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
$520k a year: The Sydney building where CEOs and entrepreneurs pay hundreds of thousands in rent
Sam Murden realestate.com.au (No paywall)Sydneysiders looking for the ultimate luxury rental have been invited to make a ‘six-star’ hotel in Barangaroo home for up to $350,000 per year.
Amid a rental crisis in which Sydneysiders are lining up for hours to inspect available stock and cutting back on household spending to afford ballooning rent prices, the three bedroom and two bathroom apartment at 1A Barangaroo Ave is available for $9,500 per week.
The successful renter will also move into the same building as billionaire James Packer.
Mr Packer will pay $60m for two residential floors of Crown Sydney at Barangaroo, which are located above the mid-levels of the luxury high rise project that will include a casino for high rollers.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/520k-a-year-the-sydney-buildi…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Housing market, Renting culture.Samantha’s son was stressed about a rent hike, so she bought him a house
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Samantha Cook knows how fortunate she is: she bought an investment property in the spur of the moment one Saturday to help her adult son with the escalating rental and cost of living crisis.
Cook, who lives in the US with her husband who is a lawyer, had only flown into Sydney days before and was shocked to see how stressed her son was when they caught up over dinner.
“We were sitting there, and he was saying ‘I’m so stressed about money, the cost of food, the cost of housing.’ He was looking at another rental hike,” Cook said.
Later that night, she messaged her husband to say they should buy an investment property to help their son.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/samantha-s-son-was-stressed…
# Hot topic NSW, Families, Housing market, Personal stories.Sydney man left homeless amid housing, cost of living crisis
Jacob Shteyman 7 News (No paywall)More Australians are being pushed onto the streets. But residents of some affluent suburbs are obstructing affordable housing that could help solve the issue.
With its sparkling coastline and multimillion dollar homes, Sydney’s Northern Beaches boasts some of Australia’s most sought-after postcodes.
But a growing population of rough sleepers are battling to survive in its waterfront suburbs, forced onto the streets by rising rents and cost of living pressures.
https://7news.com.au/business/sydney-property/sydney-man-left-ho…
# Hot topic NSW, Homelessness, Housing market, Personal stories.Agent responds to furore over Sydney landlord's $50-per-week rule for males
Carly Bass Yahoo News (No paywall)A Sydney real estate agent has responded to accusations of unlawful discrimination after a rental listing for a one-bedroom property demanded male applicants pay an extra $50 a week – due to what they claimed was a typical male trait.
A screenshot taken from the Domain website and shared on social media appears to show details about the terrace house in the inner-west suburb of Newtown. The ad stated the extra amount for males was "due to their propensity to be messier" and those who disagreed shouldn't apply.
With the small detail attracting plenty of negative attention, many were quick to point out the controversial gender rule is actually unlawful.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/agent-responds-to-furore-over-sydney-l…
# Hot topic NSW, Discrimination, Rent, Housing market.Scotland rent freeze: the loophole landlords are using
Gabriel McKay The Herald (Scotland) (No paywall)Landlords are getting around the Scottish Government cap on rent increases by exploiting a loophole in the law, tenants and activists have warned.
A temporary freeze came into effect in September 2022 in response to the cost of living crisis, which means that rents cannot be raised by more than 3 per cent. That can only be applied if there hasn’t been an increase in the past 12 months.
However, the cap can be exceeded if the tenant and landlord both agree and The Herald can reveal this loophole is being exploited to hike costs for renters.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23462955.scotland-rent-f…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Young families desert London as rents soar nearly 20%
Andrew Ellson The Times (No paywall)Annual rent growth has jumped nearly 20 per cent in London, raising fears of an exodus of young families.
The estate agent Hamptons reports that rents in inner London rose 18.5 per cent in the year to March, taking the cost of the average property in the capital’s 12 most central boroughs to £3,046 a month, up from £2,571 this time last year. Rental growth in outer London is not far behind, at 15.6 per cent.
Across the country as a whole, rent levels rose 10.8 per cent in the year to March, only the third time Hamptons’ lettings index has recorded double-digit growth since it started in 2012. The others were in February this year and May last year.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/young-families-desert-london-…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Families, Housing market, International.Spanish government to make 50,000 foreclosed homes available for rent amid housing crisis
Staff ABC (No paywall)Spain is aiming to help millions of young adults still living with their parents to rent their own homes by offering properties abandoned when its housing market collapsed a decade ago.
The rising cost of rent is set to become a key campaign issue as Spain gears up for regional ballots on May 28 and a general election later this year.
In Spain, 16 per cent of young people live independently, compared to an average of 32 per cent in Europe, according to the Observatory of Emancipation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-19/spain-housing-crisis-fore…
# Hot topic International, Affordable housing, Housing market, International.London’s Housing Crisis Is About to Get Worse
Olivia Konotey-Ahulu Bloomberg (Paywall)Sales and construction completion levels for newly-built properties in London have plummeted to their lowest level in around a decade as buyers dry up for the capital, in the latest sign that the city’s housing market is in crisis.
In the first quarter of 2023, sales of new homes slumped by 39% compared to the same period the previous year, to 3768, according to data compiled by Molior London and seen by Bloomberg News.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-19/london-s-hous…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.