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
‘Nowhere else to go’: protesters rally in support of Brisbane woman refusing to leave rental home of 22 years
Eden Gillespie The Guardian (No paywall)Stephanie Cridland has lived in the same Brisbane rental property for more than 20 years. The 51-year-old lives with her dog and pet fish in an old Queenslander, but after receiving notice to leave last year she is concerned she’ll end up on the street. Cridland’s dilemma prompted Greens candidate for Brisbane mayor Jonathan Sriranganathan on Tuesday to organise a snap anti-eviction protest outside Cridland’s rental. It is one of several protests organised by the party in recent years after a rental crisis.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/07/stephanie…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, .Residents in Sunshine Coast social housing with passive cooling, no air conditioning say heatwaves unbearable
Owen Jacques ABC (No paywall)As heavy rain landed on the roof of Suellyn Lott's Sunshine Coast apartment — where the temperature inside was 30 degrees Celsius on Monday afternoon — the 68-year-old was relieved. Her social housing in Beerwah is not air conditioned, and she said it had become intolerable over summer. Earlier that day, Ms Lott sat in her car in the driveway so she could cool down away from her hot house.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-02/no-aircon-in-social-housi…
# Hot topic, Video Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.Vacated Fitzroy tenants see their former apartments relisted for hundreds of dollars more
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)A group of tenants who were forced to leave their Melbourne apartments after living in them for a year say their homes have now been relisted for $180 more a week. Last year, after 12 months of living in the new build-to-rent apartment building in Fitzroy, one-third of tenants received rent increases or notices to vacate. Now, some tenants who were served eviction notices say they are seeing the apartments relisted for hundreds of dollars more each week.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/02/melbourne…
# Hot topic Australia, .Melbourne renters stuck in 'unliveable' housing amid nationwide crisis
Bridget Rollason ABC (No paywall)For more than two months, Dyxi Mohammed has been living in her Melbourne rental property without a ceiling. In early December, the ceiling in one of the bedrooms collapsed without warning, missing her housemate by a few centimetres. It still hasn't been repaired and they have been charged their full amount of rent the entire time.
"Big pieces of the ceiling came crashing down onto the bed … it was a huge shock," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-02/vic-rental-issues-melbour…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent, Repairs.Real Estate Institute of Queensland blames CFMEU for state's chronic housing shortages
Kenji Sato and Steve Austin ABC (No paywall)High-paid union tradies are "largely" responsible for Queensland's worsening housing shortages, according to the state's peak real estate lobby. Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) chief executive Antonia Mercorella said unions were driving up housing costs but people were too afraid to point it out.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-06/real-estate-lobby-blames-…
# Hot topic Australia, .No relief for tenants as Australian vacancy rate falls in January, with Sydney worst hit
Claire Keenan The Guardian (No paywall)January provided no relief for tenants looking for a place to live as the number of vacant homes fell nationally, with Sydney worst hit, new data has revealed. The national rental vacancy rate was at 1.09% in January, falling 0.04 percentage points over the month, according to the latest PropTrack Market Insight report. It was 0.26 percentage points lower year-on-year. Capital cities drove the fall, dropping 0.08 percentage points over the first month of the year. It was the second-lowest level on record for the combined capital cities in January, the PropTrack economist and report author Anne Flaherty said.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/07/australia…
# Hot topic Australia, .Half of US tenants can’t afford to pay their rent. Here’s what’s ahead
Anna Bahney CNN News (No paywall)Washington, DC: Half of renters in the United States have found themselves paying more than they can afford, following years of surging rents. But an increase in the construction of multiple-unit buildings has boosted the supply of apartments, which is slowly beginning to rein in runaway rents.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/30/economy/rent-prices-dropping-…
# Hot topic International, .AirBnB listing offering three tents in living room amid rental crisis: 'WTF'
Yahoo News (No paywall)Aussies looking for a rental property right now are aware of some of the shocking opportunism popping up in listings – but it's certainly not just a problem in Australia.
A photo from a listing in London has highlighted just how bad things are getting for desperate renters in that city. With prices for renting a room in the British capital soaring, Londoners are reportedly becoming quite inventive with their living space with one Airbnb owner offering to let people stay in “romantic” tents inside their living room, and opening it up to long term tenants.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/three-tents-in-living-room-short-term-…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Rent, Security and safety.