ADVICE OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD
Tenants Advice & Advocacy Services have limited availability over the holiday period. The Tenants' Union will operate a Tenancy Advice Hotline from Wednesday 18/12/2024 until Wednesday 8/1/2025 (excluding weekends and public holidays). The hours of operation are 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.
Get advice on: (02) 8117 3750 or 1800 251 101
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
Low-income renters will struggle after UK housing benefit freeze, experts warn
Matthew Pearce The Guardian (No paywall)Low-income renters will struggle to afford housing costs after Rachel Reeves’s decision to freeze the amount of housing benefit they receive in the budget, experts have warned. Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, confirmed on Thursday that local housing allowance (LHA) – the localised rates that determine how much housing benefit claimants are entitled to – will be locked at the current levels until 2026. LHA has failed to keep step with rising rental costs for more than a decade. The Conservative party froze it for seven out of the last 12 years, before increasing rates earlier this year.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/03/low-income-rente…
# Hot topic International, Rent.How Europe Can Balance the Rental Market with Affordable, Sustainable Housing Solutions
Wins Solutions (No paywall)The European rental market is facing unprecedented challenges, with rising rental costs, reduced availability, and complex legal frameworks shaping housing dynamics. The pressure falls on governments to protect tenants from unaffordable rents, while also ensuring that landlords can maintain profitable, high-quality properties. Understanding the unique needs of tenants, landlords, and governmental bodies is essential for a balanced approach that fosters a sustainable, inclusive rental market. In this article we explore the perspectives of each stakeholder, identifies points of conflict, and highlights areas of agreement that could lead to comprehensive solutions.
https://www.winssolutions.org/how-europe-can-balance-the-rental-…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Rent.Negative gearing reform could help 292,000 Australian renters become owners, Greens claim
Sarah Basford Canales The Guardian (No paywall)More than a quarter of a million renters could own their own homes if Labor revived dumped plans to wind back generous tax breaks for residential property investors, new analysis shows. A Parliamentary Library analysis of NSW Treasury modelling and census data, commissioned by Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather, found home ownership would rise by 4.7%, or 292,902 more owner-occupier houses, if negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts were wound back. The increase would result in 774,955 individuals currently living in residential investor properties moving to owner-occupier homes instead, the analysis showed.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/17/negative-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Why retrofitting homes to be more resilient to natural disasters makes emotional and financial sense
Anna Kelsey-Sugg and Chloe Adams ABC (No paywall)For nearly a decade, Sasha Mainsbridge has lived on a flood plain where the risk of flood is a part of life. But she wasn't prepared for what was to come when the Brunswick River, immediately behind her Mullumbimby home, flooded in February 2022. "Flooding is nothing like what you imagine until it's happened to you," she says. Ms Mainsbridge and her eldest son stacked towels up against doors and got whatever possessions they could off the floor. But their standard 1990s brick-veneer, Gyprock-interior home didn't stand a chance.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-22/climate-proofing-homes-re…
# Must read Australia, Disasters.'Nothing short of alarming': The full-time workers being priced out of the rental market
Amy Hall SBS (No paywall)They teach our children, tend to our wounds, wait our tables, deliver our parcels, and care for the elderly. Despite their value to society, a new report has found the workers we rely on most are being priced out of the rental market. Anti-poverty organisation Anglicare Australia surveyed just over 45,000 rental listings nationwide during one weekend in March, measuring their affordability against the full-time weekly wages of 16 essential occupations. What they found was "nothing short of alarming", Anglicare Australia's executive director Kasy Chambers said.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-full-time-workers-being-…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Aussie rental pool shrinks as population continues to boom
Samantha Healy realestate.com.au (No paywall)A further 1700 rental properties disappeared from Australia’s rental market in September despite the nation’s population surpassing 27 million earlier this year. That decrease represents a 1.2 per cent drop, or 1733 rental vacancies in one month alone, according to the latest SQM Research National Vacancy Rates report. It comes after the ABS recently revealed that Australia’s population hit 27,122,411 at the end of March, an increase of 2.3 per cent or 615,3000 in 12 months. “The total number of rental vacancies now stands at 37,932 residential properties, a decrease from 39,665 in August 2024,” the SQM report said. “Perth, Canberra, and Hobart plus regional Australia were the main drivers to the decline. “While all other capital cities were steady or recorded slight rises.”
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/aussie-rental-pool-shrinks-as…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.How can Australia make housing affordable for essential workers? Here are 4 key lessons from oversea
Nicky Morrison The Conversation (No paywall)Essential workers such as teachers, health workers and community safety staff play a vital role in ensuring our society works well. Yet soaring housing costs in cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are squeezing essential workers out of the communities they serve. The issue is reaching crisis point across Australia. Anglicare Australia yesterday released a special edition of its Rental Affordability Snapshot focused on essential workers in full-time work. Housing costs under 30% of household income are considered affordable.
https://theconversation.com/how-can-australia-make-housing-affor…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Saving on rent, paying with their mental health: The impact of Australia’s housing crisis on young people
Olivia Cleal Women's Agenda (No paywall)“Overwhelmed, hopeless, trapped, crushed”. This is the devastating reality of how young women and gender diverse people feel as a result of Australia’s housing crisis. A new report from Swinburne University and YWCA Australia released today, marking World Homelessness Day, has uncovered the gendered impact of unaffordable, inaccessible housing in this country. “Young people described feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, trapped, and crushed by their housing situations,” Professor Stone said. “For some, this stems from the daily challenge of simply making ends meet.”
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/saving-on-rent-paying-with-th…
# Must read Australia, Rent.