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
NSW strata watchdog seeks power to enter apartment buildings without a warrant, fine owners if common property not maintained
Amy Greenbank ABC (No paywall)The NSW government has introduced a new tranche of strata reforms to parliament, which it says sets a "high-water mark" for strata living in the state. However, one significant part of the bill received scant attention during Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong's speech to parliament on Wednesday. Under the proposed changes, NSW Fair Trading is seeking new powers to enter any apartment building in the state without a warrant, if there are reasonable grounds to believe an owners corporation is not fixing common property.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-22/nsw-stateline-strata-laws…
# Must read, Legal significance NSW, Repairs, Strata.Gareth Ward calls on NSW Labor to halt planned closure of community justice centre
The Bugle Newspaper (No paywall)Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, has urged the NSW Labor government to reverse its decision to shut down Community Justice Centre (CJC) services across the state, including in the Illawarra and South Coast regions. During Question Time, Ward called on the Premier to reconsider these planned closures, which are set to take effect on July 1, 2025. Established by the Community Justice Centres Act of 1983, CJCs offer free, alternative dispute resolution services to help resolve conflicts outside of court.
https://thebuglenewspaper.com.au/NewsStory/gareth-ward-calls-on-…
# Hot topic NSW, .Developers will bypass council approvals in residential development overhaul in NSW
Chantelle Al-Khouri & Alexander Lewis ABC (No paywall)Councils will be stripped of the power to block certain large new residential developments in NSW, as part of major changes to the state's planning system. Premier Chris Minns on Friday announced a pathway for developers to bypass council approvals, in order to speed up approval and delivery times. In an address to The Daily Telegraph's Bradfield Oration, Mr Minns said the changes would be a new pathway to assess and approve spot rezoning at the same time. "I'm sure some people will push back against it, but we're making this call because we don't have any time to waste," Mr Minns said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-15/housing-approvals-nsw-lag…
# Must read NSW, .Albanese struggles to offload Dulwich Hill investment property
Kishor Napier-Raman The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)In both real estate and politics, timing is everything. For Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, he of once-impeccable political judgment, that timing has gone a little awry of late. Albanese’s decision to buy a $4.3 million clifftop home on the Central Coast amid a housing and cost-of-living crisis left several of his Labor colleagues scratching their heads. It meant the government wasted another week defending the prime minister from the “out of touch” allegations rather than prosecuting its agenda.
https://www.smh.com.au/cbd/albanese-struggles-to-offload-dulwich…
# Hot topic NSW, .No grounds eviction ban: Is the devil in the detail?
Karl Hoerr Law Society Journal (No paywall)The proposed reform is aimed at making the system fairer and comes at a time when a growing proportion of the state is living in rental accommodation – now sitting at 33 per cent. Some details have been announced, including the reasonable grounds that homeowners will have to establish to evict someone and the notice that will be required. But penalties for breaches of the new law, have not been revealed. And there are other aspects of the reform that are yet to emerge. So will the changes answer the calls made by tenancy advocates or open up a series of unintended consequences?
https://lsj.com.au/articles/no-grounds-eviction-ban-is-the-devil…
# Hot topic, Legal significance NSW, Eviction, Rent.To move or not to move: is it cheaper to find a new place or stay when your rent increases by 10%?
Sara Quach & Park Thaichon The Conversation (No paywall)Your landlord has just raised your rent by 10% and your mind starts running the numbers – should you cop it sweet or look to move? It’s a familiar scenario in today’s unpredictable housing market. Understanding the real costs of staying versus moving is essential for making informed choices: renters must consider hidden expenses such as moving costs, deposits and changing rental rates, giving them tools to handle rising rent pressures more effectively. National median market rents have hit record highs, reaching $627 per week, with an average annual growth rate of 9.1% during the past three years, according to real estate giant CoreLogic.
https://theconversation.com/to-move-or-not-to-move-is-it-cheaper…
# Hot topic Australia, Starting a tenancy.Where even a modest home costs 99 per cent of incomes
Jim Malo The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Rental affordability is the worst on record in several capital cities, pushing welfare recipients, minimum-wage workers and single-income households to the fringes of Australian communities. The National Shelter-SGS Planning and Economics Rental Affordability Index released on Friday shows it is unaffordable for the average household to rent in every city aside from the ACT, the one jurisdiction in Australia where a rent cap has been implemented. Affordability was much worse for low-income households; in some cases the poorest of the poor would need to spend more than their entire income to rent in the most expensive cities.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/where-even-a-modest-home-co…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media Australia, .The NSW housing minister stuffed up on radio. Then her inbox overflowed with hate
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson is no shrinking violet. She has been a NSW Labor operative in the blokey world of Sussex Street, a union official and a political activist since her high school days. But a clumsily worded radio interview on ABC Sydney, in which she seemed to suggest that the rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Sydney was a “couple of hundred bucks”, has delivered Jackson what she says is the worst wave of abuse she has encountered in her political career. Jackson acknowledged on Thursday that her Tuesday radio interview with Hamish Macdonald was “not my best work”.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/the-nsw-housing-minister-stu…
# Hot topic NSW, .