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
Wollongong CBD skyline to change thanks to affordable housing incentive
Glen Humphries Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Hundreds of extra apartments have been added to Wollongong CBD developments - some already approved developments - in order to cash in on a "height bonus" granted by Planning Minister Paul Scully.
# NSW, .Housing advocates seek federal funding election promise for co-op model
Danielle Pope ABC (No paywall)Brooke Kerton is on her way to her monthly housing co-op meeting with a smile on her face. It's a familiar setting, one that feels more like a family gathering than a formal discussion. "It's nice, we all get around to Kate's house and have a cuppa and a chat and do our meeting," Ms Kerton said. "It such a nice little group of friends and you grow into a little family." Ms Kerton lives in the regional Victorian town of Bairnsdale and is a full-time mum to four children. She lives in co-op housing, a model that sees a number of renters in smaller homes on a shared block of land.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-17/housing-cooperative-solut…
# Australia, Rent.Renting a home in Australia means handing over too much sensitive info. It’s a national security risk
Moataz ElQadi The Conversation (No paywall)Our personal information is more valuable than ever. The most recent government cyber threat report warns that foreign state actors have an “enduring interest” in obtaining sensitive and personally identifiable information about Australians. In recent weeks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese noted “there is a cyber attack in Australia roughly every six minutes. This is a regular issue.” In some situations, it can be difficult to protect our info even when we’re aware of the risks.
https://theconversation.com/renting-a-home-in-australia-means-ha…
# Hot topic Australia, Starting a tenancy.Modelling landlord behaviour and its impact on rental affordability: insights across two decades
Ranjodh Singh, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Chris Leishman and Jack Hewton AHURI (No paywall)This research looks at what shapes the investment behaviour of small-scale, residential landlords. It presents new evidence on rental investment behaviour and examines the potential impacts of policy changes on landlords’ costs of supplying rental housing, along with the effects on affordability for tenants. Understanding what motivates landlords and their investment goals can help build a private rental sector that benefits more Australians.
# Must read, Research alert Australia, Rent.These charts show how quickly rent has outpaced incomes across Australia
Inga Ting and Alex Palmer ABC (No paywall)Skyrocketing rents have outpaced income growth in every regional area in Australia and all but one capital city, exclusive figures have revealed. This is a reversal from the previous decade, during which incomes generally grew faster than rents. In Perth, Australia's least affordable city for renters, median rent has risen 5.2 times faster than income since the start of the pandemic, soaring by 79 per cent between 2020 and 2024, compared to a 15 per cent rise in average rental household income.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-16/charts-show-how-fast-rent…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent.Why so many landlords are forced to sell their properties
Melissa Heagney-Bayliss Domain (No paywall)Some Australian landlords are churning through rental properties, especially if they are too cash-strapped to hang onto them or their circumstances change after purchase. One in five landlords sold within a year of purchase, and as many as half within two years, a new study from Curtin University researchers says, leaving many tenants scrambling to find somewhere to live in a tight rental market. The research by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Modelling landlord behaviour and its impact on rental affordability: Insights across two decades, was released on Wednesday.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/why-so-many-landlords-are-forced-…
# Hot topic Australia, .Struggling renters are all but invisible this election
Peter Mares Crikey (No paywall)Looking at the major parties’ housing announcements, you could conclude that renters don’t vote. Instead, both sides are pitching hard to aspiring first-home buyers, telling them that a vote for Labor or the Coalition will pull the great Australian dream back within reach so they can start paying off their own mortgage instead of someone else’s. Peter Dutton’s promise to allow interest on mortgage payments to be deducted from income tax for the first five years of a mortgage, and Albanese’s offer to facilitate a mortgage on a 5% deposit, may be alluring. But I suspect voters can see the pitfalls.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/04/16/2025-federal-election-housi…
# Australia, .Long-term renting is now the only option for many Canberrans
Lily Nothling ABC (No paywall)Long-term renting is the reality for many in the nation's capital, where the dream of home ownership can prove elusive. But affordability and availability is making life tough for renters from all walks of life. New CoreLogic data shows Canberra remains the second most expensive place to rent a house, at a median cost of $721 a week. For a unit, tenants are paying almost $600 a week. It has created a widening housing divide in a city that boasts the highest weekly median income in the country.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-17/canberra-housing-rental-s…
# Australia, Rent.