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
Auction-style rental bids spur competition among desperate tenants
Amber Schultz WA Today (No paywall)A loophole in rental laws is leading to bidding wars between desperate tenants fighting for a limited number of homes in a competitive market.
A ban introduced in December prevents NSW real estate and property agents from soliciting offers to pay more than the advertised rent to secure the lease – but this does not stop them from accepting offers above the asking price.
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/nsw/auction-style-rental-bid…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market, Personal stories.“On the Political Economy of Housing and the Affordability Crisis”
Václav Walach Antipode Online (No paywall)With the deepening crisis of housing affordability (Lee et al.2022), there is a strong incentive to explore non-mainstream approaches to the study of housing. Following on the post-Global Financial Crisis expansion of political economy perspectives (Jacobs et al. 2022), this interview focuses on the approach that refuses to see housing merely as a commodity whose production and distribution is primarily driven by individual self-interest and market forces. Political economists recognize economic activity as deeply embedded within wider sets of social and political relations, which are linked to the interests of different social groups and institutions, including the state. While mainstream economists seem favoring the view of the state as an essentially restrictive entity that imposes constraints on market relations, political economists, on the contrary, emphasize its productive character. Very often it is state involvement which creates markets and market actors.
https://antipodeonline.org/2023/03/10/the-political-economy-of-h…
# International, Public and community housing, Home, Housing affordability, Planning and development.NSW Labor woos rental tenants as Liberals court regions
AAP Newswire Countrynews.com.au (No paywall)NSW Labor is promising to tighten data rules for real estate agents to better protect rental tenants if they win government as the Liberals try to firm up their regional vote.
There is little regulation about how data is stored and protected when renters hand over their driver's licence details, work and address history along with their bank statements, Labor says.
https://www.countrynews.com.au/national/nsw-labor-woos-rental-te…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement NSW, Privacy and access, Rent, Regional NSW.In low-wage Portugal, Europe’s housing crisis bites deep
Helena Alves and Barry Hatton AP News (No paywall) Like a growing number of people in Portugal, Georgina Simoes no longer earns enough money to afford a place to live.
The 57-year-old nursing home carer earns less than 800 euros ($845) a month, as do about a fourth of the country’s workforce. For the last decade, she got by because she’s been paying just 300 euros a month for her one-bedroom apartment in an undistinguished Lisbon neighborhood.
Now, with rents soaring in the capital, her landlord is evicting her. She says she’s not budging because finding another place near work will be too expensive.
https://apnews.com/article/portugal-housing-crisis-lisbon-touris…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Housing affordability, Long-term tenant, Older people.ACT Government leads the way in strengthening renters’ rights with historic ban on 'no cause' evictions
Shane Rattenbury ACT Government (No paywall)The ACT Government is leading the way in strengthening renters’ rights by becoming the first Australian jurisdiction to remove all forms of tenancy termination without a legitimate cause.
Welcoming the passage of rental reforms through the ACT Legislative Assembly today, Attorney‑General Shane Rattenbury said the changes will give tenants greater security of tenure as they will no longer need to fear being evicted without reason.
https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_governm…
# Legal significance Australia, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, No-grounds evictions, State Government.Sydney granny flat for rent compared to a 'prison': 'Is this a joke?'
Carly Bass Yahoo News (No paywall)A granny flat in Sydney's western suburbs has been ridiculed online as renters continue to battle Australia's surging rental market.
While a "quiet and clean" one-bedroom property that's "fully furnished" sounds like a dream for some, this particular place failed to hit the mark for many.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/sydney-granny-flat-rent-compared-priso…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent, Granny flats, studios, Housing market.Swiss city Lucerne votes to restrict Airbnb rentals
AFP France24 (No paywall)The Swiss city of Lucerne voted Sunday to limit short-term rentals, including on the Airbnb platform, to a maximum of 90 days a year.
Just over 64 percent of voters in the picturesque city in central Switzerland were in favour of the restriction tabled by the leftwing Social Democrats.
Backers of the initiative said it aimed to cap large-scale temporary rentals by commercial providers and to free up living space for residents of Lucerne, which is facing a significant housing crunch.
https://amp.france24.com/en/live-news/20230312-swiss-city-lucern…
# International, Housing affordability, Landlords and agents, Short-term holiday letting, Strong communities.NSW to ban no grounds evictions for renters on rolling leases
Tawar Razaghi The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)No grounds evictions are set to be banned in NSW for renters on rolling leases, as the Liberal and Nationals parties, Labor and the Greens all commit to ending the practice.
The NSW Liberal and Nationals have proposed a “reasonable grounds” model for evictions for periodic leases and will consult on a list of reasonable grounds with key stakeholders including landlords as part of an election policy package for renters.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/nsw-to-ban-no-grounds-evict…
# Hot topic NSW, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions, State Government.