A Constant Worry
The Tenants' Union has just released a new report exposing the harsh realities of 'no grounds' evictions – A Constant Worry: Renters confront the impact of unfair evictions. These arbitrary evictions inflict serious financial strain, housing insecurity, and emotional distress on renters, exacerbating mental health issues and perpetuating a power imbalance with landlords.
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The report draws on the experiences of 123 NSW renters, amplifying their voices, and delves into the financial, emotional, and social toll of 'no grounds' evictions.
Eviction is not just a legal process – it's a disruptive life event that can have devastating consequences. In the report, renters recount the stress and insecurity they have endured due to 'no grounds' evictions, with some being pushed into homelessness.
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The report calls for an end to these arbitrary evictions and advocates for the introduction of reasonable grounds for ending a tenancy.
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Time to end the trauma of no grounds evictions – for all renters
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On the Tenants' Union blog, Policy and Campaigns Officer, Zuzia Buszewicz writes about the survey responses that form the basis of the Constant Worry report, and calls on the NSW Government to follow through on it's commitments and end 'no grounds' for all.
As the housing crisis continues and more 'rich' households are renting, and low-income renters are struggling to compete (ABC News), rental reform is more urgent than ever. Some solutions to the crisis are seen as controversial, such as Purple Pingers' call to squat empty houses (news.com.au). However there are workable solutions that have widespread support. At the end of last month we released polling by Ipsos Public Affairs, that shows significant support for ending 'no grounds' evictions – including among landlords.
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We invite you to be part of the campaign to end 'no grounds' evictions – please share our video and email decision-makers if you haven't already.
Add your voice to the thousands of supporters who have taken action!
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Roaches in your rental?
To leave or not to leave...
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Photo: 'Cockroaches' by UniversalOdessey, semi-finalist in the pets category of the Tenants' Union Through a Renter's Lens photo competition.
Prompted by a media article earlier this year, which reported a landlord winning compensation after the tenants 'abandoned' the property over cockroaches, Olivia Nielsen-Gurung, Tenants' Union Advocacy Officer writes:
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I personally don’t think anyone should have to live with roaches. They are gross. But hating roaches and the existence of roaches in the property might not be a good enough legal reason to end a tenancy without having to pay compensation to the landlord for leaving the contract early. One common source of disagreement when it comes to roaches and other pests or vermin, is whether the landlord or the tenant is responsible for the infestation...
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Renter Forums with Rental Commissioner
Are you a renter? Worried about the impact of the climate crisis in your life? Is cost of living hitting hard? Have you found it difficult applying for a rental home? Is your rental housing not up to scratch – too hot in summer and too cold in winter?
The Sydney Alliance and the Tenants' Union are organising a series of Renter Forums in partnership with Trina Jones, the NSW Rental Commissioner. The first forum is on Monday 20 May, 5:30pm - 8:30pm in the Sydney CBD and Innerwest (venue to be confirmed, a light dinner will be provided) – you can register interest here. Watch this space for more info for details on the forums to be held in Bankstown (June) and Parramatta (July).
Who will be attending?
- People who rent across Sydney, ready to share and reflect on their experiences as renters and input into solutions.
- The NSW Rental Commissioner along with local Members of Parliament who will be there to listen and learn about what it is like to rent in our current rental housing system and what needs to change.
The Renters Forums will provide an opportunity to share your experience as a renter, in particular around access to rental homes, cost of living, affordability, energy and climate. They will focus on your experience and ideas for solutions.
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Disaster resources
Last week's heavy rain and flooding means that many renters across NSW are dealing with damage and increased risk in their homes.
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‘Flood house’ by Lismore artist Chas Glover. Used with permission.
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Cruel Summers: Renter Research
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From December 2023 to February 2024, Better Renting worked with over 100 renters across Australia as part of a citizen-science project to track temperature and humidity in rental homes. They also asked these Renter Researchers about their experiences: what do these temperatures mean for you? What effect does it have? How do you cope? Read more – Cruel Summers: Renter Researchers Summer 2024.
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Do you have a multicultural background and have rented in NSW in the last 5 years? Help researchers understand your unique experience to get better solutions by filling out a quick survey.
Our friends at Tenants Victoria and the University of Melbourne are running a national survey to better understand the housing experiences of multicultural renters, including how racial discrimination impacts in the renting sector. Help them build more evidence – fill out the survey today. And please spread the word by sharing it with other multicultural renters in your community.
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Renting First Aid
Training for Community Workers
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The Tenants' Union offers paid professional development training for community sector workers, including youth support workers, student support officers, disability advocates and migrant support workers. Fees vary depending on the size and type of your organisation and whether you do the training online or in-person. We run workshops online and in-person at various times throughout the next year. Please get in touch if you'd like to discuss options. We have the following workshops coming up:
- Renting First Aid (online) Wed 15 May 10am – 4pm
- Renting First Aid (in-person, Sydney) Tues 25 June 9:30am – 4pm
- Tenancy law for non-lawyers (in-person) Mon 21 Oct 9:30am – 4:30pm
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Planning and holiday lets
Much of the focus on housing has been around planning, or answering the question of how best to use our resources to house the community. We have made two recent submissions in this focus area.
Our submission on short-term holiday-letting made 11 recommendations. Our long-standing position remains the same – holiday letting requires significantly stronger regulation to ensure homes are not removed too easily from our renting system. There is a growing discussion of the possible introduction of a levy on holiday lettings. We support this but it should be designed to also capture vacant dwellings and so bring usable homes back.
We also made a brief submission supporting changes to zoning rules to allow more dense housing – but not at any cost. We recognise that increasing the number and type of homes available is an important part of housing our communities. However it needs to be acknowledged that it is not the only needed action to bring affordability and fairness to the housing system.
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Pre-budget submission (NSW)
We also made a pre-budget submission with a number of recommendations under an overarching theme of creating trust in the renting system.
Our recommendations were to:
- Increase funding to TAAS
- Reform evictions
- Increase funding for enforcement and compliance activity
- Commence work towards a landlord registration system
- Improve NCAT through the review and addressing online registry services
- Invest in the creation of Homes NSW
- Continue implementation of portable bonds
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Help the Tenants' Union continue our work for tenants
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