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
Key NSW budget apartment plan only solves 'one small part of the problem'
Alexander Lewis ABC (No paywall)A key measure in the NSW budget designed to stimulate development has been described as a "drop in the ocean" that will only help tackle "one small part" of the state's housing shortage. The state government revealed on Tuesday a $1 billion plan to underwrite the pre-sale of 5,000 off-the-plan units, which it said would allow developers to get faster finance approval to build 15,000 homes. The policy, which draws inspiration from initiatives in Finland and New Zealand, has been spruiked by Premier Chris Minns as a "world-leading" means of accelerating apartment building.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-25/nsw-unit-presale-address-…
# Hot topic NSW, .Who’s standing against Gladesville’s $400m city centre?
Huw Bradshaw North Shore Lorikeet (No paywall)A new city centre in Gladesville that could cost more than $400 million has received almost complete support from the area’s councillors; but a few prominent voices within the chambers remain adamant objectors to the development in it’s present state. Gladesville’s reputation as a suburb many drive through and not to has existed for years, and plans for the new city centre were first introduced in 2013 to offer a solution to an area of Sydney in need of revitalisation. After rejections and failed proposals, the project has evolved to its present state, which adds two 19-storey residential complexes to the expanded shopping village — currently on Flagstaff Street — and increasing public space.
https://www.northshorelorikeet.com.au/p/who-s-standing-against-g…
# NSW, .Caravan owners take Clarence Valley Council to court over eviction bids
Elizabeth Pike Daily Telegraph (Paywall)A dispute between Northern Rivers caravan park residents and the local council will be fought in court on Monday, with locals claiming they remain in the dark just days before the deadline for them to be evicted. On Monday, more than 80 caravan owners from Iluka, Brooms Head, Minnie Water and Wooli caravan parks will face off against Clarence Valley Council at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) over a bid to oust them from their long-term sites. The Sunday Telegraph revealed in April the council had advised more than 136 caravan owners via a letter that they needed to vacate by June 30 or their vans would be demolished to make room for short-term tourist sites.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/caravan-owners-take-c…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Land lease communities, Tribunal NCAT.Growing number of Australian renters too scared to call out landlords, report finds
ABC (No paywall)A new survey from the National Association of Renters Organisations has found a growing number of renters are too scared to call out their landlords when something's wrong, fearing they risk rent hikes or even eviction.
# Must read, TUNSW in the media, Research alert, Video Australia, Rent, Repairs.Seven in 10 renters worried about asking for repairs: report
Dr Chris Martin UNSW (No paywall)Almost seven in 10 people who rent privately are concerned requesting repairs could result in a rent increase, according to research by the ACOSS-UNSW Sydney-led Poverty and Inequality Partnership, National Shelter and the National Association of Renter Organisations (NARO). The study, which surveyed 1019 people who rent in the private sector across Australia, also found a third of renters would find a 5% rent increase difficult to afford. The report, titled Rights at risk: Rising rents and repercussions, opens in a new window, found half of renters (50%) live in homes that need repairs and one in 10 homes needs urgent repairs.
https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2025/06/seven-in-ten-rente…
# Must read, Research alert Australia, Rent, Repairs.7 In 10 Aussies Are Scared To Hit Up Landlord About Repairs For Fear Of Rent Increase
Rhea Nath Pedestrian (No paywall)With most of us already bracing for bad news every time an email from the real estate agency hits our inbox, a new survey has revealed just how much renters are scared to contact their landlords when something’s wrong with the property, for fear of copping another rent hike. According to a survey of more than a thousand renters across Australia, a considerable seven in 10 renters are hesitant to reach out regarding repairs. It found nearly half (50 per cent) of tenants live in homes that need repairs and a grim one in 10 need pretty urgent repairs.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/tenant-repairs-rent-increase/
# Must read, Research alert Australia, Repairs.Volunteers stretched thin as rough sleepers left hopeless amid 'undersupply' of Queensland homes
Lucy Loram ABC (No paywall)It's six o'clock on a Tuesday morning and Josie Street is loading her car, its bags overflowing with an assortment of biscuits wedged between eskies filled with sandwiches and cold water. Not an inch of space in her station wagon is wasted. "If I've got extra room I will put extra things like backpacks and mats that they sleep on, and I'll always have two or three tents with me," she explains.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-17/lack-of-housing-forcing-m…
# Must read Australia, .Australian winters shouldn't feel this unbelievably cold
Virginia Trioli ABC (No paywall)The coldest I've ever been was the four winters I lived in Sydney. And I come from Melbourne. We were renting a 1960s apartment that came with aircon but no heating. That's OK, we thought: we're now in Sydney! Who needs heating in the most temperate climate in the most beautiful city on earth? That first morning in June, when I woke to see my shocked shout of cold hanging in the air as a little ball of mist, I thought I was hallucinating that I was back in Melbourne. I went to turn on the… heater? Nothing there. Just a row of windows looking onto a lovely view that was seeping into our home in the form of an 11-degree overnight low.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-21/australia-winter-cold-ins…
# Hot topic Australia, .