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
Changing Australia: Zachariah Matysek on rebuilding Indigenous housing
ABC (No paywall)If you talk to Meriam man Zachariah Matysek about his childhood in the remote part of the Torres Strait, community and culture were everything. Some of his favourite memories are of family, fishing and hunting. This upbringing, and his later work at a homeless shelter in Queensland, set the foundation for his work now, trying to build better solutions for Indigenous housing.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/c…
# Audio Australia, .Vulnerable outback residents with prepaid electricity see power cut off
Emma Haskin and Stewart Brash ABC (No paywall)Meet Warumungu elder Jimmy Frank Jupurrurla. During the long, hot, brutal summers of Central Australia and the Barkly, he spends $20 a day to keep his Tennant Creek housing commission house liveable. He says he's one of the lucky ones as he has a good job and can afford to top up his prepaid electricity bill, which cannot be disconnected over the weekend. "We get cut off every Monday at nine o'clock," he says. "Just imagine you have 12 to 13 people in a house, and then they all low income earning people ... I can't imagine what their power bill will be."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-11/nt-red-centre-temperature…
# Must read Australia, Aboriginal renters, Privacy and access, Rent.Renters rejoice: New reforms pass with the aim to make life easier for Victorian renters
Beat (No paywall)The new measures include banning no fault evictions, extending notice times for rent hikes and more. In a massive win for the renting population, Victoria’s Parliament has given the green light to a hefty package of rental reforms, cementing the state’s reputation as the ultimate champion of renters’ rights nationwide. The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 passed this week, delivering a knockout blow to dodgy rental practices that have plagued Melbourne’s housing scene. The reforms add to an already impressive 130 measures introduced since 2021.
https://beat.com.au/renters-rejoice-new-reforms-pass-with-the-ai…
# Must read, New policy announcement Australia, Eviction.Brisbane charity refuses to take tents for homeless away as Brisbane City Council calls for them to be removed from parks
Kenji Sato & Baz Ruddick ABC (No paywall)A Brisbane charity is refusing to take tents away from homeless people as the council warns it is breaking a law that holds a maximum penalty of more than $8,000. Northwest Community Group president Paul Slater received a letter on Wednesday, informing him his tents violated Brisbane City Council's local laws. "It is an offence for a person to deposit any article on council land without a reasonable excuse,” the letter read. "Council intends to exercise its powers under the [local law] to ensure compliance with all relevant laws."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-14/charity-refuses-homeless-…
# Must read Australia, Eviction.Sam can't afford to live alone. His path to home ownership would 'ruin his future'
Ewa Staszewska SBS (No paywall)Sam Bahrij can no longer afford to live alone in Brisbane after his weekly rent soared $210 in 12 months. The 34-year-old was forced to find a new two-bedroom home and a housemate to keep up with the increases in his neighbourhood. "Currently, with the rental crisis, the way things are, there is no way for me to rent by myself," Bahrij told SBS News. Rents across the capital have risen 58 per cent since March 2020, according to property analysis group PropTrack. Many tenants face changing living arrangements or delaying the dream of home ownership due to high costs. For Bahrij, buying his first home no longer feels possible.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/superannuation-access-for-fi…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Research reveals huge salary needed just to afford to rent a home as housing crisis deepens
Shannon Molloy news.com.au (No paywall)Startling new research has revealed Australians now need an income of $130,000 per year to afford the typical rental property. Campaign group Everybody’s Home released its Priced Out report today. It paints a stark picture of the worsening housing crisis, with even those on six figures struggling. “Rental stress is no longer confined to those on lower incomes – it’s affecting professionals, essential workers, and middle-income families who simply can’t keep up with soaring rents,” Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said. “A $100,000 salary used to be considered a secure income, but our research shows people on this wage are struggling in both cities and regional areas because rents are so staggeringly high.”
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/research-rev…
# Must read Australia, .In the rush to build houses, let’s remember what communities need
The Guardian (No paywall)The rationale for the planning and infrastructure bill is that planning is the main reason for the tardy rate of housebuilding (The Guardian view on the planning bill: new towns must be for people who need them, 11 March). Removing red tape, it is supposed, will facilitate the market speeding up housebuilding. In reality there are more than 1m plots of land that have planning permission and have not been built on. That’s because housebuilding is dominated by large-volume builders that build at a pace and scale to maximise profits and shareholder dividends. The solution to what’s called the “housing affordability crisis” does not lie in the market.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/17/in-the-rush-to-…
# Hot topic International, .Even 'middle class' struggling to pay rent
Susan Edmunds Radio NZ (No paywall)A new affordable housing development that will provide homes at 80 percent of market rent to essential workers highlights that even "middle class" people are struggling to cover basic costs, one economist says. The Rotorua development of 58 homes has 28 designated affordable rental properties. It is led by not-for-profit community housing provider Home in Place, in partnership with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and Watchman Capital through the Affordable Housing Fund.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/545121/even-middle-class-str…
# Hot topic International, Rent.