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
NSW landlords may be fined if they evict tenants for ‘non-genuine’ reasons
The Guardian (No paywall)Landlords could be fined for making up a “non-genuine reason” for punting a tenant under New South Wales laws to scrap no-grounds evictions. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said his government is aiming to introduce legislation to end the practice in September, making good on a 2023 state election promise. Under the proposed reforms, homeowners will need a reason to end a tenancy for both periodic and fixed-term leases. Some of those include existing rules for breach of lease, damage to the property or non-payment of rent.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/28/n…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement NSW, Eviction.The empty Sydney apartments sitting idle and unoccupied during a housing crisis
Millie Roberts & Amy Greenbank ABC (No paywall)Standing tall and looming over their neighbourhoods are apartment towers with no residents inside. These ghost buildings paint a picture of development woes amid an ongoing housing crisis nationwide. Estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) suggest there are up to 140,000 "inactive" homes in Australia. Dwellings are considered inactive when there are no signs of recent use. In Sydney, there are about 24,000 vacant homes, according to a 2023 analysis by the ABS. This week, the ABC tracked down the owners of empty Sydney houses to try and find out why they had been left unoccupied.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-28/nsw-sydney-ghost-apartmen…
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Rent.Evicting a tenant for 'non-genuine' reasons? You could soon face a fine in this state
SBS (No paywall)NSW Premier Chris Minns has detailed the grounds landlords will be able to use to remove tenants from homes as part of a ban on no-grounds evictions. Landlords could be fined for making up a "non-genuine reason" for punting a tenant under proposed NSW laws. Minns told the NSW Labor conference in Sydney on Sunday his government was aiming to introduce legislation to end the practice in September, making good on a 2023 election promise.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/evicting-a-tenant-for-non-ge…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement NSW, Eviction.Reform coming for housing debate's 'forgotten people'
Jack Gramenz The Advocate (No paywall)A nation-leading scheme allowing renters to take their bond with them when they move is among the reforms for a growing group who a premier says have been forgotten in the housing debate. The NSW government's portable-bond system will let renters transfer bonds between tenancies when it starts in 2025. It is the latest rental reform confirmed for the state following the Sunday announcement that Premier Chris Minns would push ahead with legislation to end no-grounds evictions, a key election promise.
https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/8710555/reform-coming-for-h…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media, New policy announcement NSW, Bond.Secret review to decide on removing ports for housing at Glebe Island
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The state government has commissioned a secret review from a former NSW Treasury boss into whether the working ports at Glebe Island should make way for high-density housing in what would be a radical transformation of the harbour foreshore. Michael Schur, who was Treasury secretary at the end of the last NSW Labor government, has been tasked with assessing options, including moving the ports, retaining them with no nearby housing, or building a hybrid model.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/secret-review-to-decide-on-r…
# Hot topic NSW, .NSW Government Announces Plan To Ban ‘No-Fault’ Evictions
Christine Lai City Hub (No paywall)The New South Wales government has announced plans to introduce legislation that will ban no-fault evictions, preventing landlords from terminating leases without a “reasonable” excuse. The new law, expected to take effect next year, aims to provide greater security for tenants by requiring landlords to justify their reasons for ending a tenancy. In February this year, Greens MP Jenny Leong introduced the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Prohibiting No Grounds Evictions) Bill 2024, seeking to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2010.
https://cityhub.com.au/nsw-government-announces-plan-to-ban-no-f…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement NSW, Eviction, Rent.Tenancy Tribunal orders landlord to pay Whangārei tenant $30k compensation
Sarah Curtis NZ Herald (No paywall)An overseas landlord has received a sharp warning from the Tenancy Tribunal that charging a low rent for an old property doesn’t cancel her legal duty to ensure the property’s habitability. Shireen Sewgolam, a nursing lecturer at Federation University, Victoria, Australia, was ordered earlier this year to pay $30,721.72 compensation to Lynn Perkins, who rented an old property from her at 569 Cemetery Rd, Maunu, for about six years between October 2017 and September 2023. While the property’s rural setting was picturesque, tribunal adjudicator Nicholas Blake said the tenant had “suffered a significant loss of amenity due to the landlord’s failure to maintain” it.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tenancy-tribunal-orders-landlord-t…
# Must read International, Rent, Repairs.More children in damp rental homes, figures show
Harriet Agerholm BBC (No paywall)The proportion of private renters with children who are living in damp homes has almost doubled since the pandemic, BBC analysis suggests. The figure has risen from one in 14 households before the pandemic to one in seven in 2022-23, according to the English Housing Survey. One charity said it had been “deluged” with reports of poor housing since the pandemic, with many private renters too afraid of eviction to complain. The National Residential Landlords Association said there were "many challenges facing the sector", but the "vast majority of renters are satisfied".
# Hot topic International, Rent, Repairs.