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
Man £450 short on rent after housing allowance
Helen Drew BBC (No paywall)A man left unable to work after a life-changing car crash faces a £450 shortfall in his rent every month, despite receiving Local Housing Allowance. The crash 18-years-ago left Steve Mikellides with severe spinal injuries, and the scar across his torso is a "daily reminder of the accident". Mr Mikellides, a former sales executive, lives alone in a privately rented flat in Thornton Heath, south London, but rising rents mean his benefits fall far short of covering his costs. The government says it is "tackling the impact of rising rents", but the Local Housing Allowance has been frozen on and off for years, meaning it has not kept pace with the market.
# Hot topic International, .Tenants left with no loo for 58 days win rent back
Cameron Blackshaw BBC (No paywall)Residents of a shared property in south-east London had to urinate in a bath or use the lavatories at a nearby furniture superstore for 58 days because their landlord did not fix a broken toilet, a tribunal has heard. The five tenants also had to put up with a faulty ventilation system that was so noisy it kept them awake at night and caused mould. They applied for rent repayment accusing the landlords of not holding the correct licence to run the Greenwich property and were given £5,300 back.
# International, .The impact of NSW building reforms
Cat Woods Law Society Journal (No paywall)These housing reforms are part of a broader housing and infrastructure agenda, accompanied by the Transport Oriented Development Program, Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, Infill Affordable Housing Bonus, and the Renewable Energy Planning Framework. The Environmental Planning and Assessment (Planning System Reforms) Bill 2025 (NSW) (the Bill) introduces a raft of substantial amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to streamline how housing projects are assessed, approved and coordinated in NSW.
https://lsj.com.au/articles/the-impact-of-nsw-building-reforms/
# NSW, Rent.Domestic violence survivors left 'deeply traumatised' in efforts to keep temporary accommodation access
Isabella Ross ABC (No paywall)Two women who fled their violent partners say their efforts to stay in emergency accommodation via state government housing offices left them "deeply traumatised". The victim-survivors feel they had to meet "unrealistic requirements" to maintain the temporary accommodation via Homes NSW, which is part of the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ). Both women, whose names have been changed for legal reasons, said they were desperate for the system to change.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-28/nsw-dv-victim-survivors-t…
# NSW, Domestic violence, Rent.Planning official used husband’s AI tool to fast-track hundreds of Sydney housing proposals
Alexandra Smith and Max Maddison The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Hundreds of major developments fast-tracked by the NSW government’s flagship Housing Delivery Authority will be independently reviewed after the planning official in charge of the agency was stood down for using an unauthorised AI tool to assess the proposals. Aoife Wynter, the executive director of panels and housing delivery in the HDA and long-time planning official, has been placed on forced leave after it emerged she allowed AI software developed by her husband to be used on assessments.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/planning-official-used-husba…
# NSW, .One man's experience with homelessness reveals another side to Sydney's 2000 postcode
Briane Fiore ABC (No paywall)Parker once lived in postcode 2000, but not in a high-rise with Sydney Harbour views. The 21-year-old spent many nights on a bench in Hyde Park with hard timber digging into his back. Here, skaters dance around bin chickens and a musty scent rises from the damp earth and decaying leaves. He puffs on a vape, concealing his face from police on patrol. "[That] made my heart drop a little bit," he says, recognising an undercover officer who once caught him stealing food. "Chicken, mushrooms and a curry packet … I was trying to make a katsu."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-30/nsw-sydney-parker-homeles…
# Must read NSW, .The unequal costs that created a divided Sydney
The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)It will astonish few people that the Great Sydney divide creates unequal opportunities, but new research captures the weight of the burden carried by western Sydney residents. Data from the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research shows the economic divides remain as stark as ever with wealth, not geography, the new legend to the map of Sydneysiders’ daily lives.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-unequal-costs-that-creat…
# NSW, .'Tenants face displacement': 37 affordable housing units at Caringbah could go
Murray Trembath The Leader (Paywall)All the apartments in a five-storey block at 130 Willarong Road were designated affordable housing when development consent was given in 2017. Building bonuses were given because 50 per cent of the two-building development at 128-130 Willarong Road was to be affordable housing. However, in August this year, a new development application (DA) was lodged, seeking to remove the affordable housing restriction by retrospectively applying the new Low and Mid Rise Housing Policy, which automatically allows five-storey buildings within 400 metres of town centres and stations.
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/9125531/caringbah-housing-pro…
# NSW, .