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
Inside the revolt over NSW’s signature housing reforms
Christopher Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Crossbench MPs are demanding more meaningful reforms to tackle NSW’s housing supply and affordability crisis as they consider supporting a Liberal bill designed to scuttle Premier Chris Minns’ signature planning policy. The bill, introduced by opposition planning spokesperson Scott Farlow, would allow for the abolition of transport-oriented development zones (TODs) where six-storey apartment blocks could be built near 37 public transport hubs across the state.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/inside-the-revolt-over-nsw-s…
# Hot topic, Legal significance NSW, .Australia's largest tenancy database's 'virtual manager' service breached renter's privacy, information watchdog finds
Maani Truu ABC (No paywall)One of Australia's largest tenancy databases breached a renter's privacy by operating an additional service that tracked their movements over seven years, Australia's information watchdog has found. The complaint concerned Tenancy Information Centre Australasia's (TICA) "virtual manager" service, which allows property managers to opt in to receive notifications when the name of tenants they have logged with the service are searched in TICA's main database as part of future rental property applications. While formal tenancy databases — often called blacklists — are subject to strict privacy and information rules, including that listings must be removed after three years, the virtual manager service has operated outside of these guardrails for years, allowing property managers to keep tabs on tenants indefinitely.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-11/tica-virtual-manager-rent…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media Australia, Privacy and access, Rent, Security and safety.Sydney’s ghost suburbs where homes are empty
Aidan Devine and Taylor Troeth Daily Telegraph (Paywall)“Ghost rentals” – under-utilised properties that sit unoccupied for much of the year – could be on the rise as more homeowners ditch permanent tenants for cashed up holiday-makers. Other homeowners have been reported to be skimping rent altogether, keeping their properties empty year-round in what’s been labelled a crippling blow to efforts to solve the rental housing shortage. The most recent count from the ABS, collated by PropTrack, revealed close to a third of the properties in some suburbs were not permanently occupied, with the homes unavailable as long-term rental stock. But experts said the true number of homes without a long-term occupier could be much higher in some areas.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/property/one-third-of-some-syd…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent.There are now 50,000 short-term rental properties in NSW. The area with the most isn’t Byron Bay
Christopher Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The number of NSW properties placed on platforms such as Airbnb has hit 50,000 as the state’s housing minister considers major changes to the rules governing short-term rental accommodation in a bid to fix the state’s housing crisis. Measures under consideration include slapping a levy on holiday homes on the short-term rental market and placing a cap on the number of days properties may be let out for. Regional property owners have bristled at the prospect of a tax or levy, saying properties rented out to tourists were often not suitable for long-term rental accommodation. An industry group representing the short-term accommodation sector says capping the number of days a property can be let out has failed to boost the supply of housing.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/there-are-now-50-000-short-t…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.‘No doubt we will see more homelessness’: Rents increase at more than six times the rate of wages
Jemimah Clegg The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Australian renters have suffered another blow as rent increases outpaced wage growth in the latest quarter, new analysis shows. Experts say other interim measures, such as rent caps and slowing immigration, are needed until more homes are built to ease pressure on renters. Asking rents for houses rose by more than six times the rate of wages in the March quarter, a comparison of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) wage price index with Domain rent data showed. Wages ticked up by 0.8 per cent, while combined capital city asking rents for houses jumped 5 per cent. Meanwhile, unit rents increased by more than four times the rate of wages, growing 3.3 per cent across all capitals for the quarter.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/no-doubt-we-will-see-more-h…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent.Cutting permanent migration may make housing cheaper, but it will definitely make us poorer
Brendan Coates & Trent Wiltshire Grattan Institute (No paywall)Rents are skyrocketing and public anxiety about migration is on the rise. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has responded by proposing to cut migration. The Opposition plans to lower the number of permanent visas offered each year, from 185,000 to 140,000 for the next two years, 150,000 in 2026-27 and 160,000 per year after that, and to reduce the number of humanitarian visas issued each year from 20,000 to 13,750.
https://grattan.edu.au/news/cutting-permanent-migration-may-make…
# Must read, Research alert Australia, .Victoria is raising minimum rental standards – it’s good news for tenants and the environment
Nicola Willand, Lyrian Daniel, Emma Baker & Trivess Moore The Conversation (No paywall)Following the lead of countries like New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Australian states and territories are moving slowly towards improving the basic quality and performance of rental housing. Victoria is leading the way in Australia. The state government this week proposed new minimum requirements for rental properties and rooming or boarding houses. These changes would be phased in from October 2025. The new standards will greatly improve the quality and comfort of rental housing. They will also make it cheaper to live in. It’s the most far-reaching response by any Australian government to the huge and well-documented problems of affordability and poor conditions in our rental housing.
https://theconversation.com/victoria-is-raising-minimum-rental-s…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Utilities electricity water gas.As her anguished pleas fell on deaf ears Louise watched her Australian dream splinter in front of her
Norman Hermant and Sean Davey ABC (No paywall)Louise Goode's fight for the place of "emotional comfort" she called home lasted a quarter of a century, until it was demolished in front of her as she screamed for help. Louise Goode’s quarter-century commitment to a home in Melbourne’s inner north was crushed in a matter of minutes. As she watched from behind a thin construction fence, a digger moved into position, and started to tear the house apart. “Stop! Stop! Stop!” she shouted. Her voice breaking from rage and frustration, she opened a gap in the fence and ran in front of the machine, forcing the operator to shut it down.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-07/louise-goode-20-plus-year…
# Must read Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.