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
The cost of living crisis is hitting renters in Sydney harder than anywhere else in Australia
7 News (No paywall)The cost of living crisis is hitting renters in Sydney harder than anywhere else in Australia, with a new report revealing that housing in the Harbour City is $200 a week more expensive than in Melbourne.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHAvWK2BBwV/?utm_source=ig_web_co…
# TUNSW in the media, Video NSW, .Minns Labor Government delivers on rental reform by ending no grounds evictions on 19 May 2025
NSW Government (No paywall)More than 2.3 million renters in NSW will be better off thanks to the latest round of changes to rental laws which will help create a fairer rental market, including ending ‘no-grounds’ evictions and making it easier to keep a pet. The reforms will come into effect on 19 May 2025 following extensive consultation with renters, investors, animal welfare groups and industry representatives. They follow changes which commenced in October last year which ensure renters cannot be charged for background checks and limit rent increases to once per year. Further reforms, including stronger privacy protections for renters and the introduction of a portable rental bond scheme, are set to be introduced later in 2025.
https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/minns-labor-governme…
# Must read, Legal significance NSW, Eviction, Rent.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-23/lismore-squatters-reclaim-abandoned-homes-despite-govt-threat/105076944
Jason Om and Richard Mockler ABC (No paywall)A short walk from the heart of Lismore are a bunch of homes among the gum trees on a dead-end road called Pine Street. Small camp fires burn, dogs saunter up and down the street. A sign in the grass says "Welcome". The people here are a mixed group of travellers, locals and activists who, for the past nine months, have occupied the empty homes, now seven in total. They call Pine Street a community, but the law calls it illegal. Some, like Tina, say she came here out of desperation, after her "heavy depression time". She told 7.30 that she and her teenage son moved here from the Central Coast, having lived in a car and a caravan for the past three years. In Lismore, 487 people are recorded by Homelessness NSW as homeless.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-23/lismore-squatters-reclaim…
# Must read NSW, Disasters, Rent.North coast caravan park residents face homelessness amid crackdown on leases
Charles Rushforth and Cathy Adams ABC (No paywall)In 2016 military veteran Roger House used his life savings to purchase a holiday van at Minnie Water Holiday Park. On March 15 his lease was terminated by the Clarence Valley Council, giving him 120 days to vacate. He is now facing the prospect of having nowhere to live. "The prices of rentals these days … you can't get a decent place to live on your superannuation and your pension," Mr House said. "I'll be homeless. I've got no family close by where I can go and live. "What am I going to do, pitch a tent?"
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-26/clarence-valley-council-h…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Land lease communities, Rent.Former WestConnex sites spark debate over inner city Sydney's affordable housing
Ursula Malone ABC (No paywall)The NSW government has ruled out setting aside three former WestConnex tunnelling sites in inner-city Sydney for social housing. The prize parcels of government-owned land are at the centre of a political tug-of-war, with the Greens arguing they present a "golden opportunity" to provide much-needed housing close to the city for those on low incomes. Inner West Greens councillor Izabella Antoniou lives in Ashfield and passes two of the vacant sites every day on her way to the bus stop. "It feels like such a waste to have them sitting there," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-26/westconnex-sites-debate-i…
# Must read NSW, .The NSW university that wants to halve students’ rent
Christopher Harris The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The head of the University of NSW has vowed to double its student housing and offer it at half the cost of some private providers in a bid to make the institution accessible to poorer students. UNSW vice chancellor Attila Brungs has unveiled a 10-year strategy titled “Progress for All”, containing principles to guide the university’s teaching and research focus and a new campus infrastructure masterplan, which includes doubling the number of university colleges.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-nsw-university-that-want…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.The NSW housing shake-up that will change nearly 3 million lives
Frances Howe The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)The NSW government has announced that from May 19, its reforms including an end to no-grounds evictions and more rights for tenants with pets will come into force. The reforms, announced in October, are the result of long-awaited promises by successive Labor leaders. Following caps on the frequency of rental increases which came into effect last year, Premier Chris Minns said the changes will cater to more than 2.2 million renters in NSW. The state also has at least 600,000 landlords. “Today we are letting renters and owners know these major changes will begin in under two months’ time,” he said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-nsw-housing-shake-up-tha…
# Legal significance, New policy announcement NSW, Eviction, Rent.Big changes for renters in NSW to come into effect in May
7 News (No paywall)A raft of changes will soon come into effect for renters in NSW, which will ban no grounds evictions and allow tenants to apply to keep pets regardless of lease conditions.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&ur…
# Legal significance, Video NSW, Eviction, Rent.