ADVICE OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD
Tenants Advice & Advocacy Services have limited availability over the holiday period. The Tenants' Union will operate a Tenancy Advice Hotline from Wednesday 18/12/2024 until Wednesday 8/1/2025 (excluding weekends and public holidays). The hours of operation are 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.
Get advice on: (02) 8117 3750 or 1800 251 101
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
Sorry, home owners, but this is when you should have sold your house
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Is it a good time to sell your house? Home owners might not want to hear it, but the best time to sell was last year. Rapidly rising interest rates have reduced buyer demand to below-average levels this winter, new analysis shows, but buyer interest was on the decline well before that in most markets.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sorry-home-owners-but-this-…
# Australia, Housing market.As Sydney’s spring selling season begins, will property prices reverse?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Further interest rate rises are set to weigh on Sydney’s spring property market and the size of the increase to mortgage costs could determine how far house prices fall. ... with another interest rate rise around the corner, ANZ and Westpac updating their Sydney house price forecasts to peak-to-trough falls of 20 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, and buyer demand on listings websites showing signs of a drop, experts have reservations about how the spring property market will perform.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/as-sydney-s-spring-selling-…
# NSW, Housing market, Sydney.The International Union of Tenants (IUT ) calls for help for tenants to prevent a worsening of the European housing crisis
(No paywall)The IUT Board met in Helsinki in June 2022 during the Social Housing Festival and discussed the ongoing housing crisis in the countries represented at the Board. The Board therefore agreed to issue a statement to ask national governments and the European Commission to do more to help tenants. Click link to Statement.
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/the-international-union-of-tenant…
# International, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas, Homelessness.How 5 key tenancy reforms are affecting renters and landlords around Australia
Wendy Stone, Terry Burke and Zoe Goodall The Conversation (No paywall)Private rental forms an increasingly large part of our housing system. Just over a quarter (26%) of Australian households – 2.4 million of them – live in privately rented dwellings. And increasing numbers are renting long-term. These trends are reshaping expectations of private rental housing. Residential tenancy reforms that are rolling out around the nation – albeit in slightly variable ways – are an important part of this national change. These reforms are important to ensure tenants are safe, secure and happy in their homes. Insecure and poor-quality housing can harm renters’ health and wellbeing.
https://theconversation.com/how-5-key-tenancy-reforms-are-affect…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards, No-grounds evictions, Pets.IUT Brussels News Summer 2022
International Union of Tenants (No paywall)The IUT EU report summer 2022 highlights:
• EU housing minister’s meeting
• IUT claims for the new EED and EPBD
• Solutions for housing affordability
• Initiatives to fight energy poverty
• Housing rights and renovictons
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/iut-brussels-summer-2022-newslett…
# International, Eviction, Utilities electricity water gas, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability.Soaring rents adding to job vacancies in major regions
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Soaring rents across regional areas are exacerbating the shortage of workers, costing parts of the country such as Geelong and the Sunshine Coast more than $700 million each in lost economic activity every year. Research released on Wednesday, ahead of next week’s jobs and skills summit, shows the surge in housing costs that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic is a growing factor in the struggle facing many businesses to get staff as prospective workers are in effect priced out of the rental market. ... Compiled for the “Everybody’s Home” affordable housing campaign, the research by Impact Economics and Policy shows the surge in prices and rents is making it much more difficult for regional areas to attract workers. ... Kate Colvin, spokesperson for the “Everybody’s Home” campaign, said regional areas were already facing a social crisis because of their chronic lack of affordable housing. They were now facing an economic crisis. Also, read Damian McIntyre's article entitled: 'Housing shortage creating employment problems in regional Tasmania' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-24/housing-shortage-employment-problems-regional-tasmania/101367796]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/soaring-rents-adding-to-…
# Australia, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Regional NSW, Work, employment.Human Rights Commission says freeze on rent increases should return
Mohammad Alafeshat (No paywall)From New Zealand ... An immediate freeze on rent increases could provide a much needed break for renters, says the Human Rights Commission (HRC). A housing inquiry, launched by the commission last year, found rents were rising faster than income and inflation. ... At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the government implemented a temporary six-month freeze on rent increases to ease the pressure on renters. The commission is suggesting the government should re-instate a freeze on rent increases and immediately increase the accommodation supplement to aid low-income renters. (RNZ)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/472987/human-rights-commissi…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Albanese government urged to freeze rent rises for two years to avoid ‘national tragedy’
Sarah Martin The Guardian (No paywall)The Greens are urging the Albanese government to impose a nationwide rent freeze for two years, saying the issue of rental affordability should be elevated to national cabinet ahead of next week’s jobs and skills summit. New research from the Everybody’s Home advocacy group has found increased rents in regional areas are contributing to unfilled job vacancies, with some areas recording rental rises of more than 40% in the past two years. Nationally, rents have been rising at the fastest rate in 14 years, up 9.1% in capital cities and 10.8% in regional areas compared to June 2021.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/25/albanese-…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market.