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
After fighting new housing, this Sydney council just voted for more
David Barwell The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Skyscrapers that rise as high as 28 storeys could soon mark the skyline of Sydney’s north shore after a council supported a contentious rezoning plan that it says will save the majority of the region from “over-development”. After spending more than a year battling a NSW government drive for increased housing density, Ku-ring-gai councillors have unanimously voted to support a counter housing strategy that paves the way for up to 24,500 new homes to be built around Lindfield, Gordon, Killara and Roseville railway stations.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/after-fighting-new-housing-t…
# NSW, .The humans of Kully Bay, and what they'll do when eviction day arrives next week
Anna Warr Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Sara Gardner has been homeless since losing her house in Batemans Bay in the Black Summer bushfires. "I lost everything in those bushfires," the 51-year-old, who has been living on the shores of Lake Illawarra for the past three months, said.
"I managed to get out with the four horses and the 13 dogs that I had at the time, could've left the husband behind, but he had to drive one of the cars, unfortunately. "I've been homeless since then, basically, I've been in a caravan or a tent or something like that." Sara recently moved to the Kully Bay car park - a site opposite Harvey Norman in Warrawong, which has become an unofficial campsite for homeless people and travellers over the past few years.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/8982633/the-humans-of-…
# NSW, Eviction, Land lease communities.Doyalson housing development a bad idea
Simone Griffiths Coast Community News (No paywall)I wonder who would move to the Central Coast knowing they were going to inhale toxic dust for decades? Like many others, I presume, the only warning I got when I bought a home in Gorokan 20 years ago, was advice that long-wall coal mining was being conducted. I was provided a number to call if cracks started to appear in my walls. Little did I know that 12 and 14km away, Vales Point and Munmorah power stations were dumping toxic waste into ash dams, and the harmful chemicals were free to fly into the air I breathed and leach into the groundwater that flows into the nearby lakes. Today, the NSW Government is considering approving a 45ha housing development at Doyalson, which is situated between these two dams. To top it off, the Munmorah site is contaminated with PFAS.
https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2025/06/doy…
# Must read NSW, .Could a bold anti-poverty experiment from the 1960s inspire a new era in housing justice?
Deyanira Nevárez Martínez The Conversation (No paywall)In cities across the U.S., the housing crisis has reached a breaking point. Rents are skyrocketing, homelessness is rising and working-class neighbourhoods are threatened by displacement. These challenges might feel unprecedented. But they echo a moment more than half a century ago. In the 1950s and 1960s, housing and urban inequality were at the center of national politics. American cities were grappling with rapid urban decline, segregated and substandard housing, and the fallout of highway construction and urban renewal projects that displaced hundreds of thousands of disproportionately low-income and Black residents.
https://theconversation.com/could-a-bold-anti-poverty-experiment…
# Must read International, Rent.No-fault law sees tenant facing eviction after major knee surgery
1 News (No paywall)Desmond Adams knew his upcoming knee surgery would be tough - weeks in recovery and months before he'd walk normally - but what he didn't expect was to be doing it all while facing eviction. A painter by trade, years of physical labour have taken a toll on the 52-year-old Hamiltonian. Scans in April 2024 revealed fractures in both knees, with overgrown bone that needed to be shaved. The bone was pressing into a tendon on his left side which needed to be cut and repaired. "My knees were poking out like nobody's business," Adams said.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/05/28/no-fault-law-sees-tenant-faci…
# International, Eviction.Social housing complaints soar as watchdog warns of 'simmering anger'
Kathryn Armstrong BBC (No paywall)Complaints about substandard living conditions in social housing in England are more than five times higher than five years ago, according to the housing watchdog. Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway said there was an "imbalance of power" in the tenant-landlord relationship and poor housing conditions risks "simmering anger" turning into "social disquiet". He warned without change, England risked the "managed decline" of social housing. Asbestos, electrical and fire safety issues, pest control and leaks, damp and mould are among the complaints, the watchdog receives.
# International, Public and community housing, Rent.Subsidized social housing promotes economic well-being for Canadian renters, new study finds
Xavier Leloup and Catherine Leviten-Reid The Conversation (No paywall)The years following the COVID-19 pandemic were difficult for renters. The pandemic was followed by an economic recovery marked by inflation, population growth and rising interest rates. These increased the cost of financing for landlords and limited the ability of first-time buyers to access homeownership. Overall, these dynamics increased the shortage of affordable housing. Rents have risen sharply in many regions, and housing continues to be the main expense for many. Of course, access to affordable housing is an important factor in economic well-being — the ability to meet basic needs, absorb financial shocks, build assets and maintain financial means throughout one’s life.
https://theconversation.com/subsidized-social-housing-promotes-e…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent.Two Women In Their 70s Forcibly Evicted From Sydney Home
Channel 10 (No paywall)Only days after the State Government celebrated major changes to the rental system, we've seen a confronting example of just how ruthless the Sydney housing market can be. Two women aged in their 70s have been forcibly evicted from their home in Eastlakes, despite having nowhere else to go. Carrying their pets and possessions, the landlord had the locks changed behind them.
# Must read NSW, Eviction.