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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
Housing Minister Rose Jackson says gas issues fixed before Whalan explosion but is 'embarrassed' by social housing horror stories
Nick Dole ABC (No paywall)NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson says gas issues previously reported at the site of the fatal Whalan home explosion appear to have been properly resolved. The government has now reviewed the maintenance records of a private contractor who had previously performed work on the Homes NSW property prior to the explosion on Saturday. They confirm that residents twice raised concerns about a gas-like odour. "On two previous instances, there had been issues around the smell of gas on the gas meter that's at the front of the property," Ms Jackson said. "They were quite promptly responded to."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-08/rose-jackson-whalan-gas-e…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Disasters, Public and community housing, Repairs, Security and safety, Utilities electricity water gas.NSW LLC peak body not happy with Act amendments so far that favour residents
Ian Horswill The Weekly Source (No paywall)The amendment bill to the NSW Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act has had a second reading in the NSW Parliament on Wednesday, 5 June, with 48 recommendations. Operators are being placed under new pressures. One change to an amendment is that operators will be given just 12 months to enter into compliant site agreements, instead of three years, against a backdrop of multiple structural changes. The bill implements 21 of the 48 recommendations from the statutory review into the Act in 2021.
https://www.theweeklysource.com.au/legal-issues/nsw-llc-peak-bod…
# Hot topic, Legal significance NSW, Land lease communities.Legislative changes implemented to make residential land lease community fees fairer
Keira Proust ABC (No paywall)Daryl Rowe is one of about 40,000 people who rely on residential land lease communities as an affordable housing option in New South Wales. The 57-year-old moved into Kincumber Nautical Village on the New South Wales Central Coast eight years ago, but has struggled to keep up with increasing site fees ever since. Mr Rowe's fortnightly site costs are just less than half of his disability pension. "When I moved in it was $175 a week, which I could cope with, but now it's up to nearly $500 a fortnight," he said. "Everything is a bit tight — I'm not buying many luxury things … just the bare minimum that I have to, really."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-07/residential-land-lease-co…
# Must read NSW, Land lease communities.Struggling renters could have extra sway at next federal election
Aidan Devine realestate.com.au (No paywall)Struggling renters – especially those in NSW and Queensland – could play a decisive role in the outcome of the next federal election, with key marginal seats now recording some of the worst rental affordability in the country. New analysis showed tenants were typically spending more than a third of their household income on rent across the Sydney electorates of Fowler, Banks, Robertson, Parramatta and Bennelong. Tenants spending more than a third of their pay on rent – some of the highest levels in the country – was also the norm in regional NSW seats Cowper, Gilmore and Dobell.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/struggling-renters-could-have…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, .Inside the revolt over NSW’s signature housing reforms
Christopher Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Crossbench MPs are demanding more meaningful reforms to tackle NSW’s housing supply and affordability crisis as they consider supporting a Liberal bill designed to scuttle Premier Chris Minns’ signature planning policy. The bill, introduced by opposition planning spokesperson Scott Farlow, would allow for the abolition of transport-oriented development zones (TODs) where six-storey apartment blocks could be built near 37 public transport hubs across the state.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/inside-the-revolt-over-nsw-s…
# Hot topic, Legal significance NSW, .Australia's largest tenancy database's 'virtual manager' service breached renter's privacy, information watchdog finds
Maani Truu ABC (No paywall)One of Australia's largest tenancy databases breached a renter's privacy by operating an additional service that tracked their movements over seven years, Australia's information watchdog has found. The complaint concerned Tenancy Information Centre Australasia's (TICA) "virtual manager" service, which allows property managers to opt in to receive notifications when the name of tenants they have logged with the service are searched in TICA's main database as part of future rental property applications. While formal tenancy databases — often called blacklists — are subject to strict privacy and information rules, including that listings must be removed after three years, the virtual manager service has operated outside of these guardrails for years, allowing property managers to keep tabs on tenants indefinitely.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-11/tica-virtual-manager-rent…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media Australia, Privacy and access, Rent, Security and safety.Sydney’s ghost suburbs where homes are empty
Aidan Devine and Taylor Troeth Daily Telegraph (Paywall)“Ghost rentals” – under-utilised properties that sit unoccupied for much of the year – could be on the rise as more homeowners ditch permanent tenants for cashed up holiday-makers. Other homeowners have been reported to be skimping rent altogether, keeping their properties empty year-round in what’s been labelled a crippling blow to efforts to solve the rental housing shortage. The most recent count from the ABS, collated by PropTrack, revealed close to a third of the properties in some suburbs were not permanently occupied, with the homes unavailable as long-term rental stock. But experts said the true number of homes without a long-term occupier could be much higher in some areas.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/property/one-third-of-some-syd…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent.There are now 50,000 short-term rental properties in NSW. The area with the most isn’t Byron Bay
Christopher Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The number of NSW properties placed on platforms such as Airbnb has hit 50,000 as the state’s housing minister considers major changes to the rules governing short-term rental accommodation in a bid to fix the state’s housing crisis. Measures under consideration include slapping a levy on holiday homes on the short-term rental market and placing a cap on the number of days properties may be let out for. Regional property owners have bristled at the prospect of a tax or levy, saying properties rented out to tourists were often not suitable for long-term rental accommodation. An industry group representing the short-term accommodation sector says capping the number of days a property can be let out has failed to boost the supply of housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/there-are-now-50-000-short-t…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.