over the weekend they hit a new affluent area.
During the long weekend, the organisation, known only as ‘Your Concerned Friends’, left letters at multiple holiday houses in Lorne, a coastal town outside of Melbourne.
In the letters, they called on the owners of holiday homes in the area to give away their property for free to struggling locals.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/angry-notes-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Labor guarantees minimum $500m each year for housing in bid to win Greens support
Paul Karp The Guardian (No paywall)Housing minister says work for social and affordable homes can begin as soon as future fund is established but Greens say it should begin now.
Labor has guaranteed a minimum of $500m will be paid out of the Housing Australia Future Fund every year in a last-ditch bid to win Greens support for the bill to help build social and affordable housing.
The housing minister, Julie Collins, wrote to the crossbench on Monday offering a “guaranteed fixed disbursement” of $500m from 2024-25, with a new power for the treasurer and finance minister to increase the amount by regulation, making it a floor not a ceiling.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/13/labor-gua…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Planning and development.Mandatory solar installation for landlords proposed to reduce tenant expenses
Oliver Peterson 2GB (No paywall)There are calls for landlords to face mandatory solar installation for tenants in an effort to bring down the cost of living for renters.
Better Renting Executive Director Joel Dignam spoke with Oly Peterson on 6PR’s Perth Live.
“We think that all people should be able to benefit from solar,” Mr Dignam said.
https://www.6pr.com.au/mandatory-solar-installation-for-landlord…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Housing crisis tightens in regional Victoria as Mildura renter looks for better option
Tamara Clark ABC (No paywall)Orange picker Christiaan Sprangemeijer says finding affordable accommodation is a struggle as he pays $160 per week for a single bed in a room that also houses two strangers.
The working holiday-maker from the Netherlands was thrust directly into the crux of a housing crisis when he moved to the Murray River city of Mildura this year.
Mr Sprangemeijer, 29, said he was desperately saving his minimum wage to upgrade to a room at the Merbein Hotel, to the north-west of Mildura.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-14/housing-crisis-tightens-r…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing market, Personal stories.Tenant urges others to follow after deposit win
Andrew Picken BBC (No paywall)A tenant who took her landlord to a tribunal to win her deposit back has urged other renters to follow her lead.
Edinburgh Holiday and Party Lets (EHPL) was ordered to refund Adéla Koubová after a housing tribunal ruled her former flat was not a holiday let.
It means the legal relationship was that of landlord and tenant - giving Adéla greater protection.
The flat is owned by Mark Fortune, a businessman who has been refused entry to Scotland's landlord register.
Meet the typical South Korean millennial: educated, overqualified for the job market, and part of the 'kangaroo tribe' that can't afford to leave their parents' homes
Matthew Loh and Reena Koh Business Insider (No paywall)Kwon graduated in 2022 from Yonsei University, a top college where he swam on the varsity team and earned a double degree in physical education and public administration. He lives in Gangnam — Seoul's glitzy city center — in a four-room apartment that his family has owned for generations.
He works as a data analyst at a multinational tech firm in a country where stable, white-collar jobs are glorified as the key to a good life. On weekends, he competes in swimming competitions and is set to represent Seoul in under-30 tournaments.
https://www.businessinsider.com/south-korean-millennial-income-h…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, International, Young people.