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
NSW Will (Finally) Ban No-Grounds Evictions — Here’s When And How The New Laws Will Hit
Lachlan Hodson Pedestrian (No paywall)The NSW Government has announced that it will be banning “no-grounds” evictions across the state from next year, finally making good on its commitment to ban the practise in last year’s election. The changes announced by NSW Premier Chris Minns are some of the biggest reforms to rental laws in NSW in a decade. No-grounds or no-fault evictions occur when a landlord decides to evict a tenant from their property in the 30 days prior to a fixed-lease ending, or with 90 days warning for ongoing lease, for no reason. Under current laws, this type of eviction happens to someone in NSW every 18 minutes.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/no-grounds-evictions-nsw-ban-expl…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent.‘Peace of mind’: NSW to end ‘no-grounds’ evictions as vacancy rates plummet
Nathan Schmidt news.com.au (No paywall)NSW Premier Chris Minns says new laws seeking to abolish “no-grounds” evictions will allow the state’s renters “to build a home and life on surer ground”, as historically low vacancy rates continue to worsen. Announced on Saturday, the laws seek to end the right of rental property owners to choose to end a lease “at any time or (with) no reason at all”, instead having to provide “commonsense or reasonable reasons”.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/peace-of-min…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction.Two experts measured how bad Sydney’s property market is. They got a shock
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)It was a finding about the Sydney property market that shocked researchers to their core. They’d begun with a study looking at whether buying a home in the most affordable areas Sydney might be achievable for someone on a part-time wage. But then they discovered that it wasn’t possible even for a person on a median full-time salary and that it probably wouldn’t be until at least 2031.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/two-experts-measured-how-bad-sydn…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.How ‘metro mania’ could derail the housing crisis
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)From little kids waving cardboard signs to trainspotters, long-suffering commuters and people – like me – who simply love being part of history: Sydney is unlikely to see the same level of excitement attached to a piece of infrastructure as what we saw on Monday when the new metro shot under the harbour for the first time. No one, from Premier Chris Minns to Transport Minister Jo Haylen or even project director Hugh Lawson, who knows the 15.5-kilometre line inside out, had any real idea of the scale of metro mania that would be unleashed.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-metro-mania-could-derail…
# Hot topic NSW, .Fierce renter advocate eyes Parliament House tenancy
Kat Wong Canberra Times (No paywall)A champion of renters and nemesis to landlords is taking his crusade to the ballot box as he joins the federal election fight. Jordan van den Lamb, known online as purplepingers, has gained more than 4.6 million views on TikTok for his fierce advocacy of tenant rights. He first shot to fame for his "S*** Rentals" series, where he would review listings of dilapidated but expensive Australian rental properties. Then, he created an eponymous website that allows renters to leave honest reviews of their homes. The 28-year-old lawyer later garnered international attention for setting up a database of empty properties, some of which had been abandoned for years, and encouraging Australians to squat in them.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8743109/fierce-renter-adv…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent.Jordan Van Den Lamb AKA Purple Pingers Announces Political Bid: ‘Don’t Vote For A Landlord’
Rebekah Manibog Pedestrian (No paywall)Jordan van den Lamb — famously known as Purple Pingers online — has announced that he will be running for parliament alongside the Victorian Socialists in the next federal election. Lamb, who is known for his rental advocacy work as well as the landlord-blasting site shitrentals.org, will be running for Senate in the next federal election, due to take place in 2025. “I just wanted to let you know that at the next federal election, I will be running for the senate with Victorian socialists,” the 28-year-old content creator began in his announcement. “That’s because it’s pretty obvious we need some change.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/jordan-van-der-lamb-run-for-senat…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, .Minister orders review of NSW Strata and Property Services Commissioner John Minns's stake in property group
Linton Besser, Mayeta Clark and Echo Hui ABC (No paywall)The NSW Strata and Property Services Commissioner — responsible for overseeing strata governance and assisting in the regulation of the state's property sector — has failed to publicly disclose more than 500,000 shares in a major real estate and strata services company. John Minns was originally appointed by the state government in November 2021. At the time, he told the public, via an official government biography, that he had "sold his interest in Independent Property Group in mid-2021".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-23/minister-orders-review-of…
# Hot topic Australia, Strata.These Australians have waited years for their public housing to be repaired. A class action has now been filed
Kamin Gock ABC (No paywall)Collapsed ceilings, termite infestations, broken toilets, rotting walls, unsafe drinking water and no front doors. No one would find these living conditions acceptable. Yet in public housing, in Australia's remote Indigenous communities, these are just some of the realities tenants have faced for a prolonged period. In Gillarong, a small community south-east of Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia's Kimberley region, there are only about a dozen homes — but one in particular stands out. Since March 2022, it has had no roof after a storm ripped it off.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-22/wa-indigenous-public-hous…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Repairs, Security and safety.