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
Changing Australia: Dr Michael Fotheringham on finding ways to fix Australia's housing crisis
ABC (No paywall)When Dr Michael Fotheringham was a renter, he was evicted because the owner wanted to sell. Another house nearly put him in hospital with repeated mould induced chest infections. Michael originally worked in health promotion and as he shifted to non-profit organisations and working with vulnerable communities, he soon realised the critical role poor housing was playing on health and wellbeing. His experiences led him to a career running one of Australia's key housing research institutes and advising politicians and governments in Australia and overseas on the realities.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/c…
# Audio Australia, Rent.How Australia’s housing market spun out of control — and what we can do to fix it
Michael Janda ABC (No paywall)Margaret Lomas’s property odyssey began with a small step — a first unit in Sydney’s Cabramatta. “I can’t say there was anything I loved about that unit,” she recalls of the two-bedroom flat in an outer-suburban brick walk-up block. “I didn’t buy it because I loved it, I bought it because at the time it was in my price range. We paid $28,000 for that unit.” That was back in 1980, when Lomas was 20. Now in her 60s, Lomas and her husband at one point owned more than 40 investment properties.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-09/property-prices-investors…
# Must read Australia, .Share housing can be great for the budget, you just need to find the right match
Anna Chisholm ABC (No paywall)Brody Thiele is a social person who's "never really wanted to live alone". The 31-year-old social media producer says share housing also has the obvious benefit of cheaper rent. "Solo living in Sydney? I don't know how people could do that." It's long been a rite of passage for young Australians looking to fly the nest, but amid worsening rental affordability, share houses look to be further in demand. According to CoreLogic's more recent rental review, rents have increased by 36.1 per cent in Australia since the start of COVID-19.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-08/share-house-living-tips-f…
# Hot topic Australia, Share houses.Lynette is on the pension, a casual teacher, a golf instructor – and homeless
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)In the shed of the house where Lynette* sleeps, boxes are piled high. The 66-year-old dreams of unpacking the cartons – placing plates on shelves, hanging her coats in a wardrobe, picking fresh flowers for her favourite vase. Lynette is on the pension and works as a casual primary school teacher. On the weekends she teaches golf. She is also homeless. She has been staying with a friend in Kilsyth, in Melbourne’s outer east. It’s not ideal for either of them, but it is keeping her from rough sleeping.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/09/lynette-i…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Broome rental market forces residents out as town hits 'affordability ceiling'
Esse Deves ABC (No paywall)Two years ago West Australian mother Jenni Lowe was struggling to find a secure and stable rental property with her young son. The Kimberley health worker was relying on house-sitting and couch surfing with friends in between house-sits as Broome grappled with what was then a 40 per cent increase in rent. At the time, tenants were paying an average of $895 per week on rent. However, the Real Estate Institute of WA's (REIWA) latest quarterly report showed average weekly rents in the tourist town 2,000 kilometres north of Perth had now reached $1,000 per week.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-10/broome-rental-market-prop…
# Hot topic Australia, .Melbourne landlord fined after entering rental 29 times
Orana Durney-Benson Domain (No paywall)A landlord has been ordered to pay her tenants financial compensation for illegally entering their home, at times without their knowledge. The homeowner visited the rental home in Prahran, in Melbourne’s inner city, 29 times over 15 months. In one instance, the landlord entered the home four times within a single week. In Victoria, a landlord can only legally enter a rental property for a general inspection once every six months.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/melbourne-landlord-fined-after-en…
# Hot topic Australia, .Financial Support Available for those impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The NSW Government is offering some financial assistance for people affected by the weather events over the weekend. We have compiled some information on the ones that might apply to you and your family, make sure to read through the eligibility criteria and see if your area and circumstances apply. What financial assistance might be helpful for renters?
https://www.tenants.org.au/news/financial-support-available-thos…
# Must read NSW, Disasters.Aboriginal communities in Bundjalung Country are preparing for more pain as Cyclone Alfred approaches
Dan Butler SBS (No paywall)A flood-ravaged town is expected to be inundated for its second major natural disaster in three years as local rivers swell beyond their banks before the arrival of Cyclone Alfred. Thousands of people have already been forced to evacuate in northern NSW ahead of the cyclone's predicted arrival on Saturday, when it is expected to make landfall in south-east Queensland. Many residents across a stretch of coastline and hinterland spanning more than 100km from Evans Head to the Queensland border were without power and facing the prospect of days-long outages on Friday morning. In Lismore, where several people died and more than 1000 homes were badly damaged during the 2022 floods, locals were told to evacuate by Thursday night from low-lying areas.
https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/aboriginal-communities-in-th…
# Must read NSW, Aboriginal renters, Disasters.