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
Queensland mother of eight rejected for 597 homes slams rental discrimination
Damien Haffenden (No paywall)A Queensland mother of eight has slammed real estate agents and landlords, claiming they discriminate against single mums. Nicole Kent had to look for a new house after the floods hit earlier this year, right as the rental market tightened. She said she applied for nearly 600 rentals before being accepted into her Ipswich home, but only after offering to clean the property - for free - after it was trashed by previous tenants. She said she applied for nearly 600 rentals before being accepted into her Ipswich home, but only after offering to clean the property - for free - after it was trashed by previous tenants.“Two real estate (agents) told me to get a partner,” Kent told Sunrise. (7 News)
https://7news.com.au/sunrise/queensland-mother-of-eight-rejected…
# Australia, Discrimination, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Women.Landlords in the house: The Queensland MPs with skin in the rental market
Matt Dennien The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)About one-third of Queensland’s state MPs own at least one investment property, analysis of the most recent parliamentary declarations shows. The details come ahead of scrutiny of a new Greens private member’s bill seeking a two-year rent freeze, and stage two of the Palaszczuk government’s slated rental reforms. ... 'Brisbane Times' analysis of the register shows that as of August 26, 27 MPs have explicitly declared interest in at least one investment or “rental” property, with some declaring up to four. A further eight MPs’ declarations were unclear about the nature of interest in one or more of the properties. ... Of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s 18-person cabinet, six ministers declared a total of 11 investment properties. Palaszczuk owns two herself, with three each for Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/landlords-in-the-hous…
# Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents, State Government.Sydney and Melbourne rents surge, but headed even higher
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The return of international students and new boosted immigration numbers will likely place further upward pressure on rents, which are already surging at a rapid clip, property experts say. Renters are facing a perfect storm of chronic undersupply, particularly of units, due to a lack of construction and property investors switching from the long-term rental market to short-term, holiday accommodation. Louis Christopher, founder of SQM Research, suspects the rental squeeze is forcing many younger renters into either moving back into family homes, moving further out of cities where rents are cheaper, or sharing their rental accommodation with more people, in a bid to combat the surge in what is the biggest cost-of-living expense for most people. ... Figures from Digital Finance Analytics show the percentage of people suffering from rental stress has already hit 51 per cent in Victoria and 62 per cent in New South Wales – about double normal levels. Both are higher than the stress levels of mortgage holders. ... Martin North, founder of Digital Finance Analytics, says many landlords entered short-term letting markets, such as putting their property on the Airbnb platform, after borders re-opened, leaving fewer properties in the long-term rental market.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/sydney-and-melbourne-rent…
# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Short-term holiday letting.Minister Julie Collins on Labor’s plan for Australia’s housing crisis
The Guardian (No paywall)Chief political correspondent Sarah Martin talks to Julie Collins, the federal housing minister, about Labor’s election promise to build 30,000 affordable homes and how she’s working with states and territories to address the social housing shortage
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2022/sep/03/min…
# Audio Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing market.Former Reserve Bank economist suggests Greens push for interest rate freeze is nonsensical
Paul Karp The Guardian (No paywall)A call by the federal Greens for an interest rate freeze could push consumer prices higher and hurt savers and renters, an expert has warned. Economist Dr Zac Gross issued the warning after the Greens economic justice spokesman, Nick McKim, called on the Reserve Bank to “hit pause” on cash rate rises until the October budget to pressure the government to “rein in corporate profiteering”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/04/former-re…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Aussie tenants claim they're being evicted over rental complaints
A Current Affair Staff 9 News (No paywall)It appears Australia's rental crisis has taken an even nastier turn for some who complain or have a gripe about an issue with their landlord. Some Aussie tenants have now spoken out, claiming that after they went to their landlords with a grievance, they were handed lease termination notices. .... Leo Patterson Ross is from the New South Wales Tenants Union. He said the rising costs of rental properties and a lack of availability put a lot of strain on Australian tenants. "The current system puts people in a really tough spot," he said. "If you are evicted there's a real shortage of genuinely affordable options." Ross said as a result many renters are choosing to remain quiet and suffer. (9 Now)
https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/aussie-tenants-speak-o…
# TUNSW in the media, Video NSW, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Mould, No-grounds evictions, Short-term holiday letting.More California cities enact rent control to protect tenants, upsetting apartment owners
Summer Lin (No paywall)From Los Angeles ... When Bell Gardens resident Monchis Curiel got a notice last year from her landlord that rent for her three-bedroom apartment would more than double the next day — from $1,200 a month to $2,500 — she was shocked. Curiel, 47, has lived in the city for more than three decades and knew her landlord was required to give at least 60 days’ notice for such a large increase. She decided to fight the move in court and won. And because her landlord didn’t want to pay the relocation fees under Los Angeles County’s rent stabilization ordinance, Curiel was offered a one-year lease at her original rent. Curiel, a single mother of four who earns about $14,000 annually, said that if she hadn’t known her rights as a tenant, she would’ve been forced to move out. “I would’ve separated my kids from my family. They would’ve gone to their father, and I would probably be sleeping in a car,” she said. “What I cared about is that my kids had a roof.” ... On Aug. 22, the City Council voted unanimously to advance a rent stabilization ordinance that would limit annual rent increases to 50% of the local consumer price index, capping the hike at 4% even if the inflation rate is higher. Rent control has long been a tool to protect people from being priced out of their homes. But with California’s rents rising amid a hot real estate market, more cities are turning to the protections. This has won praise from tenant groups and opposition from apartment owners’ organizations, which have been critical of the Bell Gardens plan. (Los Angeles Times)
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-28/more-califor…
# International, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Census of Population and Housing - Counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
Australian Bureau of Statistics (No paywall)The 2021 Census marks 50 years since the 1971 Census – the first Census to include all Australians following the 1967 Referendum. The 1967 Referendum changed the Constitution to allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be included in official Census population counts. In 1971, 115,993 people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in the Census. In 2021, that number grew to 812,728 people.
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-s…
# Australia, Race and ethnicity.