ADVICE OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD
Tenants Advice & Advocacy Services have limited availability over the holiday period. The Tenants' Union will operate a Tenancy Advice Hotline from Wednesday 18/12/2024 until Wednesday 8/1/2025 (excluding weekends and public holidays). The hours of operation are 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.
Get advice on: (02) 8117 3750 or 1800 251 101
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
It's not a house. It's a home.
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)In an amazing victory following a long-fought legal battle, Tenants' Union client Mr Charles Joseph Warren has secured his ability to stay in his family's home of more than 100 years through a Fair Rent Determination. Mr Warren, or 'Joey' as his friends and family know him, has been in and out of court for years with his landlord, including fighting for his right to stay. An ex-miner, he has lived his whole life in the former mining town of Catherine Hill Bay. Now an elderly man 80 years in age, with declining health, Joey wished to stay and enjoy the serenity of his home for his remaining years. Unfortunately, his developer landlord, Wallalong Land Developments have taken action which could have resulted in him being evicted from his home.
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent.Joey’s home is his castle. He pays $50 a month in rent
Michaela Whitbourn The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It was a case that “appears to have been lifted from the script of the classic Australian film The Castle”, a NSW magistrate said. Charles Joseph “Joey” Warren, 80, has lived in a miner’s cottage at Catherine Hill Bay, about 30 kilometres south of Newcastle, for 57 years. His grandparents lived there before him. And for as long as he can remember, his rent has been $50 a month. Things changed in 2017. A property developer, Wallalong Land Developments, bought the land from Coal & Allied, then owned by Rio Tinto.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/joey-s-home-is-his-castle-he…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction.New data shows hardest hit areas for rental price rises as ‘desperate’ renters struggle to stay afloat
Sarah Kester 7 News (No paywall)There are fears skyrocketing rental prices could be “plunging” renters into homelessness as new data shows the areas hardest hit by NSW’s ongoing housing crisis New rental data has highlighted the areas most affected by rising rental costs over the past 12 months, urging welfare agencies to call on state government to help “desperate” people find a home. “NSW is entrenched in a severe housing crisis which is causing severe distress and harm across the state,” Homelessness NSW CEO Dominique Rowe said.
https://7news.com.au/news/new-data-shows-hardest-hit-areas-for-r…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.‘Extremely concerning’: Once affordable areas hit hardest by rent increases in Sydney
Nathan Schmidt news.com.au (No paywall)Sydney suburbs once considered to be more affordable than other parts of the city have been hit hardest by rental increases, “extremely concerning” new data has revealed. The analysis of recent bond lodgements by Homelessness NSW found rents in Greater Sydney had risen by 9.1 per cent over the past year. Sydney’s southwest, usually more affordable, was hit hardest with increase of up to 16.4 per cent in Liverpool, Fairfield, and Camden. Homelessness NSW CEO Dominique Rowe said the findings were “extremely concerning”, with renters plunged into homelessness.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/extremely-concerning-once-…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.$704 per week: Illawarra rental prices on the rise again
Brendan Crabb Illawarra Mercury (No paywall)Rent values in the Illawarra continue to climb, with dwelling rents going up by an average of 0.6 per cent in July. According to CoreLogic's monthly Chart Pack figures, the median rent for the Illawarra for all dwellings (houses and units combined) is $704, up from $663 a year prior. This is compared to a current median rent of $573 for the rest of NSW, excluding Sydney, and $539 a year prior. Meanwhile, in Greater Sydney, the current median rent is $777.
https://view.com.au/news/nsw/704-per-week-illawarra-rental-price…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Holiday rentals make up 10 per cent of housing supply
Coast Community News (No paywall)Holiday rental accommodation takes up as much as 10 per cent of housing on the Central Coast, according to a Local Housing Strategy (LHS), adopted by Administrator Rik Hart at the May 28 Central Coast Council meeting. The Strategy will now be presented to the State Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI), for endorsement. It says that about 10 per cent of private dwellings within the Central Coast Local Government Area were unoccupied on Census night in 2021. Three districts recorded unoccupancy rates above the average.
https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2024/06/hol…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Portable rental bond system on the way
Coast Community News (No paywall)Eligible tenants moving from one rental property to another will soon be able to digitally take their bond with them, under a portable rental bonds system being undertaken by the NSW Government. The move is part of a package of rental law reforms designed to deliver a fairer rental system. Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch said the state’s first ever portable rental bonds scheme will be a welcome development for NSW’s rental community, which is nearly one in every three members of the NSW population. “More people are renting than ever before, and the number of people renting is up 17.6 per cent since 2016,” Tesch said. “Renters are already burdened with the double whammy of increasing rents and low vacancy rates.
https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2024/08/por…
# Hot topic NSW, Bond.‘Get with the program’: The issue holding back Sydney’s new homes
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The state government has begun a shake-up of Sydney Water’s board and ordered it to “get with the program” on solving the housing crisis, amid escalating tension over the state-owned corporation’s approach to enabling infrastructure for new homes. Water Minister Rose Jackson branded the company “a big problem” when it came to releasing land for greenfield development, accusing it and the previous government of hugely underinvesting in capital works, though that was now being remedied.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/get-with-the-program-the-iss…
# Hot topic NSW, Utilities electricity water gas.