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
Aussie landlords refusing to pass on rent hikes
Ellen Hill news.com.au (No paywall)There’s something happening in Australian rentals that is, well, very unexpected. National median rents (the weighted average from the eight Australian capital cities) increased 2.8 per cent for houses and 6.9 per cent for other dwellings in the March 2024 quarter, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA). And rents jumped 33 per cent in the two years to January 2024, with a typical renter in a capital city paying $150 more for their lodgings each week. But some landlords are bucking the trend and refusing to hike the cost of lodging.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/aussie-landlords-refusing-to-pas…
# Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Rent.South Australian rental reforms to begin on July 1 to make renting easier
Sowaibah Hanifie 7 News (No paywall)The rules around renting a property in South Australia will soon become more relaxed for tenants. Major changes to the state’s rental laws begin on July 1, making it harder for landlords to terminate a lease and easier for pet owners to find housing. Under the changes, landlords will need prescribed grounds to terminate a fixed lease or not renew a periodic tenancy. This can include breaches by the tenant, and wanting to sell, renovate or occupy the property. They will need to provide 60 days notice to end a fixed tenancy, up from the previous 28 days. Rental properties will need to comply with minimum housing standards under the new rules.
https://7news.com.au/news/south-australian-rental-reforms-to-beg…
# Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Rent.Why are Australian homes so cold and can we warm them up in an affordable way?
ABC (No paywall)Much of Australia is having a cold snap right now — with sub-zero temperatures in six different states and territories. And it can be very nice in those times to curl up in a warm room with a hot cuppa, and forget about the world outside. Unfortunately, many Australian homes barely keep the cold outside, and that affects our energy bills, which are already high. What can we do to warm up our homes, both this winter and in the future?
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/australian-ho…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas.Homelessness in bitter winter means mouldy, damp and wet conditions for rough sleepers
Conor Burke and Nakita Jager ABC (No paywall)Shane Sweeney wakes up most mornings in damp bed sheets after a night of rough sleeping on the frosty banks of the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga. The former shearer, who turns 50 this year, sleeps in a makeshift home made from blue tarps and gazebos. Recent sub-zero temperatures have left everything wet and dank, and have made sleep elusive. "I tend to wake up two or three times or more … everything's moist, and your body reacts, you're just too cold to sleep," he said. Parts of Australia are recording their coldest temperatures in more than a decade — with spells of rain and icy weather expected to continue this week — and people sleeping rough are bearing the brunt. Mr Sweeney said he has struggled this winter to stay warm.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-30/homeless-bearing-brunt-of…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas.Should Australia's real estate industry be not-for-profit?
ABC (No paywall)Should Australia's real estate industry be not-for-profit? Australia's private rental sector has burgeoned rapidly over the last two decades as more investors take advantage of generous tax incentives for property profiteering. But there are growing calls for regulatory changes to make the sector more secure for the 31 percent of households who now rent. Professor Wendy Stone says banning 'no grounds evictions', making the sector more transparent, and non-profit real estate agencies are just some of the ideas that should be encouraged.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/should-austra…
# Audio Australia, Eviction, Rent.Do you love renting? Does it make you feel patriotic?
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)How good is renting? Historically, renters have always been a site of extraction. As the euphemism goes, they're a source of "passive income" for landlords. But in the 21st century, in the age of data harvesting, renters in Australia are also being mined for their personal data. And it's being extracted from them before they've even found a place to live. Do you want to apply for a rental property? You'll have to fill in an online application form so a private RentTech company can run a background check on you. Please provide a copy of your passport, driver's licence, Medicare card, utility bills, pay slips, bank statements, your boss' phone number, your rental and employment history, and more. It's far more information than is required to assess your ability to pay rent.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-30/renting-housing-policy-ch…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Housing and mental health inequalities during COVID-19: the role of income and housing support measures
Ang Li, Emma Baker & Rebecca Bentley Taylor & Francis (No paywall)The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted people’s mental health and wellbeing. Using a national dataset of >11,000 Australians collected before and during the first two years of the pandemic, this study examines housing and mental health effects of COVID-19, and the extent to which access to government income support (social security measures, crisis payments and wage subsidy), early superannuation withdrawal, mortgage and rent relief, and tenant eviction moratoriums offered protection. Results show that the mental health gap between private rental and more secure housing tenures and between good- and poor-quality housing widened during the pandemic.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673037.2024.23669…
# Hot topic Australia, .In praise of public housing
Elizabeth Farrelly Architecture AU (No paywall)Once upon a time, crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, in either direction, brought a surprise fillip of joy. There was the obvious stuff, of course – sparkling harbour, flower-burst opera house and so on. That was lovely, but no surprise. What astonished and delighted me every time was that so crass and self-concerned a city as Sydney chose to put the poorest people right at the heart of this glory. The most visible reminder of this was the Sirius building, the brutalist public housing custom-designed in 1978 by Tao Gofers for the Millers Point stevedores. It was said to resemble purple stacked television sets. To me, it was Sydney’s redemption.
https://architectureau.com/articles/in-praise-of-public-housing/…
# Must read International, Public and community housing, Rent.