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
More than 2500 days after Labor’s promise, can NSW ban no-grounds evictions?
Max Maddison The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The pitch was compelling, if not a little familiar. Standing surrounded by three small dogs, two ministers and a rental commissioner at the Domain in Sydney CBD on Monday, Premier Chris Minns trumpeted a raft of renter-friendly policies, signalling the next stage of his government’s housing reforms. Pets would be allowed in rentals, tenants would have to be offered a fee-free means of paying rent, and no-grounds evictions – barring landlords from punting renters during their leases without reasonable cause – would proceed to parliament.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/more-than-2500-days-after-la…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent.How the most affluent Australians disproportionately benefit from negative gearing
Cait Kelly and Josh Nicholas The Guardian (No paywall)Negative gearing helps high-earning Australians the most, with those with income of more than $180,000 annually snaring almost one-quarter of the benefits, despite numbering just 5% of taxpayers. Data from the Australian Taxation Office showed people who earn more than $180,000 were able to lower their collective tax bill by $1.3bn in 2021-2022 through negative gearing. The $1.3bn was roughly 25% of all the losses on rental properties claimed by taxpayers in that financial year.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/27/how-the-m…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.More than 430,000 Australians could have owned their own home today – if not for negative gearing inaction from seven PMs
Peter Martin ABC (No paywall)Thirteen years ago at the tax summit called to discuss the Henry Tax Review, David Koch stopped discussion of negative gearing dead in its tracks.
Better known by many as "Kochie", he was the long-running host of Channel Seven's Sunrise, TV's favourite "daggy dad", a finance journalist and a community representative at the summit. Property manager Eddie Kutner had just finished putting the case for negative gearing. He argued allowing landlords who lost money to deduct the losses from their other income to cut tax was "a responsible part of providing accommodation".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-02/negative-gearing-what-wil…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.A landlord wanted April out to move in a family member. VCAT said no
Jim Malo The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ruled that a landlord could not evict her tenant to move her father into the home because it could have left the tenant worse off. The case shows how a change to Victorian tenancy law in 2018 works in practice. A clause inserted in the Residential Tenancies Act states that possession orders – just one step in forcibly evicting tenants from their homes – must be reasonable and proportionate. It means an eviction is no longer a given if a valid notice to vacate is served.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/a-landlord-wanted-april-out…
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Rent.Tenant evicted from 'sinking' rental home with hours' notice awarded $5,000 by Queensland tribunal
Jessica Black ABC (No paywall)A Queensland tenant who complained for years that his rental was "sinking" was given 16 hours to vacate after the house was declared unliveable, despite passing an inspection just months before. The Moreton Bay home was propped up in places with bricks and rocks where the stumps had rotted away, according to submissions made to the state's civil tribunal last month. The same agent who rented out the house put it up for sale within weeks of the eviction notice, describing it as needing "some TLC (or a bulldozer)". It sold a few weeks later for $590,000.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-28/housing-standards-evictio…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Repairs, Tribunal NCAT.Dockside Marina lessee taken to Land Court by Department of Resources over unfixed safety hazards
Kenji Sato ABC (No paywall)Don Mills says his landlord hiked his maintenance fees nearly three times across eight years for repairs that never got finished. The houseboat owner lives in Brisbane's Dockside Marina, which has been fenced off to the public for over a year after being deemed a safety hazard by the Queensland government. The popular boardwalk has also remained blocked off, sparking protests by Kangaroo Point residents and cyclists.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-27/government-takes-brisbane…
# Must read Australia, Privacy and access, Rent, Repairs.NT government announces $20 million housing scheme
ABC (No paywall)VIDEO: Delivering election promises... Today, a $20 million rent scheme for new home owners. In the new scheme, buyers will be able to access grants of up to $50,000 for buying or building a new home.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-25/nt-government-announces-$…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement, Video Australia, Rent.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.