ABOUT

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

Publish date
Key topics

‘Worse before it gets better’: Renters face stiff competition for homes

Kate Burke
Domain (No paywall)

Australian tenants are struggling to find affordable homes, as strong demand and fewer rental options drive up competition and prices for properties. Tenants are facing record low rental vacancies – fewer than 1 per cent of rentals were left empty in August – and experts fear the situation could worsen in the months ahead. The national vacancy rate held at 0.9 per cent last month, down from 1.7 per cent the previous August, Domain data shows, and the proportion of empty rentals in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane more than halved year-on-year. Sydney’s rental vacancy rate fell to 1.2 per cent, the lowest on record for the time series, which began in 2017. Melbourne’s rate dropped to 1.3 per cent, marking the eighth consecutive monthly decline and lowest point since March 2019. ... Tenants Victoria director of community engagement, Farah Farouque, said renters on low to middle incomes – including a growing number of young families – were facing the greatest challenge, with rent hikes truly outstripping growth in wages and support payments. Even once-affordable outer suburbs and regional areas were becoming too expensive. “We’ve had a surge in people talking about financial stress from rent increases varying from $30 per week to up to $320 per week in one very stark case,” she said. ... Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said the state of the rental market was “a disaster”. Rents and no-grounds evictions were rising, and some tenants who were evicted were struggling to find a new property in time. “We’re hearing from people with 100-plus applications in,” he said, adding the application process for homes was also becoming more intrusive, as some tenants were asked to provide links to their social media profile.

https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/worse-before-it-gets-better…

# TUNSW in the media Australia, Eviction, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, No-grounds evictions.
 

Social housing rent rises to be capped in England next year

Robert Booth
The Guardian (No paywall)

Rent rises for millions of people living in social housing will be capped next year, the government has announced, but tenants are calling for a full freeze and threatening not to pay increases. Citing the cost of living crisis, Greg Clark, the housing secretary, said social landlords would be limited to an annual increase of between 3% and 7%, with the exact figure to be set after a consultation, which will also ask if the temporary cap should be in place for one or two years.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/31/social-housing-r…

# International, Public and community housing, Rent.
 

Bundaberg's Hinkler Lions Park refuge for homeless as Australia lucky country no more for some

Brad Marsellos
ABC (No paywall)

Hinkler Lions Park isn't a campsite for paying visitors but the last refuge for the changing face of homelessness caught in the crossfire of Australia's housing crisis. Nine young children are among the residents who live day-to-day, unsure about where they will go next. Julie Ann Tucker, 68, and her partner Ron Hughes, 71, have called this park home for several months, but they say the worst part is knowing they're better off than others living there. "The toughest thing about living like this is watching women and children homeless and struggling," Mr Hughes said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-01/bundaberg-children-pensio…

# Australia, Land lease communities, Homelessness.
 

Queensland mother of eight rejected for 597 homes slams rental discrimination

Damien Haffenden
(No paywall)

A Queensland mother of eight has slammed real estate agents and landlords, claiming they discriminate against single mums. Nicole Kent had to look for a new house after the floods hit earlier this year, right as the rental market tightened. She said she applied for nearly 600 rentals before being accepted into her Ipswich home, but only after offering to clean the property - for free - after it was trashed by previous tenants. She said she applied for nearly 600 rentals before being accepted into her Ipswich home, but only after offering to clean the property - for free - after it was trashed by previous tenants.“Two real estate (agents) told me to get a partner,” Kent told Sunrise. (7 News)

https://7news.com.au/sunrise/queensland-mother-of-eight-rejected…

# Australia, Discrimination, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Women.
 

Landlords in the house: The Queensland MPs with skin in the rental market

Matt Dennien
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)

About one-third of Queensland’s state MPs own at least one investment property, analysis of the most recent parliamentary declarations shows. The details come ahead of scrutiny of a new Greens private member’s bill seeking a two-year rent freeze, and stage two of the Palaszczuk government’s slated rental reforms. ... 'Brisbane Times' analysis of the register shows that as of August 26, 27 MPs have explicitly declared interest in at least one investment or “rental” property, with some declaring up to four. A further eight MPs’ declarations were unclear about the nature of interest in one or more of the properties. ... Of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s 18-person cabinet, six ministers declared a total of 11 investment properties. Palaszczuk owns two herself, with three each for Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/landlords-in-the-hous…

# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents, State Government.
 

Sydney and Melbourne rents surge, but headed even higher

John Collett
The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)

The return of international students and new boosted immigration numbers will likely place further upward pressure on rents, which are already surging at a rapid clip, property experts say. Renters are facing a perfect storm of chronic undersupply, particularly of units, due to a lack of construction and property investors switching from the long-term rental market to short-term, holiday accommodation. Louis Christopher, founder of SQM Research, suspects the rental squeeze is forcing many younger renters into either moving back into family homes, moving further out of cities where rents are cheaper, or sharing their rental accommodation with more people, in a bid to combat the surge in what is the biggest cost-of-living expense for most people. ... Figures from Digital Finance Analytics show the percentage of people suffering from rental stress has already hit 51 per cent in Victoria and 62 per cent in New South Wales – about double normal levels. Both are higher than the stress levels of mortgage holders. ... Martin North, founder of Digital Finance Analytics, says many landlords entered short-term letting markets, such as putting their property on the Airbnb platform, after borders re-opened, leaving fewer properties in the long-term rental market.

https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/sydney-and-melbourne-rent…

# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Short-term holiday letting.
 

Minister Julie Collins on Labor’s plan for Australia’s housing crisis


The Guardian (No paywall)

Chief political correspondent Sarah Martin talks to Julie Collins, the federal housing minister, about Labor’s election promise to build 30,000 affordable homes and how she’s working with states and territories to address the social housing shortage

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2022/sep/03/min…

# Audio Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing market.
 

Former Reserve Bank economist suggests Greens push for interest rate freeze is nonsensical

Paul Karp
The Guardian (No paywall)

A call by the federal Greens for an interest rate freeze could push consumer prices higher and hurt savers and renters, an expert has warned. Economist Dr Zac Gross issued the warning after the Greens economic justice spokesman, Nick McKim, called on the Reserve Bank to “hit pause” on cash rate rises until the October budget to pressure the government to “rein in corporate profiteering”.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/04/former-re…

# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.
 

Housing News Digest Search

Publish date