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
Britain’s broken housing system means living inside a sick joke
Eloise Hendy The Independent (No paywall)A fortnight ago, my partner and I asked to renew our tenancy. In reply, the property manager prompted us to “confirm” how much more rent we could “comfortably afford” – because, of course, tenants must be responsible for fluctuations in the housing market, and costs must be passed on to them. We said that there was no increase we could “comfortably afford”, and now we’re waiting – to see if we can stay, or if we’ll be priced out. Anyone whose home life touches the sharp edges of the housing crisis is probably intimately familiar with this kind of waiting, because the experience of dealing with both precarious labour and insecure housing is so unsteady. Unable to plan for the future, you become trapped in the present. You feel a bit like a duck moving its legs underwater, staying still but only through constant effort.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/britain-housing-rent-la…
# Must read International, Rent.The worrying trend of landlords banning tenants from working from home
Emma Guinness The Independent (Soft Paywall)Landlords have come under fire for banning prospective tenants from working from home, resulting in calls for new legislation to protect renters. In what appears to be a new trend, adverts for shared homes have been appearing, specifying that the potential new occupant must not work from home.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/landlord-housing…
# Hot topic, Video International, Rent.No-grounds eviction banned in NSW and rent increases capped at once a year
Tamsin Rose and Catie McLeod The Guardian (No paywall)No-grounds evictions have been outlawed in New South Wales with the passing of new laws designed to rebalance power between the state’s 2.2 million renters and their landlords. While the changes, promised before the 2023 election, did not go as far as some had hoped, advocates described the reforms as some of the biggest in the state’s history. They make it harder for renters to be evicted, easier to rent with a pet and cap rent increases to once yearly. The premier, Chris Minns, said renters had been “the forgotten people in NSW for too long and that ends now”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/25/nsw-renta…
# Must read, New policy announcement NSW, Rent.Tenants’ group reacts to rental reforms: “The fight isn’t over”
Orana Durney-Benson Domain (No paywall)The group representing New South Wales tenants has praised the government’s ban on no-grounds evictions, but warn there is more to do. The Tenants’ Union of NSW have raised loopholes that still exist and could lead to discrimination and exploitation. “Millions of renters have felt the impact of no grounds evictions in their lives – whether it was hesitating to ask for repairs or negotiate a rent increase, or having to find a new home without justification,” CEO Leo Patterson Ross says. He praised the ban on no grounds evictions as “the single most significant change we can make to residential tenancies law”.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/tenants-group-reacts-to-rental-re…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media, New policy announcement NSW, .Sweeping rental reforms for NSW tenants and landlords
7 News (No paywall)Sweeping rental reforms in NSW include the banning of no grounds evictions and rent increases capped to one per year. A suite of rental reforms have passed NSW Parliament, which are promised to give 'peace of mind' to the 2.2 million tenants across the state.
# Video NSW, Eviction, Rent.DV and privacy protection still to come in rent reforms
Jack Gramenz and Neve Brissenden Area News (No paywall)More changes have been promised to protect people fleeing domestic violence amid concerns tenancy tweaks will not increase housing and could discourage investors in Australia's most expensive property market. Laws to end no-grounds evictions in NSW - a key election promise for the incoming Labor government - will ensure greater stability for tenants after the legislation passed state parliament late on Thursday. But industry groups have criticised "anti-landlord" policies they say will prompt investors to sell up. Other changes tighten existing requirements, limit rental increases to once a year and prevent landlords a blanket rejection of pets.
https://www.areanews.com.au/story/8802485/dv-and-privacy-protect…
# Hot topic NSW, Domestic violence.Calls for NSW government to step up as elderly boarding house residents face eviction and displacement
Holly Tregenza ABC (No paywall)One of Sav Durac's friends locked himself in his room and didn't come out for more than a week after being served an eviction notice from their Sydney boarding house a fortnight ago. In the end, an ambulance showed up, taking him to an acute ward at St Vincent's hospital down the road. He's still there. Clutching the eviction letter, Mr Durac sits in the boarding house on Selwyn Street in Paddington where he has lived for 56 years. Many of the tenants here are older, on pensions or living with a disability. Mr Durac is one of 30 vulnerable residents, all of which are men, who have been in various states of distress after receiving notice from LFD Developments, who plans to turn their homes into four luxury apartments.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-06/nsw-boarding-house-reside…
# Must read NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Eviction.NSW passes ‘no grounds’ evictions law, Tenants Union says more work needed
Jim McIlroy Green Left (No paywall)After years of campaigning by housing groups, New South Wales finally adopted reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act, including banning “no-grounds” evictions on October 24. The NSW Tenants Union welcomed the changes, which come into effect next year, but said more work was needed to ensure renters had security and stability. The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2024 also caps rent rises to one a year. It does not affect a landlord’s right to terminate a lease for existing reasons under the law, including for a breach of the tenancy agreement, damage to the property, use of the premises for illegal purposes or non-payment of rent.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/nsw-passes-no-grounds-evict…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media, New policy announcement NSW, Eviction, Rent.