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
Australian renters face surging costs after end of national affordability scheme
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)‘It’s quite frightening,’ says a tenant who lost her rent subsidy. As debate stalls over the housing future fund, she’s not the only one who’s frustrated.
Ruth Johnson was afraid her rent would surge when it was no longer covered by a federal government subsidy program. She was right.
For three years, Johnson was one of 32,000 renters benefiting from the National Affordability Rental Scheme (NRAS), a Rudd-era program that paid property owners a subsidy in exchange for them keeping rents on new homes below market rate for a decade.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/31/australia…
# Hot topic Australia, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, State Government.Inheritance taxes, resource taxes and an attack on negative gearing: how top economists would raise $20 billion per yea
Peter Martin The Conversation (No paywall)Asked to find an extra A$20 billion per year to fund government priorities like building nuclear submarines and responding to climate change, Australia’s top economists overwhelmingly back land tax, increased resource taxes, an attack on negative gearing and extending the scope of the goods and services tax.
The 59 leading economists surveyed by The Conversation and the Economic Society of Australia were asked to pick from a list of 13 options (many of them identified in the government’s 2022-23 Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement) and reply as if political constraints were not a problem.
https://theconversation.com/inheritance-taxes-resource-taxes-and…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Mouldy Rental Horror Story A Warning For Other Renters
Georgie Tunny The Project (No paywall)It's no secret the rental market is a nightmare, with the odds stacked against those desperate for a place to live. But Maddie's mouldy rental horror story shows that if you are prepared to fight, you can still win.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=231824412714221&extid=CL-UNK-U…
# Hot topic, Video Australia, Share houses, Tribunal NCAT, Mould.International students resorting to pitching tents in living rooms as rental shortage bites
Wing Huang ABC (No paywall)When Zoe Jiang was at home in China, packing her bags to stay in Sydney, she did not think to bring an item that would prove essential — a tent.
The 27-year-old finance student arrived in Australia in January, only to find rental prices so high that she had to rely on short-stay accommodation.
At one of the short stays, Ms Jiang had no room of her own. She had to pitch a tent in the middle of the living room so she could have some privacy from her housemates who came home late.
It cost $300 a week in rent.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-04/international-students-re…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Housing market, Personal stories, Students.Sydney rental crisis could worsen
Charles Croucher 9 News (No paywall)Sydney's sky high rents are here to stay with warnings the crisis could actually get worse.
https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/sydney-rental-crisis-co…
# Hot topic, Video NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.$900 a week for a studio: Mark is pushing back against a rent hike. Here’s how you can too
Jennifer Luu SBS (No paywall)Mark (not his real name) was shocked to find out the rent on his studio apartment is being upped to $900 per week.
It’s a hike of 20 per cent, with Mark currently paying $750 weekly for the property he and his partner have called home for two years.
Mark said the situation has left him feeling anxious and frustrated.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/article/900-a-week-for-a-st…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.South Coast community donates goods to set up Bruce Buchanan's social housing unit
Holly Tregenza ABC (No paywall)An elderly man who faced early entry into aged care just to have somewhere to live says he has been saved by his community and local service agencies who rallied to find him a unit and make it his home.
Bruce Buchanan moved to Moruya on the New South Wales South Coast about a year ago to stay with his sister Gaye Finch after a series of crises left him homeless.
But with Ms Finch scheduled for significant surgery, he had to find somewhere else to live while a carer moved into her home.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-04/south-coast-community-sup…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Older people, Strong communities.Richard pushed back on a 77 per cent rent hike. Then he was asked to leave
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Sydney renter Richard Woods knew moving out of home in a rental crisis would be no easy feat, but never expected his first share-house experience would be so short-lived.
The 25-year-old customer service worker moved into a Petersham house mid-last year, paying $325 per week for a furnished room.
But less than nine months later he returned to his family home, after being notified of a 77 per cent rent hike that would increase his housing costs to $575 per week including utilities.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/richard-pushed-back-on-a-77…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent, Personal stories.