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
Fifty years on, Ieramugadu community continues the struggle for a better world
Giovanni Torre National Indigenous Times (No paywall)Warning: this story may contain images of people who have passed. While much of the nation looks back on the dismissal of the Whitlam government 50 years on, another anniversary is being remembered in Western Australia's Pilbara region. In Ieramugadu/Roebourne, 1500 km north of Boorloo/Perth, the Aboriginal community reflects on five decades since the closure of the Roebourne Old Reserve, known to locals as Goodjaralla. Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation has played an important role in recording their stories. From the early 1900s, government policies forcibly removed Ngarda-ngarli (Aboriginal people) from their traditional Ngurra, relocating families to "Native Reserves". The Roebourne Old Reserve became one such place.
https://nit.com.au/12-11-2025/21237/fifty-years-on-ieramugadu-co…
# History Australia, .What will Labour sacrifice for its housing targets? A standoff in south London is putting it to the test
Anna Minton The Guardian (No paywall)Teekall and his wife are raising a family in Peckham, south London. He runs a successful business as a commercial designer with a studio just down the road, and she works in higher education. Their two boys attend the local primary school. However, the family has outgrown their one-and-a-half-bedroom flat. Although they would like to stay in Peckham, they can’t afford to.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/28/labour-hou…
# International, Rent.Share Housing: A Case for Certainty and Stronger Protections
Nicole Grgas Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Recent reforms to NSW renting laws — including the end of “no grounds” evictions and better rights for tenants with pets — have been widely welcomed, but for the growing number of people who have no option but to live in share style housing, there may be little to celebrate. While share housing can be an affordable alternative, legal protections for this group of renters are confusing, limited, and in some cases, non-existent. Tenant advocates across the state regularly speak with people living in shared houses who are unsure of their legal status or unaware of how few rights they may actually have.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/share-housing-case-certainty-and…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Share houses.‘So simple a six-year-old could do it’: The 22-year-old cashing in on Airbnb loophole
Jessica McSweeney The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Australians are quitting their day jobs to become full-time Airbnb landlords without owning a single property, in a subletting scheme critics say is putting strain on an already dire Sydney rental market. As Sydney grapples with a housing crisis – where the median asking rent on a unit is a record $750 a week and the vacancy rate is just 0.9 per cent – an emerging short-term rental arbitrage business is booming, fuelled by TikTok hustle culture.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/so-simple-a-six-year-old-cou…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.There’s a catch in the plan to build more affordable housing in Sydney – and tenants are feeling the brunt
Penry Buckley The Guardian (No paywall)Erina Delinicolas didn’t find out her apartment in Marrickville, in Sydney’s inner west, faced demolition through a letter or an email. “One of my mates came up for coffee and was like: ‘How are you feeling about them demolishing your house?’” she says. Delinicolas had yet to see a council notice on her front gate about a proposed development application (DA), under which her art deco building in Marrickville could be knocked down for a nine-storey block of flats.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/02/sydney-ho…
# NSW, .Multi-generational housing could be a solution to housing shortage, NSW inquiry hears
Melinda Hayter ABC (No paywall)Farmers and town planners say allowing more homes to be built on rurally zoned land could be one solution to help ease the housing crisis in New South Wales. A parliamentary committee has been tasked with investigating potential changes to planning laws to make it easier for landowners to build a second dwelling on their property. There are no uniform rules in regional areas regarding the development of secondary dwellings, which some councils allow.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-04/nsw-housing-crisis-rural-…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, .El Lago Residents fight for their homes
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)El Lago Waters Tourist Park is well positioned – overlooking Tuggerah Lakes and within a few minutes’ drive of The Entrance. The community advertises their accommodation as holiday camping sites, holiday caravan sites, or holiday villas, however in recent years it has become a place to call home for many renters and home owners unable to secure housing in the area, or otherwise at risk of homelessness. The park has seen better days. It is in a run-down state with a low standard of management.
https://www.tenants.org.au/thenoticeboard/news/el-lago-residents…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Land lease communities.Residents Helpless
9Now (No paywall)Imagine seeing the power bill double overnight, with the provider making a "whopping profit." These residents are stuck paying exorbitant prices with nowhere to turn.
# Hot topic, Video NSW, Land lease communities, Rent.