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
Property investors say they're 'boosting rental supply', but it can be a rhetorical trick
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)When property investors claim they're increasing the supply of rental housing, you always need to ask them to clarify that statement. Are their investments boosting the supply of rental housing by financing the construction of new rental dwellings, which is adding to the overall stock of residential properties? Or are their investments "boosting the supply of rental housing" because they're purchasing pre-existing owner-occupied properties and converting them into rentals, which reduces the supply of owner-occupied dwellings and does nothing to increase the overall supply of housing?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-16/property-investors-boosti…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Tasmanian renters wanting a pet just got new protections. Here's how to get approval
Meg Whitfield and Monty Jacka ABC (No paywall)Starting from early next year, landlords in Tasmania will not be able to stop renters from owning pets unless they have a "reasonable" rationale backed by an independent tribunal. The law change represents a big shift for Tasmania's rental landscape, where currently fewer than 20 per cent of advertised rentals say they will consider applicants with pets. Advocates say the updated laws, which passed parliament on Wednesday, will help families keep their beloved cats and dogs, while also reducing the number of animals being surrendered to struggling shelters.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-12/tasmanian-government-intr…
# Hot topic Australia, Pets, Rent.Grim warning about renting in Australia
Tarric Brooker news.com.au (No paywall)When the pandemic first arrived on Australia’s shores in early 2020, it came at a time of relative balance for the nation’s rental market. At a capital city level vacancy rates sat at a healthy 3.8 per cent, with annual rental price growth at a national level sitting at a little under 1.1 per cent. After a period of very strong rental price growth between 2005 and 2012, the remainder of the 2010s were defined by relatively low levels of rent rises. With the outbreak of the pandemic, a rollercoaster ride for the nation’s various rental markets would be triggered, which continues to this day.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/grim-…
# Hot topic Australia, .Fixing Australia's housing crisis — is increasing supply really a silver bullet?
Natasha Mitchell ABC (No paywall)Build more houses. That'll fix Australia's housing crisis won't it? If you listen to governments, you'd sure think so. Under the National Housing Accord, all governments have agreed to support a target of building 1.2 million new, well-located dwellings in 5 years. But will that increase housing affordability, availability, quality, security of tenure, and the growing gap between the haves and have-nots? What's missing from this picture? Join Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell at the 2025 National Housing Conference with guests debating the rhetoric, reality and policies around housing supply.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/bigideas/housing-crisis-s…
# Hot topic, Audio Australia, .Rental vacancy rate stuck at 1 per cent in 'gridlocked' Queensland market
Jessica van Vonderen ABC (No paywall)New data shows the rental market in Queensland remains "gridlocked", with the statewide vacancy rate stuck at 1 per cent. The Real Estate Institute of Queensland's (REIQ) September quarter report reveals 38 out of 50 regions in the state have recorded vacancy rates of 1 per cent or less. There is next to no chance of finding a rental in the Cook region in Far North Queensland, which has maintained a vacancy rate of an astonishing 0 per cent. Charters Towers and Goondiwindi are not much better on 0.1 per cent.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-13/qld-rental-market-gridloc…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent.Real estate agents, landlords warned as new rental rules come into effect in days: 'Significant changes'
Nick Whigham Yahoo News (No paywall)Real estate agents and landlords are bracing for a raft of rental reforms due to officially kick in from next week in one Australian state. It comes as authorities move to boost the rights and protections of tenants and make life easier for millions of renters around the country. Authorities have been cracking down on dodgy price practices seen in the real estate market. And the new rules will tighten the screws on bad landlords.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/real-estate-agents-landlords-w…
# Legal significance Australia, .Victorian Ombudsman finds ‘rushed and flawed’ planning led to retirement village flood
Inside Local Government (No paywall)An investigation report by the Victorian Ombudsman has found “rushed and flawed” flood modelling and building plan mistakes by Melbourne Water, caused major flooding at a retirement housing estate near the Maribyrnong River in 2022. Tabled in Parliament today by Ombudsman, Marlo Baragwanath, the ‘When the water rises’ investigation focused on two sites – Rivervue Retirement Village, which was significantly affected by the 2022 Maribyrnong river flood; and the Kensington Banks residential estate, which modelling has shown is at risk of future flooding.
https://insidelocalgovernment.com.au/victorian-ombudsman-finds-r…
# Australia, Disasters, Land lease communities.Homes NSW: From “Worst Landlord to Best”?
Eloise Parrab Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson has set an ambitious goal for the newly launched Homes for NSW 10 Year Strategy - to take the agency from “the worst landlord to the best.” It’s a bold statement, and there are plenty of long-standing issues that will need to be addressed for that vision to be realised. The Strategy’s overall aim is simple but vital, that everyone should have access to a decent home and get the support they need. We shouldn’t too quickly accept that Homes NSW is the worst landlord. As a public housing provider they charge rents that take into account the household circumstances, they make much more of their decision-making publicly and accountably and ultimately they are accountable to the community - there are no other homes in the state where you can, even in theory, vote out the management. But it’s certainly true that there are deep-seated issues and frustrations to address.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/homes-nsw-worst-landlord-best
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Public and community housing, Rent.