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
Rental prices have risen almost 44 per cent in five years, Cotality review finds
ABC (No paywall)Australian renters are paying on average an extra $204 per week to keep a roof over their heads compared to five years ago, representing an increase of nearly 44 per cent. Packed inspections, skyrocketing rents and a fear of price hikes are leaving renters intimidated as vacancy rates plummet to record lows, a report shows. The median cost to put a roof over your head in a capital city has surged 44 per cent in five years to top $700 per week for the first time, Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) says in its Quarterly Rental Review.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-08/rental-prices-surge-almos…
# Research alert Australia, .Labor’s housing agenda in crisis amid complaints, resignations
Paul Sakkal The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Resignations and bullying accusations have plagued the executive ranks of Housing Australia, with a senior whistleblower writing to Housing Minister Clare O’Neil to say the agency’s ability to deliver Labor’s multibillion-dollar home-building agenda had been seriously compromised. Housing Australia chair Carol Austin was last year subjected to a Treasury probe into claims about her alleged behaviour towards senior executives, the outcome of which has been blocked from public release through freedom of information laws.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-s-housing-agenda-i…
# Australia, .Experts call for clearer boarding regulations to relieve housing pressure
Alice Walker ABC (No paywall)When the Portland Memorial Bowling Club put out a call for housing for its newest chef, regular customer Ellen Linke did not hesitate. She took Anoop Thapliyal into her home in February 2024 with no formal agreement, no house rules, just a simple premise of trust. "I thought, well, if he's good enough to be employed by them, I think I can offer him a place," she said. The split-second decision gave Mr Thapliyal an immediate base after his journey from Abu Dhabi to country Victoria. Living with a stranger without a lease did not faze him.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-12/boarders-legal-rights-vic…
# Australia, Boarders and lodgers, Rent.Domain rental report for September quarter shows rent for houses stable across combined capital cities
Sarah Richards and Jessica van Vonderen ABC (No paywall)Rental prices in Australia's major capital cities have paused after three years of relentless hikes, a new report reveals. Domain's September quarterly report shows house rents across the country's combined capitals have remained stable for five consecutive quarters. Chief of research and economics for Domain, Nicola Powell, said it was the longest period of stability in almost a decade, and highlighted the "stable nature" of rentals. She said unit rents had also flatlined for two consecutive quarters across the country's combined capitals.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-09/domain-rental-report-sept…
# Research alert Australia, .Business owner exposes insane list of demands from real estate agent after bond clean
Ally Foster news.com.au (No paywall)A cleaning business owner has put real estate agents and landlords on blast, revealing some of the insane call backs she and her team receive following bond cleans. Fiona Morris is the founder of the Australian Cleaning Academy, which offers education for the cleaning industry, and she also owns and runs a cleaning business operating in the Newcastle region. Ms Morris, 46, has been around the cleaning industry since she was eight years old when she used to help her mum complete bond cleans.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/business-own…
# Australia, Bond, Starting a tenancy, You want to leave.Could Superannuation Funds in the Rental Market Backfire for Australian Renters?
Leanne Jopson Property Update (No paywall)The government is considering changes that would allow superannuation funds to invest more directly in the rental housing market, potentially unlocking billions of dollars to increase supply. The federal government is exploring ways to unlock billions of dollars from Australia’s $4 trillion superannuation system to help boost rental housing supply. At first glance, this looks like a win-win solution: more capital flowing into the housing sector, more stock built, and a step toward easing the chronic rental shortage. But as is often the case with big ideas in real estate, the details matter.
https://propertyupdate.com.au/could-superannuation-funds-in-the-…
# Australia, Rent.NSW planning overhaul removes corruption and environment safeguards, legal experts say
Tim Fernandez ABC (No paywall)There are growing fears that a major overhaul of planning laws proposed by the NSW government will bypass environmental protections and remove safeguards against corruption. The NSW premier, planning minister and treasurer announced the changes in September, claiming they would simplify the planning process and turbocharge approvals for new housing. But legal experts, including the chair of the Centre for Public Integrity, Anthony Whealy, fear the legislation in its current form will have broad-reaching implications.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-13/enviornment-and-corruptio…
# NSW, .Advocates call for better measure of poverty, saying Australia's approach falls short
Daniel Ziffer ABC (No paywall)Tamara Rhodes knows from her daily experience that she is poor — making tough choices about what food to buy, and putting off health treatment and buying medicines because she cannot afford them. But the way we measure poverty in Australia means the government probably doesn't know how much she's struggling. "When I do a grocery shop, I put everything that I need into the trolley in hopes that when I get to the register, I'm able to afford it," the mother of two says, describing watching the total cost "rack up" as the trolley empties.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-14/calls-to-measure-how-many…
# Hot topic Australia, .