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.
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
Most Australians agree there should be a cap on rent increases - but there's a catch
April Glover 9 News (No paywall)Most Australians agree rental laws should impose a cap on rent increases for tenants. According to a nine.com.au reader poll, the majority of Aussies would be happy to see a limit on how much a landlord can raise the rent in every state. The survey found 67 per cent of 539 users* want to see a change in the country's rental laws to reflect this. Just 22 per cent of people said they didn't want a limit on how much a landlord can legally increase rent, while 11 per cent said they were unsure. According to the Rental Pain Index, the average rental increase in Australia by July 2024 was 10.29 per cent.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/should-rental-laws-cap-rent-in…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.When can tenants challenge evictions?
ABC (No paywall)How do tenancy tribunals balance the competing needs of tenants and landlords? And why is Victoria - from a tenants' perspective - ahead of the pack? Guests: Tanya Lakic, Lawyer, Peninsula Community Legal Centre; Leo Patterson Ross, CEO, Tenants' Union of NSW.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lawreport/tenants-and-lan…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, Rent, Tribunal NCAT.Australia has an extraordinary 13 million spare bedrooms. Here’s how to use at least some of them to ease the housing crisis
Lyndall Bryant The Conversation (No paywall)While there’s little relief in sight for Australia’s housing crisis, with new projects years away from completion, there appear to be as many as 13 million unused spare bedrooms across the country. In a new briefing paper for the QUT Centre for Justice I suggest that, at least in the interim, these spare rooms ought to be part of the solution. Here’s where you find them. The census says about 3.2 million Australian homes have one spare bedroom, another 3 million have two spare rooms and 1.2 million have three spare bedrooms or more.
https://theconversation.com/australia-has-an-extraordinary-13-mi…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Renting taskforce lands in Fitzroy
Consumer Affairs Victoria (No paywall)Consumer Affairs Victoria’s renting taskforce carried out a blitz in and around the Fitzroy area on Saturday, as it continues its important role of checking that advertised rental properties meet mandatory minimum standards. The taskforce visited properties in the inner north, where there’s high demand for rentals. It’s the taskforce’s second blitz, following one carried out in Clayton in August. Victoria’s 14 rental minimum standards cover aspects of properties people would reasonably expect, like structural soundness, a functional kitchen and windows that open.
https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/latest-news/renting-taskforce-la…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Older women 'speed dating' for the ideal flatmate due to soaring rental costs
Danielle Mahe, Chloe Maxwell and Nicole Dyer ABC (No paywall)Dozens of single women aged over 50 anxiously wait to meet their match at a Gold Coast cafe. But they are not here to find the perfect partner. Instead, they are looking for a flatmate. "This is speed dating for housemates," announces event host, Helene Newson. She created it after struggling to find an affordable rental on the Gold Coast, which has one of the highest median rental prices in the country.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-07/speed-flatmating-housing-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Slater and Gordon launch class action lawsuit against WA over housing conditions
Duncan Evans news.com.au (No paywall)Indigenous Australians living in remote Western Australia have launched a massive new class action lawsuit against the WA state government, alleging they have been subjected to substandard housing conditions. Shocking photos attached to the lawsuit show rundown houses with mould and cracks on the walls. Law firm Slater and Gordon, representing thousands of Indigenous tenants living in public housing across remote WA, has filed the action in the Federal Court, accusing the Housing Authority and the state, as lessors of public housing in remote Aboriginal communities, of breaching multiple residential tenancy, contract and consumer protection laws.
https://www.news.com.au/national/western-australia/slater-and-go…
# Must read Australia, Aboriginal renters, Rent, Repairs.Near 'impossible' homeownership leaves generation rent with dire future, expert warns
Yashee Sharma 9 News (No paywall)Homeownership has become near impossible for most Australians as new data shows that it would take the average person about a decade to save for a deposit. The 2024 Helia Home Buyer Sentiment Report found it would take 14 years to save up for the traditional 20 per cent deposit for a home in Sydney and nine years for a home in Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. In Adelaide and Perth, it would take eight years. In Hobart, it would take seven years and in Darwin, it would take six years.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/near-impossible-homeownership-…
# Video Australia, Rent.Albanese government have ‘offered nothing’ on housing policy: Max Chandler-Mather
news.com.au (No paywall)Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has accused Labor of offering “nothing” in negotiations over housing policy. “To the Prime Minister, the Greens will work with Labor to cut rents, phase out negative gearing and the capital gains discount and invest the savings in a mass build of public housing,” Mr Chandler-Mather said during Question Time on Tuesday. “We don't expect to get everything. We are ready to negotiate but you have offered nothing."
https://www.news.com.au/national/albanese-government-have-offere…
# Must read, Video Australia, Rent.