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
‘Get out of the way’: Rose Jackson’s social housing warning for ‘anti-development’ Sydney suburbs
Tamsin Rose The Guardian (No paywall)Rose Jackson wants to make one thing very clear as she begins her new role as New South Wales’ housing minister: medium- and high-density social housing developments should be built in Sydney’s north shore and eastern suburbs.
And if the residents there don’t embrace them? Too bad.
As she grapples with just how ambitious she plans to set her targets and the levers she can pull to achieve them, Jackson said she hopes to bring the communities, described by some as anti-development, with her.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/13/rose-jack…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Rent, Planning and development, State Government.Elders' new homes to help address systemic overcrowding in Wilcannia
Bill Ormonde ABC (No paywall)For decades, the problem of overcrowding has plagued the town of Wilcannia in outback New South Wales, a systemic issue that attracted media attention during the predominantly Indigenous community's COVID outbreak of 2021.
While the spotlight has faded, the issue has remained.
The chair of the Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council, Michael Kennedy, believed the living conditions were untenable.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-13/new-homes-in-wilcannia-ad…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Aboriginal renters, Public and community housing, Affordable housing.'It is getting worse': Rental crisis hits NSW's Hunter region
Sarah Swain 9 News (No paywall)A housing crisis in the NSW Hunter Region is becoming more pronounced with tenants forced to reckon with major rent hikes.
Industry bodies are calling for reform as a growing number of desperate renters say they face homelessness.
Nicholas Harrison has been a renter for more than 15 years but has now lost his home.
"I was on the lease for $600 a fortnight and she has put the rent up to over $800 a fortnight," he said.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/rental-crisis-nsw-hunter-regio…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Personal stories.Edward Eagar Centre: more than shelter for the homeless
Stephen Crafti The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)There are not too many buildings that combine two such contrasting architectural styles on one site.
However, the Wesley Edward Eagar Centre, in Sydney’s Surry Hills, features a sandstone church in a Greek-revival style, circa 1847, integrated with a seven-storey 1970s brutalist concrete tower.
While the strong juxtaposition of architecture could not be changed in the recent renovation of the centre for the homeless, it certainly had to be considered by the project’s architect.
“Our brief was to bring some dignity to those who might be staying there,” says architect Rodney Paesler, managing director of Scott Carver.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/edward-eagar-centre-mo…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Personal stories.$2000 a week for a two-bed flat? Agents asking inflated rental prices
Michael Koziol The Age (Paywall)Landlords and real estate agents are testing the limits of Sydney’s red-hot rental market by asking inflated prices that have to be quickly reduced to secure a tenant amid a rental crisis in which vacancy rates have plunged to 1 per cent.
But the head of the Real Estate Institute, which represents agents, blamed the practice on the previous NSW government’s decision to ban soliciting rental bids, saying it forced property owners to start high and work their way down instead.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/2000-a-week-for-a-two-bed…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Dilapidated Sydney house in Greenacre offers free rent in exchange for full renovation
Paige Cockburn ABC (No paywall)An uninhabitable Sydney home being offered rent free for a year has been criticised by the NSW premier but the agent listing the property says demand has been through the roof.
On Sunday the three-bedroom home in Greenacre in Sydney's south west was advertised for zero rent for 12 months on the condition that the tenant complete a full renovation of the dilapidated home.
The ad described the offer as a good opportunity for someone with trade experience and said rent in the second and third year of the agreement would be negotiable.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-18/sydney-home-in-greenacre-…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.'Greedy' homeowner slam is slammed after advertising patch of grass for $130 per week as rental crisis worsens
Olivia Day Daily Mail (Australia) (No paywall)A 'greedy' homeowner has been slammed for advertising a patch of grass in his backyard for $130 per week amid Sydney's deepening rental crisis.
The man, from Eagle Vale in the city's southwest, specified that renters would need to provide their own 'small shed' or 'tent' on Facebook Marketplace.
He made it clear the square of turf was only available for a 'short stay' and that $520 in bond and two weeks' rent would be required up-front.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11962341/Sydney-rental-…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.Bidding wars: inside the super-charged fight for rental properties
Jess Clark The Guardian (No paywall)Facing high demand and low supply, there is often only 48 hours to strike a deal. With some hopefuls paying £50,000 upfront to secure a home.
The cost of renting in London and many other parts of the country has soared over the past year, with a lack of available properties meaning tenants face tough competition to secure a home. Some feel they have little option but to pay thousands of pounds upfront – £50,000 isn’t unusual – or sign longer leases to beat other hopeful applicants.
According to the latest figures from the property website Zoopla, average rents in London have hit £1,978 a month – up 15.2% over the last 12 months – while Rightmove said annual rent inflation in the capital was running at 15.7%.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/apr/08/bidding-wars-insid…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Rent, Housing market, International.