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 density has surged across Australia's cities, yet home prices keep hitting fresh records
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)It's the number one issue around Australia, particularly in our biggest cities, groaning under record population growth — finding somewhere affordable to live. Whether it's renting or buying, it has never been more expensive (at least in nominal terms) to find somewhere to call home across most of the nation. After decades of policies mainly directed at giving out public money to allow people to pay even more — think first home buyer grants and rent assistance — attention is finally turning to other solutions. The new fad is YIMBYism — the "yes in my backyard" counter to those NIMBYs who want to freeze the heart of cities at an arbitrary point in time.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-28/housing-density-surging-i…
# NSW, Rent.A $400 room the size of a walk-in closet: short-term renters left vulnerable as NSW housing crisis bites
Luca Ittimani The Guardian (No paywall)For American visitors Olivia and Molly, a cosy Randwick apartment seemed the perfect place to experience Australia. But the college friends – who asked not to use their full names – say they found themselves paying $400 a week each for cramped rooms with few amenities, thanks to a lack of affordable short-term accommodation in Sydney. “We really were restricted to this three months or so period here, putting us in a super awkward position, desperate for housing,” Molly said.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/09/n…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Share houses.Lehrmann faces legal action from ex-landlord over Sydney northern beaches pad
Michael Whitbourn and Kate McClymont The Sydney Morning Herald (Soft Paywall)Fresh from his defamation defeat, Bruce Lehrmann is facing legal action over the northern beaches pad he lived in rent-free under a deal with the Seven Network. Lady Gaenor Meakes, the owner of the Balgowlah property where the former federal Liberal staffer lived until recently, is pursuing Lehrmann in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The matter is listed for a conciliation hearing on May 23 in Sydney. Lehrmann, who lost a multimillion-dollar defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson last month, had his rent at the luxury property covered by Seven.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/lehrmann-faces-legal-action-…
# Hot topic NSW, .Protest after squatters evicted from house earmarked for demolition
Sage Swinton Newcastle Herald (Paywall)A group of squatters and their supporters staged a protest outside Kloster Ford on Thursday after police evicted them from the house they have been living in.
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/8614654/squatters-prote…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction.Decision on thousands of new homes on NSW Government-owned land could be made next month
Lachlan Leeming Daily Telegraph (Paywall)A decision which will result in homes being built on thousands of government-owned chunks of land could be made as soon as next month, in a move which could result in thousands of new homes being built around Sydney. The NSW Government has completed the first tranche of its audit on land it owns, with a focus on finding underused and neglected parcels which could be developed. The government has so far assessed more than 5000 locations for potential development. While Lands Minister Steve Kamper said a decision on which sites would be used for housing would be made in the coming months, The Daily Telegraph understands funding to unlock some of the sites could potentially be contained in the state budget to be handed down in June.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/decision-on-thousands…
# Hot topic NSW, .Poll suggests migrants, refugees feel unfairly blamed for Australia's rental crisis
SBS (No paywall)An Essential poll conducted for Settlement Services International (SSI) found 43 per cent of those with a migrant or refugee background were more likely to have experienced difficulty securing affordable housing in the past 12 months. More than 1,160 people were surveyed, including people of a migrant or refugee background, as well as those born in Australia speaking English only. The survey for the agency, tasked with resettling thousands of newly arrived refugees each year, also found more than a quarter (26 per cent) had been forced to leave a property due to rising housing costs in the past year.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/poll-suggests-migrants-refug…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, .Renee’s three adult children live with her – and Australia’s cost-of-living crisis means they’ll probably be there for years
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)The farmhouse that Renee Gatt and her family own is crowded. There are six adults and three bedrooms, and one of her adult children sleeps in the lounge room. But Gatt says she’s lucky – at least they own the land outside Hobart they live on. “It works OK for us,” Gatt says. “Although it’s a matter of survival. “For the one who is in the living room, that is wearing on him. Psychologically … it’s already difficult living at home.” She worries for her three children, all of whom have autism. One is 25, the twins are 22. Two of them are on the disability support pension (DSP) and the other is on Austudy, making it almost impossible to afford a rental . In the past five years, the average rent in Hobart has jumped from $311 to $445 a week – the biggest increase in the country.
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/article/2024/may/05/austr…
# Hot topic Australia, .Australian renters would be nearly $4b better off under a rent freeze
Jim Malo The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Renters in Australia’s capital cities would have saved $3.8 billion over the 12 months to March if rents had been frozen, new analysis reveals. The amount saved per rental household differs by capital city. Sydney households would have saved $2741, while Melbourne households would have saved $2537. The Better Renting analysis of Domain Rent Report data showed the savings ranged from $2998 in Perth to $0 in Hobart, while Brisbane households would benefit by $2158. Better Renting is a renters’ advocacy group; the figures were reached by comparing Census data on the number of each property type and size in the capitals with the change in asking rents for each in Domain data.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/australian-renters-would-be…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent.