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
‘Dress better’: Real estate agent’s brutal advice to renters
Jasmine Kazlauskas news.com.au (No paywall)A Sydney real estate agent is facing backlash after offering two words of advice to renters struggling to find a property. Amir Jahan sparked anger online after suggesting that renters struggling to find a property must “dress better.” The 25-year-old, who recently opened A-Class Estate Agents in Paramatta, explained that looking presentable during an inspection is more important than people realise. “I think that the way someone looks is the most important thing,” he told news.com.au
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/dress-better…
# Hot topic NSW, Discrimination, Rent, Starting a tenancy.Big win for Woronora residents
Eloise Parry Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Nestled along the banks of the Woronora River lies Woronora Village Tourist Park, a small community that was established in 1956. In recent years, this community has been under threat due to repeated attempts by the current operator to develop the community, causing uncertainty and distress among its residents. The residents are a mix of home owners and tenants. From 1956 until 2006 the community had the same owner. After it was sold in 2006 some small changes were made with new moveable dwellings installed and the community moved away from being a holiday makers park.
https://www.tenants.org.au/thenoticeboard/news/big-win-woronora
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Land lease communities.We rely on them to keep Sydney running. But they can barely afford to live here
Matt Wade and Craig Butt The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Dozens of inner-Sydney suburbs are entirely devoid of emergency workers as soaring housing costs push a growing number of those employed in frontline jobs to outer metropolitan areas and beyond. There are 33 suburbs in Sydney’s north shore, eastern suburbs and inner west with no residents who work as police officers, firefighters or paramedics, Herald analysis of local area employment data reveals. The neighbourhoods without emergency workers, which included Double Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Birchgrove, Kirribilli and Castlecrag, have a combined population of 90,000 people.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/triple-0-the-sydney-suburbs-…
# Hot topic NSW, .‘Huge waste’: Labor loses key supporters over inner-city housing plans
Michael Koziol The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Minns government has been criticised from all sides of the housing debate, including its usual supporters, over its plan for a prime piece of inner-city land that will be sold to developers for new homes. Sydney YIMBY, which advocates for more housing, said it was a “huge waste” that the 1.2-hectare former WestConnex dive site on Parramatta Road in Annandale was slated to deliver just 100 private market dwellings and no social or affordable housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/huge-waste-labor-loses-key-s…
# Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing.Vacant houses test the limits of private property rights
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)A man's home may be his castle, as the ancient English legal principle goes, but no castle is completely immune from attack. Especially if that castle has been left to rot and ruin and nobody lives there to defend it. "Traditionally we work on the assumption that if it's private property, people are free to do with it as they please, they can leave it vacant, not use it," explains property law expert Cathy Sherry from Macquarie University. "But no matter what you do with private property, you're always being regulated by law. And law always regulates private property for the benefit of the wider community," she says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-07/vacant-houses-test-the-li…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Many Australian homes are freezing in winter, but change is in the air
Benn Dorrington realestate.com.au (No paywall)Cold snaps across the country have shone a spotlight on Australian homes and why they get so chilly when temperatures drop, but new rules are set to make homes warmer in the future. This winter has seen temperatures drop below zero across much of the country at times, forcing many people to rug up in their own homes amid rising energy bills and the cost-of-living crisis. Part of the problem is the way Australian homes have been built in the past, lacking enough insulation to properly shield from the icy weather and other energy-efficient measures.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/many-australian-homes-are-fre…
# Hot topic Australia, Utilities electricity water gas.A new bill is proposing a human right to housing. How would this work?
Chris Martin The Conversation (No paywall)There’s a new bill before federal parliament calling for housing to be considered a fundamental human right. The bill, introduced last week by independent federal parliamentarians Kylea Tink and David Pocock, would require the government to create a ten year National Housing and Homelessness Plan. One part of the bill states housing should be considered a fundamental human right for all Australians. Here’s how this would work.
https://theconversation.com/a-new-bill-is-proposing-a-human-righ…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Canberra couple awarded damages after wife awoken by a real estate agent in her bedroom conducting an inspection
Charlotte Gore ABC (No paywall)A Canberra woman who was awoken by a real estate agent in her bedroom conducting an inspection has been awarded damages by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT). The ACAT heard the woman was in bed with her infant son when the agent entered the room, both of whom later testified they were "shocked" to see the other. The woman gave evidence she "heard a person in the apartment" and hid under the bedsheets because she was "terrified" and because she was not wearing her Islamic head scarf.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-05/act-woman-awoken-real-est…
# Must read Australia, Discrimination, Rent, Tribunal NCAT.