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
‘Don’t trot out the garbage’: Struggling renter’s scathing letter to PM Anthony Albanese
Chloe Whelan news.com.au (No paywall)A struggling renter who’s been forced to live in his car for five months wrote to the PM – and says he received a “pathetic” response.
A renter on the NSW north coast who has been living in his car for five months has written a scathing letter to the Prime Minister amid soaring rental prices – and was directed to welfare agencies in response.
In the letter, which was addressed directly to Anthony Albanese, father-of-two Michael Collier outlined how quickly his life was derailed when his former landlord decided to put his rent up by a whopping $150 a week, a cost he simply couldn’t afford.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/markets/dont-trot-out-the-garbag…
# NSW, Rent, Federal Government, Personal stories.Sydney tenant admits in social media post to paying zero rent by subletting to housemates
Paige Cockburn ABC (No paywall)As rental prices continue to climb in Sydney, one inner-west tenant has sparked outrage online after revealing they had been living for free while unsuspecting housemates picked up the bill.
See also:
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/sydney-renter-admits-to-living-for-free-while-subtenants-cover-the-rent/news-story/cf805a60170b1fb700ecbf532cb94ea9
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-17/sydney-tenant-subletting-…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Landlords and agents, Sub-letting.TikTokers Are Revealing The Abject Chaos Of Finding A Place In The Sydney Rental Market RN
Soaliha Iqbal Pedestrian (No paywall)The Sydney rental market is always an absolute shitshow but a slew of frustrated TikToks by tenants looking for a home really shows just how dire things are right now.
If you live in Sydney and are on TikTok as much as I am, chances are you’ve noticed an influx of videos on your feed of painfully long lines for absurdly overpriced properties.
One user shared a video of a line of prospective tenants for a rental inspection which wound all the way out of the building and down a street. Just when you think the line ends, it keeps going?!
Wait list grows for social housing in NSW
Duncan Murray, AAP The West (No paywall)The waiting list of people needing social housing in NSW has increased for the first time since 2016, with about 1000 more people in line for a home.
As of June 2022, there were 51,031 approved for social housing and waiting for a property to become available, compared to 49,928 the year before.
The number has steadily decreased since 2016 when the figure hit 59,907. Before this it had varied between about 55,000 and 60,000 since 2012.
https://thewest.com.au/politics/wait-list-grows-for-social-housi…
# Research alert NSW, Public and community housing, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.Most Airbnb-style short rentals in Tasmania used to be long-term leases, study finds
Luke Henriques-Gomes The Guardian (No paywall)Research commissioned by Shelter Tasmania says increase in short-stay properties had impact on availability of rental houses for local people.
A large proportion of short-stay properties in Tasmania’s two biggest cities were previously available as long-term rentals, new research suggests.
The analysis from a top housing academic is part of a three-year project looking at the effect of the short-stay industry on the rental market in Tasmania, which is in the grips of a housing crisis.
The study by Peter Phibbs, an emeritus professor at UNSW, cross-referenced properties in Launceston and Hobart named on the state government’s short-term rentals list against information held by a CoreLogic-associated real estate database.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/29/most-airb…
# Australia, Eviction, Housing affordability, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Not cool: push for insulation in all Australian rental homes as study shows dangerous heat levels
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)People in social housing often face hottest conditions and struggle to pay for air conditioning, advocates say.
Advocates are calling for insulation to be regulated in all Australian rental properties as research shows some people swelter through temperatures above 30C in their homes for extended periods in summer.
Many of the hottest homes are those of people living in social housing, with some residents forced to go into debt to buy air conditioners, or hose down their houses to stay cool.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/16/not-cool-…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media Australia, Public and community housing, Climate change, Health, Housing affordability, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards.The rent crisis is set to spread: here’s the case for doubling rent assistance
Bruce Bradbury The Conversation (No paywall)For many Australians, the rent crisis is just starting. Advertised rents have been soaring, but mainly for new rentals – so called “asking rents”.
The broadest measure of rents actually paid – the rents on the 480,000 or so capital city properties the Bureau of Statistics uses to calculate the consumer price index – has climbed only modestly, increasing 3.5% in the year to October.
Rent cuts during the first year of COVID mean the Bureau’s measure of capital city rents is just 2.2% above where it was in February 2020, ahead of the COVID lockdowns.
https://theconversation.com/the-rent-crisis-is-set-to-spread-her…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Welfare.Poverty in Australia
Priya Kunjan 3CR (No paywall)This episode features a discussion with anti-poverty advocates Aeryn Brown, Melissa Fisher and Mel, all of whom have experienced navigating Australia's circuitous social security system. Aeryn, Melissa and Mel speak about the realities of living below the poverty line and the importance of centring lived expertise in reforming the delivery of social security.
https://www.3cr.org.au/womenontheline/episode/poverty-australia
# Must read, Audio Australia, Health, Housing affordability, Human rights, Personal stories, Welfare, Work, employment.