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
Bondi backlash as tenant paying $950 per week can't 'come and go': 'Red flags'
Tamika Seeto Yahoo News (No paywall)A Bondi apartment located above a kindergarten has been listed for rent, with tenants advised they would be not able to “come and go” during business hours or permitted to have guests. The listing has sparked backlash with one expert saying it could potentially give rise to legal issues. The rental listing, which has now been removed, said the three-bedroom unit could only be accessed through the kindergarten. It noted it was “being offered at a lower rent figure” of $950 per week as the successful tenant would be required to undertake caretaking work, including watering the gardens, cleaning up sticks and gum nuts, and putting out the bins for the kindergarten.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/bondi-backlash-as-tenant-payin…
# Must read, Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent.Major social housing project for sale for $20m+
Taylor Troeth realestate.com.au (No paywall)A major social housing building in Sydney’s west has hit the market expecting to sell over $20 million. The Merrylands apartment block has 42 apartments, only one of which is not social housing, with four retail shops. Currently, 92 per cent of the buildings income is from NSW Land and Housing Corporation. Located at 315-323 Merrylands Rd, there is also 69 car spaces on two basement levels. The lease extends through to August 2025. Colliers agents Matthew Meynell and James Cowan are selling on behalf of vendor Costa Nicodemou from Newpoint Advisory, with “price expectations in the $20 millions.”
https://www.realcommercial.com.au/news/major-social-housing-prop…
# Hot topic NSW, .Fifteen architecture firms shortlisted for NSW competition aimed at alleviating housing crisis
Kelly Burke The Guardian (No paywall)More than a dozen architecture firms from across Australia and overseas will vie to design homes for five Sydney sites set aside by the New South Wales government to help alleviate the state’s housing crisis. The 15 finalists in the government’s pattern book design competition were announced on Monday, culled from the portfolios and expressions of interest of more than 200 entries. Although pattern books to build mass housing have been sporadically used since colonial times, this is the first time the NSW government and not private enterprise has been the instigator.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/sep/16/fifteen-architec…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Government green-lights 13,700 new homes
Rich James Crikey (No paywall)We start the week focusing on housing as the government gives thousands of social and affordable homes the green light while its Help to Buy bill is being put up for debate in the Senate, where it is expected to fail. The ABC reports 185 projects have been green-lit in the first round of grants allocated under the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF). The national broadcaster says the government believes it will result in 13,700 homes and put it ahead of the target to build 40,000 homes in the fund’s first five years.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/09/16/social-affordable-housing-n…
# Hot topic NSW, .https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/brave-renewal-world-social-housing-nsw
Zuzia Buszewicz Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The July budget delivered by the NSW government boasts the Building Homes for NSW program as “the largest ever investment by a NSW Government in public housing in the state’s history”. After a decade of practices involving selling off publicly owned properties to finance maintenance of the remaining stock, this significant increase in investment and shift in how the government invests signals a brave new approach to the renewal of social housing in NSW. The vision of genuine upgrades to 33,000 homes across the state prompts me to consider how the government could best use this opportunity to deliver not only better homes but also better tenant participation policies.
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/brave-renewal-world-social-housi…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Public and community housing.Renters complain about the eye-watering rent across Sydney
7 News (No paywall)Sydney's rental squeeze appears to be tightening with some of the steepest price hikes in the South West. But right across the city, renters are complaining about the eyes watering money they're forking out for a roof overhead.
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media, Video NSW, Rent.‘People losing their homes’: New South Wales’ worst rental suburbs revealed
Blair Jackson news.com.au (No paywall)Tweed Heads South is holding the mantle as the state’s worst suburb for renters by a cash-strapped mile. Average rents in the Northern Rivers suburb have increased 11 per cent in the past year, and rent now eats up 69 per cent of the median income in the area. The northside of Greenacre takes second spot in the state rankings of the latest Rental Pain Index, compiled by leading property data analyst Kent Lardner. Mr Lardner notes despite rents coming down in some areas, decreases are not a reliable indicator of easing pressure.
https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/people-losing-thei…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Supplying the Australian dream: Why apartment builders are having to think bigger
Annalise Bolt 9 News (No paywall)The great Australian dream looks a little different these days, with many of the next generation growing up in apartments. But because of supply problems, finding a unit for parents, kids, and a pet can prove difficult prompting new rules to build bigger. Twin toddlers Sarah and Hannah love to roam free outdoors, but instead of playing in a backyard, they explore local parks close to their apartment block in the inner Sydney suburb of Zetland.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/family-sized-units-scarce-for-…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.