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
Surge in new hotels as crackdown on Airbnbs in Byron looms
Julietta Jameson The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)On September 24 in northern NSW’s Byron Shire, the number of days short-term rental accommodation can be inhabited “unhosted” each year drops from 180 to 60. “Unhosted” means a stay at a property, usually booked through Airbnb or a similar platform, without the owners in situ. The NSW Government restrictions – both the 180-day limit brought in back in 2021 for nominated local government areas and the new 60-day limit in Byron – were instigated because of long-term rental shortages, a burgeoning housing stock dedicated to the holiday market and other critical issues, seen as co-related.
https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/travel-news/surge-in-new-hotels…
# Must read NSW, Rent.Landlords’ brutal snub after mum loses husband
Taylor Troeth news.com.au (No paywall)A single mum and business owner has revealed the surprising response she got from landlords and property agents after tragically losing her husband to a rare form of cancer. And it’s left her stuck in a $1000 per week rental that she says is far larger than she needs. Young mum Kayla Psaradellis said she discovered that property agents were imposing an unwritten requirement when she began looking for rentals and it’s left her and her two-year-old child at a disadvantage.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/landlords-br…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent.Sydney Landlords Are Now Charging Up To $250 For A Single Bed In A Grotty Shared Room
Lachlan Hodson Pedestrian (No paywall)A bunch of Sydney landlords have shown off their superhuman ability to stoop to new lows, this time by charging for rent per bed, instead of per room like most rentals. Somebody stop the planet, I’m getting off. As renters and governments look for solutions to Australia’s spiralling rental crisis, like Victoria increasing the minimum heating and cooling standards, a bunch of opportunistic landlords are doing what they can to add fuel to the fire.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/sydney-landlords-rent-per-bed
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.NSW Will (Finally) Ban No-Grounds Evictions — Here’s When And How The New Laws Will Hit
Lachlan Hodson Pedestrian (No paywall)The NSW Government has announced that it will be banning “no-grounds” evictions across the state from next year, finally making good on its commitment to ban the practise in last year’s election. The changes announced by NSW Premier Chris Minns are some of the biggest reforms to rental laws in NSW in a decade. No-grounds or no-fault evictions occur when a landlord decides to evict a tenant from their property in the 30 days prior to a fixed-lease ending, or with 90 days warning for ongoing lease, for no reason. Under current laws, this type of eviction happens to someone in NSW every 18 minutes.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/no-grounds-evictions-nsw-ban-expl…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Rent.‘Peace of mind’: NSW to end ‘no-grounds’ evictions as vacancy rates plummet
Nathan Schmidt news.com.au (No paywall)NSW Premier Chris Minns says new laws seeking to abolish “no-grounds” evictions will allow the state’s renters “to build a home and life on surer ground”, as historically low vacancy rates continue to worsen. Announced on Saturday, the laws seek to end the right of rental property owners to choose to end a lease “at any time or (with) no reason at all”, instead having to provide “commonsense or reasonable reasons”.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/peace-of-min…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction.Two experts measured how bad Sydney’s property market is. They got a shock
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)It was a finding about the Sydney property market that shocked researchers to their core. They’d begun with a study looking at whether buying a home in the most affordable areas Sydney might be achievable for someone on a part-time wage. But then they discovered that it wasn’t possible even for a person on a median full-time salary and that it probably wouldn’t be until at least 2031.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/two-experts-measured-how-bad-sydn…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.How ‘metro mania’ could derail the housing crisis
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)From little kids waving cardboard signs to trainspotters, long-suffering commuters and people – like me – who simply love being part of history: Sydney is unlikely to see the same level of excitement attached to a piece of infrastructure as what we saw on Monday when the new metro shot under the harbour for the first time. No one, from Premier Chris Minns to Transport Minister Jo Haylen or even project director Hugh Lawson, who knows the 15.5-kilometre line inside out, had any real idea of the scale of metro mania that would be unleashed.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-metro-mania-could-derail…
# Hot topic NSW, .Fierce renter advocate eyes Parliament House tenancy
Kat Wong Canberra Times (No paywall)A champion of renters and nemesis to landlords is taking his crusade to the ballot box as he joins the federal election fight. Jordan van den Lamb, known online as purplepingers, has gained more than 4.6 million views on TikTok for his fierce advocacy of tenant rights. He first shot to fame for his "S*** Rentals" series, where he would review listings of dilapidated but expensive Australian rental properties. Then, he created an eponymous website that allows renters to leave honest reviews of their homes. The 28-year-old lawyer later garnered international attention for setting up a database of empty properties, some of which had been abandoned for years, and encouraging Australians to squat in them.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8743109/fierce-renter-adv…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent.