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
Renters turn to motels and caravan parks in regional Victoria amid housing crisis
Rhiannon Stevens ABC (No paywall)Toni and Billy were looking for a night of respite when they booked into a neat, if slightly forgotten, motel on a grassy plain outside Ballarat in regional Victoria. Unable to secure a rental property and homeless, they wanted to be out of the cold. The couple, who did not want their full names published, had been camping through winter with their children at a free campsite for months. "It was hard," Toni said. "It sucked. It was really stressful. It was gut wrenching." "Trying to apply for houses, you always get knocked back, knocked back, knocked back," Billy added.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-30/renting-housing-crisis-ac…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Land lease communities, Rent, Security and safety, Starting a tenancy.Landlord’s secret Facebook post urging investors to band together to collude on price hikes sparks fury
Shannon Molloy news.com.au (No paywall)A jaw-dropping post in a private Facebook group for landlords has sparked fury from a prominent renter advocate, who says it exposes the true nature of Australian property investors. A member of the closed ‘Landlord’s (sic) Victoria’ group shared a post encouraging fellow investors to “be united” by colluding to increase rent prices uniformly. The user complained that properties in suburbs in outer-Melbourne were achieving “low” rents in comparison to “states like Perth”. The man suggested an organised increase of up to $200- per-week to put combined pressure on the market.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/landlords-se…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Single older women living in converted tiny homes, cabins at caravan parks amid housing crisis
Rachael Lucas ABC (No paywall)When Lesley Wheeler, 72, noticed rental prices on the rise in her outer Melbourne suburb of Frankston six years ago, she had a stark realisation that the only way she was going to survive retirement was to own her own property. "Four months prior to turning 65, I'd been told by some job service: 'Don't even bother looking for another job because at your age you won't get one and you're a woman'," she said. "I kind of realised that I was going to be stuck. I had no superannuation left, as I had to use that previously, and no other resources other than a pension. "I thought, 'I'm going to have to do something about this' and the tiny house movement interested me."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-02/single-older-women-living…
# Hot topic Australia, Land lease communities, Rent, Security and safety.Moving back home, co-housing, and boarders. How three households embraced communal living
Tessa Flemming & Aishah Kenton ABC (No paywall)Ellamay Khongroj Fitzgerald didn’t imagine herself still living with her parents at 31. “You know, you’ve grown up with your parents, you sometimes have your differences and you want to get away which I did,” she says. But after living abroad, she moved back into the downstairs area of her parents’ Palm Beach home — along with roommate Courtenay Mccue in April 2023. The pair have their own bathroom, kitchen and living space but share a backyard and laundry with Ellamay’s parents.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-01/three-households-embrace-…
# Must read Australia, Rent, Share houses.Australia is building a million new homes — but we may not want to live in them
Charis Chang SBS (No paywall)When Stacey (not her real name) and her husband returned to Australia after living overseas, her search for a family home took years, even though she was willing to make concessions others weren't. The 45-year-old, who did not want to be identified, quickly realised that buying a house within a reasonable distance from Sydney's city centre would cost her more than $2 million. She quickly adjusted her expectations and started considering three-bedroom units instead, but said there were "limited options". "What is available isn't really geared towards families," she told SBS News. Stacey, who has a primary-school-aged child, said it was frustrating to find floor plans, especially in newer developments, often didn't feature a reasonably sized dining area or family room to have people over, or for the family to watch TV together.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-housing-problem-that-gov…
# Hot topic Australia, .Housing tower residents given more time to reframe case
Tara Cosoleto 9 News (No paywall)A judge has given public housing tower residents more time to reframe their case against the Victorian government. Resident Barry Berih launched the class action earlier this year, arguing the government went against legislation when it decided to demolish the Melbourne high-rise towers. All 44 of the city's public housing towers are set to be redeveloped by 2051, with five in Flemington, North Melbourne and Carlton expected to be replaced by 2031. The project was a key pillar of the Victorian government's housing statement unveiled in September and would lead to the relocation of more than 10,000 residents.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/housing-tower-residents-given-…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing.The housing crisis hit Queensland hard. Jolted into action, the state has raised its game
Hal Pawson The Conversation (No paywall)Post-COVID housing stress has been especially intense in Queensland. Brisbane property prices have climbed by 65% since the pandemic began. That’s almost double the Australian capital city average (34%). According to new data released by CoreLogic this week, Brisbane now has the second-most expensive housing in the country, behind Sydney. Prices rose by 1.4% in May, with the median property price hitting $843,231. Across the state, new tenancy rents are up by 45% in just four years. Adjusted for inflation, that’s a 23% increase in real terms, much more than the growth in incomes over that time. Without doubt, rising accommodation costs are inflicting financial pain on many in the Sunshine State.
https://theconversation.com/the-housing-crisis-hit-queensland-ha…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.The 'crushing' effect of the rental crisis on our mental health and sense of self
Anna Salleh and Sana Qadar, with Rose Kerr ABC (No paywall)It's a brisk Perth autumn morning and 26-year-old Madi is sitting in a courtyard in her pyjamas cradling a warm cup of coffee. She can see a grey sky through the branches of the trees as they sway in the wind. Madi's up early for a phone interview with ABC RN's All in the Mind, and she's outside because she doesn't want to wake up the rest of the house. She recently moved in with her partner's family, and although she's grateful to have a roof over her head, the situation is far from ideal. "As accommodating as everyone is, and as loving and caring as everyone is, you just feel like you're stepping on someone's territory and invading their space."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2024-06-04/rental-housing-cri…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.