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
Ministers scrap DWP program allowing landlords to tap into tenants’ benefits
Patrick Butler The Guardian (No paywall)Ministers are to scrap a controversial “computer says yes” program that automatically approves landlord requests to deduct hundreds of pounds from tenants’ universal credit benefits without their consent. Last month, a judge ruled that the “click-screen” program used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to process tens of thousands of deduction requests each year was unlawful. It came after a challenge brought by tenant Nathan Roberts who argued it was an “abuse of process” that the DWP did not ask him before docking £500 from his benefits at the request of his landlord, with whom he was in dispute over repairs.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/25/ministers-scrap-…
# Must read International, Security and safety.What the interest rate cut means for renters
Jacob Shteyman AAP (Soft Paywall)Jim Chalmers is hoping Australia's landlords will be kind-hearted enough to help ease the cost-of-living for their tenants by passing on rate cuts. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years on Tuesday, in a move that was immediately passed on by major lenders. The 25 basis point reduction in variable home loan rates will save someone with an average mortgage more than $100 a month.
https://aapnews.aap.com.au/news/what-the-interest-rate-cut-means…
# Hot topic Australia, .Landlords are worried about rent controls. Will Labour introduce them to cap record-high rents?
Liam Geraghty The Big Issue (UK) (No paywall)The right-wing think tank linked to Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget has warned against bringing in rent controls to curb sky-high private rents. The Institute of Economic Affairs’ research claims that rent controls do far more harm than good – a stance that has sparked controversy with pro-renter campaigners. The think tank said a review of 196 academic studies over 60 years across 100 countries showed harmful consequences of introducing rent controls. Most studies – 56 out of 65 the group analysed – showed that rent controls succeed in lowering rents for controlled units, the IEA found. But 14 out of 17 studies found that rent control leads to higher rents in properties where rents aren’t controlled.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/rent-controls-labour-housi…
# Hot topic International, Rent.LOCAL NEWS Report says it's cheaper to buy a home in Detroit than to rent one, but for how much longer?
Paula Wethington CBS News (No paywall)If you are considering whether to rent or buy your home in Detroit, the latest listing data might surprise you. Detroit and Pittsburgh are the two cities in the top U.S. 50 metropolitan areas where it was cheaper to buy a home than rent a home during January, Realtor.com reports. The calculations do not include property taxes and insurance. The typical home list price in Detroit was $239,950 during January; resulting in a monthly mortgage payment of $1,252 compared with the median rent of $1,313. For Pittsburgh, the median home list price was $229,700 in January, with a monthly mortgage payment of just $1,199. During that same time, the median rent in the Pennsylvania metro area was $1,413.
https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/cheaper-to-rent-or-buy-detr…
# Hot topic International, .Amendments to Residential Land Lease Communities Act
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)As reported in Outasite 12, the laws governing residential land lease communities changed in 2024. We have updated our factsheets to reflect the changes. Many residents in land lease communities have started to receive notices from their operators around some of the more notable changes to the Act. If you’re a home owner who has received notice of a change to your fixed method or by-notice method of site fee increase, and are not sure if it complies with the new requirements, contact your local Tenants Advice service for advice.
https://www.tenants.org.au/thenoticeboard/news/further-amendments
# NSW, Land lease communities.Lismore squatters negotiate with NSW RA over buyback houses
Echo (No paywall)The people occupying buyback houses in Lismore were able to come together with the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA) on Friday to talk about potential ways to move forward following the RAs attempt to disconnect water to some of the premises. ‘The meeting, facilitated by Superintendent Scott Tanner, occurred after authorities attempted to disconnect water services to the occupied homes in the flood-buyback zone – despite residents’ consistent offers to pay for these essential utilities,’ said House You following the meeting. It is understood that the negotiations came after the RA disconnected water to one house occupied by a single mother, and attempted to disconnect water at a Pine Street house.
https://www.echo.net.au/2025/02/lismore-squatters-negotiate-with…
# Hot topic NSW, Disasters.Cost-of-living pressures drive record demand for housing legal assistance
Karl Hoerr Law Society Journal (No paywall)The spike, recorded in the service’s annual report for 2023-24, reveals that almost 4,500 people per year are trying to secure assistance for housing and tenancy issues. Natalie Bradshaw is a Senior Solicitor at Legal Aid NSW and heads up their Housing and Homelessness specialist teams. She says cost-of-living pressures are definitely flowing through, with increased demand for legal services. “We’ve seen an increase in rents in recent years and a lot of people who were already struggling to find affordable housing have just felt that pressure in the NSW rental market,” says Bradshaw. People are coming to Legal Aid with a range of concerns, either in private rental or social housing.
https://lsj.com.au/articles/cost-of-living-pressures-drive-recor…
# Must read NSW, Rent.The plan to return hundreds of homes to inner Sydney’s rental market
Megan Gorrey The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Councils are intensifying pressure on the NSW government to toughen restrictions on short-term rentals in Sydney’s inner city, as the state’s housing minister says all options will be considered to increase the supply of longer-term rental homes. The government is weighing up tougher rules for short-term rental properties, such as tightening a cap on the number of days they may be let out and imposing a levy on holiday homes used as short-term rentals, but it has yet to propose any changes.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-plan-to-return-hundreds-…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.