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
Victorian build-to-rent landlords dodge new minimum lease terms
Nathan Mawby realestate.com.au (No paywall)The Victorian government has quietly backed away from a plan to set minimum 12-month lease terms for thousands of Melbourne rentals. A proposed change to the Land Tax Act 2005 would have removed a deduction offered to build-to-rent operators from January 1 next year, unless they set the minimum lease term. Industry groups challenged the plan, citing research showing that between 10 and 30 per cent of tenants signing on for leases in the city’s tenants-only complexes had specifically sought shorter terms.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/victorian-buildtorent-landlor…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent.Uniting Church wanted secrecy around move to evict ex-homeless couple
Josh Robertson ABC (No paywall)The Uniting Church tried to keep secret the details of its move to evict a formerly homeless couple from a Brisbane property, arguing media coverage could thwart its development plans and ruin a local real estate agent. The church has obtained a warrant in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to force its tenants to leave the Mitchelton property, where it plans to develop a new 92-lot subdivision "so that the current housing crisis can be further alleviated".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-24/uniting-church-wanted-sec…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent.Renters afraid to report defects
ABC (No paywall)A new report from the Australian Council of Social Service has found about 70 per cent of renters are frightened to ask their landlords for repairs in case the request prompts a rent hike. Pests, mould and leaking roofs are just some of the problems people renting homes can face.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/pm/renters-afraid-to-repo…
# TUNSW in the media, Research alert, Audio Australia, Repairs.Sydney landlord disconnects electricity amid tense rental spat
Orana Durney-Benson Domain (No paywall)A rental dispute involving a roof leak, a McDonald’s order and allegations of harassment has played out in a Sydney court. The dispute, between two tenants in southern Sydney and their landlord, centred on a combined $20,000 in damages claim following the breaking of a lease. It all began in October 2023 when the two tenants signed a three-month lease on a two-bedroom house in southern Sydney. The rent on the home was $695 per week. In January 2024, the tenants and landlord agreed to renew the lease for 13 months, with the lease expiring in early February 2025.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/sydney-landlord-disconnects-elect…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Want a house in Sydney? That'll be 14.7x the average wage.
Archie Milligan National Account (No paywall)Forget Hong Kong. Forget New York. Sydney has officially taken the crown — for the worst reason. The least affordable homes on earth. Over the weekend, ABC finance reporter Alan Kohler dropped a bombshell: the median dwelling price in Sydney (that’s houses and apartments) hit $1.2 million in May. That’s a 0.5% jump in just one month. At this rate, we may never eat avocado toast again.
https://www.nationalaccount.com.au/p/house-in-sydney-14-times-av…
# Must read NSW, .‘Our incomes don’t match housing’: Meet the people in NSW’s missing middle
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Housing is so scarce in parts of NSW that employers are renting properties on behalf of hospitality staff while some public health workers resort to sleeping in cars to avoid long commutes, prompting MPs to urge the Minns government to act urgently on essential workers’ access to housing. A parliamentary select committee inquiry into essential worker housing, chaired by Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, found these workers – who are broadly defined as someone who works face-to-face providing key services – are the forgotten group in the government’s housing policies.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/our-incomes-don-t-match-hous…
# Hot topic NSW, .A two-bedroom Bondi Junction unit for $1,100 a week. Is ‘affordable housing’ really affordable?
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)A two-bedroom apartment in Bondi Junction that is part of an “affordable” housing scheme run by the New South Wales government has been listed at $1,100 a week to rent, prompting advocates to warn that programs designed to help low-income earners are increasingly out of reach. Across the country, affordable housing programs are meant to offer rent below market rate for low-to-moderate income households that make too much for social housing but not enough for the private market.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/17/a-two-bed…
# Must read NSW, Rent.Newcastle renters feel the pinch of housing crisis
Olivia Goeldner Newcastle Weekly (No paywall)More than 450 households in Newcastle faced eviction last year, as renters across the city are finding themselves locked out of a market where demand far exceeds supply. Despite being the largest regional city in NSW, the LGA’s infrastructure is failing to keep pace with its rapidly-growing population. According to City of Newcastle (CN), the populace was expected to increase by 21.24% between 2021 and 2046, exceeding 205,000 residents. That surge has placed immense pressure on the city’s rental market, too. As of 2021, 35.6% of the Newcastle population were renting, a steep 10% higher than the regional NSW average.
https://newcastleweekly.com.au/newcastle-renters-feel-the-pinch-…
# NSW, Rent.