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
Rental price growth slows from unprecedented highs as tenants hit ‘affordability ceiling’
Caitlin Cassidy The Guardian (Paywall)Record rental prices are beginning to ease however the market is unlikely to swing in favour of tenants anytime soon, housing experts warn. National rents experienced the smallest monthly increase in growth this year according to CoreLogic’s latest quarterly rental review, up by just 0.6% in September. But it came amid an annual growth trend of 10%. ... Everybody’s Home CEO Kate Colvin said Australia was “definitely still in a rental crisis” however locations had hit an “affordability ceiling”. ... Policy and advocacy manager at the Tenants’ Union of NSW Jemima Mowbray said it was hard to say the current stabilisation in prices was developing into a drop in the market because it was occurring on the back of increased median rent. “The good news is it’s not increasing at the pace it was,” she said. “But we’ve had such significant rent increases with such tight rates … it’s going to take a long time before we see renters in a situation where people on low incomes aren’t struggling.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/03/rental-pr…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello backs better rental data protections
Tawar Razaghi The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Better protection of tenants’ information has been backed by NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello after industry groups and renters raised concerns about a potential Optus-style data breach. Tenants are routinely required to submit copious amounts of sensitive information to real estate agencies and third-party tenant databases when applying for rental properties. ... With very little oversight into why the amount of data is stored in the first place, where it is stored and the duration, Dominello said an entire rethink of data collection for any purpose, including real estate, was needed. “When you consider the extraordinary cost of cybercrime in the country, which extends to the tens of millions of dollars, it is clear that there are significant problems when it comes to sharing of personal information,” he said. “There definitely needs to be a rethink of what information we absolutely need to share, how long that information is shared for, and when that information should be destroyed. “It is clear that much of the architecture that we have in place now was built in the last century, in a world that did not envisage the digital age. “I would support a holistic review about data sharing. It makes sense that given how many people rent their homes that this would be an area of high impact and warrants particular focus.” Tenants’ Union NSW chief executive Leo Patterson said they would support a general inquiry into the real estate industry’s technology and data privacy practices because so many problems go unchecked. “Part of the issue has been things keep popping up that we’re not aware of until it is brought to our attention by tenants. The practices we’re concerned about we would even miss,” Patterson said. “A lot of people haven’t paid attention to it in the regulatory space. A lot of weird things are happening on the edges. In general, certainly looking at what are the responsibilities of real estate agencies but also the third-party platforms that are delivering services to agencies.”
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/nsw-customer-service-minist…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Privacy and access, Rent, Landlords and agents, State Government.Kanahooka woman's voice heard in homelessness inquiry
Grace Crivellaro Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Pauline West’s life has improved since finding secure housing at Kanahooka - but she shares her story to advocate for others. ... Pauline’s life has improved since finding housing, but her experience recently drove her to add her voice to the NSW parliamentary inquiry into homelessness among older people.The inquiry’s report was handed down two weeks ago, and found women aged over 55 are disproportionately affected by homelessness, with financial insecurity and housing affordability flagged as the primary drivers.It had 40 recommendations, including the government funding to build social housing tailor-made for older women and educating frontline service providers on the diverse experiences of older people and homelessness.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7963995/after-selling-…
# NSW, Health, Homelessness, Older people, Personal stories, Women.Rental applicants across the country pressured to pay for their own background checks
Bension Siebert ABC (No paywall)When Louise Camona was told her rent would be rising by $120 a week, she knew she, her husband and their four kids were going to have to find somewhere else to live. ... When Ms Camona found a property she liked, the online application form urged her to pay for her own background check to help her application "stand out from the pack". Ms Camona could choose not to pay, but she would have to tick a box that says "no thanks, I don't want to verify my identity" and her "star rating" as an applicant would be capped at four out of five stars. The 2Apply form, designed by tech company Inspect Real Estate, was also asking for extensive private information including the name, gender and age of their children, and the make, model and registration of their car. ... Tenancy law expert Chris Martin said receiving money from a prospective tenant outside of bond, rent and deposits could be illegal in a number of jurisdictions. "There's a good argument I think that that's unlawful under the rules in Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia," Dr Martin said. "It's less clear in other states and territories because of the way that the rules are worded."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-03/renters-pressured-to-pay-…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Starting a tenancy, Landlords and agents.What can we expect from prime minister Rishi Sunak on housing?
Ella Jessel Inside Housing (Paywall)Rishi Sunak has become Britain’s third prime minister in two months. ... The Southampton-born former hedge fund manager’s position on the economy is well known, but what are his views on housing, and what can we expect from him on policy?
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/what-can-we-expe…
# International, Public and community housing, Climate change, Minimum habitability standards, Planning and development.Minns vows to scrap Perrottet’s stamp duty reforms if elected
Tom Rabe The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW opposition leader Chris Minns has vowed to abolish the Perrottet government’s stamp duty reforms if he wins the next election, though first homebuyers who opt in to the new land tax before it’s scrapped won’t be forced back into the old system. The government’s reforms will be debated in the upper house in November, but Minns said even if it passed parliament, the laws wouldn’t live long if Labor won the 2023 election.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/minns-vows-to-scrap-perrotte…
# NSW, Home ownership, Tax.Rental auctions are forcing potential tenants to outbid competitors to secure properties. And they’re on the rise
Matthew Quagliotto (No paywall)One of the sad side effects of Australia’s ongoing rental crisis is being played out at home inspections and the subsequent desperate phone calls and messages to landlords and real estate agencies in cities such as Sydney and Perth every weekend. In those calls, prospective renters are increasingly offering to pay above the advertised rental rate in the frenzied competition to secure a property. And in many cases they will lose out to fellow home-hunters employing exactly the same strategy but digging deeper into their pockets. ... It’s called rent-bidding and it’s continuing to increase in an environment where, in certain states, the regulatory bodies are unable to keep up with the anxiety of prospective tenants and property investors’ eagerness to make the most of a red-hot market. “There is a generally accepted principle of fair market value being the price that willing but not anxious participants in a deal would make,” Tenants Union of NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross says. “Faced with homelessness, many tenants are extremely anxious about their ability to find a home.” (7 News)
https://7news.com.au/business/housing-market/rental-auctions-are…
# TUNSW in the media, Video Australia, Rent, Housing market.Refurbishing not demolishing Port Melbourne public housing estate could save Victoria $88m, study finds
Stephanie Convery The Guardian (No paywall)The Victorian government could save more than $88m and avoid causing distress to residents forced to leave their homes, by refurbishing a Melbourne public housing estate instead of demolishing it, a study has found. A not-for-profit architectural and research firm, Office, this week completed a feasibility study on refurbishing the 40-year-old Barak Beacon public housing estate in Port Melbourne. The study comes after the Victorian government slated the estate for demolition and redevelopment, arguing the existing buildings were not fit for purpose and the new development would provide modern, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable homes.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/02/refurbish…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Utilities electricity water gas, Estate renewal, State Government.