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
Sydney remains priciest capital city for renting property
Richard Wood 9 News (No paywall)Sydney remains Australia's costliest rental city despite the national market cooling significantly. The NSW capital remains the country's most expensive for renters across all property types, according to CoreLogic's quarterly rental review released today. The typical rent for houses sits at $811 per week and the typical unit pulls in $710 p/w. The most expensive suburb to rent in Sydney for a house was Vaucluse in the city's eastern suburbs ($2199p/w) and the cheapest suburb was Tregear ($536p/w) in the city's west. Looking at the national picture, rent values rose by 0.4 per cent last December, the smallest fourth-quarter change since 2018. Stronger rent rises saw Perth become the second most expensive city to rent, with a median weekly rental value of $695 p/w.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-remains-priciest-austra…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.‘A city with no future’: The real cost of Sydney’s housing crisis
Nick Newling, Cindy Yin, Penry Buckley, Daniel Lo Surdo, Kayla Olaya and Frances Howe The Sydney Morning Herald (Soft Paywall)When Zachary Moore decided to study urban planning, he knew he had to move from Newcastle to Sydney to seek opportunity. Then he felt the bite of the housing crisis. With his degree coming to its end, and the reality dawning of finding work and accommodation outside student housing at Western Sydney University, Moore is beginning to look further afield. “For the same price that you can buy a fairly crap apartment in Parramatta you can buy a pretty nice CBD apartment in Melbourne, and you’re being paid the same wage ... in fact, depending on the industry you might get paid more in Melbourne,” the 23-year-old said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/slipping-away-how-sydney-s-f…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.‘Stupid and unfair’: Albanese government urged to adopt nationwide portable bond scheme
Alexandra Feiam news.com.au (No paywall)The Albanese government is being urged to consider a national portable bond scheme as a lifeline to Australian renters struggling through the cost-of-living crisis. The “bold” new proposal from the McKell Institute recommends the federal government enact a national scheme allowing renters to transfer their bond between leases, rather than paying for a second deposit while waiting for the previous one to be refunded. The NSW government last year announced a $6.6m investment in the nation’s first portable bond scheme, which is expected to be enacted in 2025.
https://www.news.com.au/national/federal-election/stupid-and-unf…
# Must read Australia, Bond.Crisis accommodation is failing women fleeing domestic violence. Here’s how to fix i
Anastasia Powell The Conversation (No paywall)Every day in Australia, thousands of people call a family violence crisis support line. Often, it’s someone experiencing family violence who fears for their safety and needs support to leave immediately. These calls are made from shopping centre car parks, from the house of a trusted friend, from doctors’ offices and police stations. At the other end of the line, a family violence worker asks some questions to assess the risk, then a plan is made to support the victim to find a safe place to stay.
https://theconversation.com/crisis-accommodation-is-failing-wome…
# Australia, Domestic violence.Nurses face rental stress as rising rents push essential workers to the brink in NSW
Angelique Opie 7 News (No paywall)Heather Halliday is a nurse on a first year salary and has just been kicked out of her long-term rental in Fletcher, near Newcastle in NSW. “It feels like a huge kick in the guts,” she said. “I think I stopped breathing and held my breath for a moment just trying to process it.” Now being forced to look elsewhere for a place, the mum-of-two fears the uncertainty of not being able to find one, along with the cost. “We could be looking at another $100 to $400 a week extra, so be looking at over $1000 to want to stay in this area.” she said. Swiki Dhakal’s rent has climbed more than $100 a week. The Hornsby nurse says moving to a more affordable suburb is not an option for her and her partner, who is a social worker.
https://7news.com.au/news/nurses-face-rental-stress-as-rising-re…
# Must read, Hot topic, TUNSW in the media Australia, .Home ownership is slipping out of reach. It’s time to rethink our fear of ‘forever renting’
Dorina Pojani The Conversation (No paywall)A wide range of voices in the Australian media have been sounding the alarm about the phenomenon of “forever-renting”. This describes a situation in which individuals or families are unable to transition from renting to home ownership, due to rising property values and wages that can’t keep up. Forever-renting is often framed as a terrible condition that should be avoided at all costs – that renting is only acceptable in the short term, as an individual or family saves for a down-payment. The underlying implication is that the ultimate goal in life for just about every Australian should be to own a house – or at least a condominium unit.
https://theconversation.com/home-ownership-is-slipping-out-of-re…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Long-term funding failure for legal assistance organisations
Andy Kollmorgen CHOICE (No paywall)Around 800,000 Australians who couldn't afford to hire a lawyer received free or low-cost support from legal assistance organisations in 2022–23. Without this, the outcome of their dealings with the legal system would almost certainly have been much worse. But a report released in May last year confirmed what legal assistance centres across Australia had known for a long time – there would have been many more who needed legal help but couldn't get it. Despite years of campaigning by legal assistance advocates, the level of government funding has been chronically insufficient.
https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/consumer-rights-and-advice/yo…
# Hot topic Australia, .Bellingen's affordable housing project is complete
Jasmine Kassis ABC (No paywall)"After 2 years without a home, 62 year old Barbara Phillips is finally walking into her fully furnished apartment for the first time. A lifelong Bellingen local, Barbara works as a local postie in the heart of town. She is one of 23 successful rental applicants that has been accepted into an affordable housing project in the mid north coast town."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-03/bellingens-affordable-hou…
# Video Australia, .