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
Historic rental reforms before NSW parliament
Christopher Kelly Government News (No paywall)Landlords in NSW will no longer be able to evict tenants for no reason. The rental reform – one which advocates have been waiting decades for – is among one of many changes that have been introduced to the NSW parliament this week through the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill. “It’s really important and a big reform that we have been waiting 50 years for,” Jemima Mowbray – policy and advocacy manager at the Tenants’ Union of New South Wales – told Government News. “It’s getting rid of the ability to end a tenancy for no grounds and putting in some requirement for landlords to provide a reason to tenants when they’re ending the tenancy.”
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/historic-rental-reforms-before…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media, Legal significance, New policy announcement NSW, Eviction, Rent.Standing Together for Housing Justice
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Last week in Parramatta on Dharug Country, Tenant Advocates came together to stand for housing justice and celebrate 30 years of the Tenants Advice and Advocacy Program (TAAP). TAAP is the main source of funding for the 15 generalist Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services (TAASs) and the four specialist Aboriginal TAASs across New South Wales. The TAAS network responds to approximately 30,000 requests annually for tenancy advice and provides ongoing assistance to approximately 10,000 tenants every year.
https://www.tenants.org.au/news/standing-together-housing-justice
# TUNSW in the media, History NSW, Rent.Do Housing Investors Pass-through Changes in Their Interest Costs to Rents?
Declan Twohig, Anirudh Yadav and Jonathan Hambur Reserve Bank of Australia (No paywall)Understanding the impact of interest rates on rents is important for the RBA. Rent is the second largest component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and so how rents respond when interest rates change will have a large mechanical bearing on the overall inflation response. Around one-third of Australian households rent their home. In 2022, the median renter spent 25 per cent of their disposable income on rent, with low-income households tending to have the highest rent-to-income ratios (Agarwal, Gao and Garner 2023). As such, changes in rents have significant implications for households’ spending power and financial wellbeing. A view that is often put forward is that higher interest rates push up rents in the short term by raising costs for indebted housing investors, which they, in turn, will pass on to tenants.
https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2024/oct/do-housing…
# Hot topic Australia, .Minns weighs new powers to bypass councils on major housing approvals
Michael McGowan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Minns government is weighing up major planning changes that would increase the state’s power to intervene on significant residential housing developments, and which could see councils bypassed on major projects. Premier Chris Minns confirmed this week that his government will in coming weeks announce a further tranche of reforms to the planning system as Labor struggles with an anemic pipeline of housing approvals. The premier made housing supply the centrepiece of his first term in office but has become frustrated at the dismal turnaround in new housing approvals.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/minns-weighs-new-powers-to-b…
# Must read NSW, .Taxpayer bill for Albo’s $4.3m home revealed
Aidan Devine realestate.com.au (No paywall)Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s recent $4.3m home purchase would deliver him a tax savings bonanza if he chose to rent the property out, economic modelling shows. It’s a move the Prime Minister has been rumoured to be considering after he made it clear to reporters Tuesday that he was not planning retirement any time soon. He also confirmed that he wanted to stay in his “current job for a very long period of time”. 2GB’s Ben Fordham revealed the sale earlier this week and claimed the PM exchanged contracts in September, with settlement expected before the end of October. Mr Albanese snapped up the clifftop home in Central Coast suburb Copacabana for about $300,000 below the advertised price.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/taxpayer-bill-for-albos-43m-h…
# Hot topic NSW, .Bold moves that got PM Anthony Albanese a $8.8m property empire
Aidan Devine news.com.au (No paywall)Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made some savvy moves in the housing market prior to his recent splurge on a $4.3m beach home in The Central Coast. Analysis of historic real estate records showed Mr Albanese pocketed large sums from properties he purchased years ago while still a backbencher on a more modest salary. Many of those astute moves were likely the foundation for a now fairly substantial property portfolio that was capped off last month when he snapped up a clifftop home near Copacabana Beach. His most recent purchase could push the total value of his real estate holdings to roughly $8.8m – although he is in the process of trying to offload a property.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/sydney-nsw/bold-move…
# Hot topic NSW, .They pay $200 a week rent to live in Paddington. They’re being evicted
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)All the battlers living in a row of four rundown boarding houses in Sydney’s Paddington have been told they’re to be kicked out – despite a massive neighbourhood fight to stop their 32 homes being turned into four luxury houses. The owner-developer, who’s currently in the Land and Environment Court (LEC) appealing a ban on the conversion by the City of Sydney, irrespective of the court outcome, intends closing the boarding houses by the end of the year. In heartbreaking scenes at a meeting on the street outside their home, the 29 male residents – one of whom has been living there for 55 years – were told by their neighbours, who’d found it in the appendix to the social impact assessment lodged by LFD Developments as part of its appeal, that they’re to be evicted from their homes.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/they-pay-200-a-week-rent-to-live-…
# Must read NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Eviction.Rental crisis is everywhere, dire for essential workers
Rachael Ward Illawarra Mercury (No paywall)Australia's housing crisis has reached the point where essential workers "are faced with a dire picture" when looking for a home to rent, and moving to the regions is no longer a ticket to a more affordable lifestyle. Anglicare Australia's latest Rental Affordability Snapshot released on Wednesday has found there's few places anywhere in Australia where key workers can live without breaking the bank. Nurses can afford just 1.4 per cent of properties, ambulance workers 2.2 per cent, while fewer than one per cent of early childhood educators and construction workers are able to find homes to rent.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/8793104/rental-crisis-…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.