Latest Rent Tracker release

Today we have released the second issue of Rent Tracker which brings together the Rent and Sales Report as well as data from various other points to give you a clear and easy way to understand rent movements in New South Wales.There are more tenants in NSW than ever before, with bonds held in the Rental Bond Board rising much more quickly than the population.

For tenants renting houses in the west of Sydney there hasn’t been a lot of movement in rents for new dwellings over the last year. Of course that’s no guarantee a sitting tenant hasn’t had to deal with a rent increase or two. 

Rent prices for new leases in apartments have increased and decreased in different amounts across Sydney over 2016.
Interactive, and larger versions on tenants.org.au/tu/rent-tracker

However, for tenants in units there has been a lot of new stock coming on to the market - and because homes are not like other items, this means median rent prices have gone up, not down. A new building is generally nicer than both the building it replaced, and the other, older properties still on the market. This difference means it rents at the higher end of the scale, pushing the median rent higher.

For example Sydney, Parramatta and Rockdale LGAs together added more than 5200 new apartments in the last year, and new rents went up about 5% in each of those areas.

Greater Sydney generally added more than 27500 new rented homes to the market, with the fastest growing areas Camden lodging 20% more bonds than this time last year, and Lane Cove just over 15%.

The renting population of NSW also grew, though somewhat more slowly. Lithgow-Mudgee and Lake Macquarie both saw increases of around 6% of rental stock and were the largest increases outside of the Greater Sydney area.

Get the full edition of Rent Tracker, as well as interactive versions of these maps on tenants.org.au/tu/rent-tracker

New Ministers

New NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced her first Cabinet and front bench.

The Tenants' Union congratulates our new Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation (covering Fair Trading NSW as part of the portfolio), the Hon. Matt Kean MP.

Member for Hornsby and
Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation,
the Hon. Matt Kean MP

Kean was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2011, as the Member for Hornsby. He served as a Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services in 2014-15, and more recently for Treasury in 2015-17, but this marks his first Ministerial position. According to the Register of Disclosures by Members of the Legislative Assembly, Kean is a tenant, and his appointment comes as the NSW Government prepares to introduce legislation to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 following the statutory review of the Act. We understand drafting is well underway so we don't expect this Ministerial reshuffle to have too great an impact on the reform process - especially since Kean's predecessor, the Hon Victor Dominello MP, will take on the more senior Finance, Services and Property portfolio under which Innovation and Better Regulation sits.

(On that note, we offer our congratulations and thanks to Minister Dominello as well. Dominello held the Innovation and Better Regulation portfolio since April 2015, making him one of the longest serving Ministers for Fair Trading in recent history. During his time in the portfolio he introduced Rental Bonds Online, which allows tenants to deposit their money with the Rental Bond Board directly before entering into a residential tenancy agreement. He presided over the review of the state's renting laws, and while this will not deliver stability, liveability and affordability for tenants Dominello did commit his Government to improving the law for survivors of domestic violence who need to end a tenancy. He'll no longer take carriage of this reform, and it remains to be seen just how it will be implemented, but we acknowledge his consultative approach to its development, and his dedication to seeing it through. Finally, Dominello also oversaw the drafting and implementation of the state's new strata laws. While these laws are not without controversy, they've taken a useful step towards better representation for tenants in the operation and management of strata schemes in New South Wales.)

The Tenants' Union also welcomes the return of Pru Goward to the Family and Community Services portfolio. Goward resumes this portfolio along with Social Housing, while retaining her appointment as Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Member for Goulburn and
Minister for Family and Community Services
Minister for Social Housing, and
Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault,
the Hon Pru Goward MP

When Goward previously held the Family and Community Services portfolio there was no Minster for Housing, with responsibility for Social Housing split between Family and Community Services and Finance and Services. This didn't work so well, and a discrete Social Housing portfolio has since been created. It sits alongside the Family and Community Services portfolio, reflecting the Government's view that a Social Housing tenancy is a form of welfare dependency.

Since Goward last held the Family and Community Services portfolio, with shared responsibility for Social Housing, the Government has launched its Future Directions for Social Housing strategy. As a ten-year strategy, there is still much to be done in developing and implementing many of its key proposals, and Goward will now take charge of these. Most notably, she will preside over discussions arising from the current IPART Review of Social and Affordable Housing Rent Models. She will also oversee the Government's efforts to grow the social and affordable housing portfolios for the first time in many years.

Finally, the Tenants' Union congratulates Anthony Roberts - himself a former Minister for Fair Trading - on his appointment as Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing, and Special Minister of State.

Member for Lane Cove, and
Minister for Planning,
Minister for Housing and
Special Minister of State,
the Hon. Anthony Roberts MP

The inclusion of a Housing Ministry is not new, but it hasn't been done since Frank Terenzini held the portfolio in Kristina Keneally's administration, circa 2010-11. Back then, a Housing Minister was really just a Social Housing Minister with a shortened title, so what is new is the inclusion of both a Housing portfolio, with links to the Planning portfolio, and a Social Housing portfolio tied to Family and Community Services. No doubt this broadened focus reflects Berejiklian's much publicised ambition "to make sure that every average, hard-working person in this state can aspire to own their own home", and it bodes relatively well for housing policy discussion during Berejiklian's time as Premier. Of course, we mustn't forget that now former Planning Minister for Rob Stokes once took a swipe at negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts for their contributions to housing unaffordability. His departure from these policy discussions doesn't bode quite so well...

Welcome to 2017 - the year of the renter

Welcome back to the Brown Couch for 2017. It's been a swell (at times sweltering) break - now it's time to dust off the old keyboard and get ready for another big year.

Domain's Jennifer Duke has dubbed it "the year of the renter" on account of the rising population of Australians who are long-term tenants, tipped to outnumber home-owners in parts of the country during 2017. Duke opines that "... if the growing group of tenants are to be housed with security and decency, fixing the rules that surround the rental market is something that has to be done now." We couldn't agree more.

While we're firmly in the "every year is the year of the renter" camp, we must admit there's a growing interest in tenants' rights across the country. The perennial housing affordability conversation is slowly starting to explore the costs and conditions of long-term living in the private rental market. Of course, there's still a long way to go, but there's a noticeable change in the air. For one thing, our own engagement with the mainstream media has never been higher, and we're getting a far more sympathetic ear than we might have expected even just a year or two ago... For example, check out our spot on ABC News 24's Weekend Breakfast program from late last year:

There's a long way to go, but there will be a couple of big opportunities to push the discussion further as we move through this current year of the renter. For one, we'll have a new Premier who has listed housing affordability as a key priority area, and while we don't yet know what this means for the Social Housing and Fair Trading Ministerial portfolios, we'll have to take it as a positive sign as the Government considers the final stages of the statutory review of renting laws, and pursues its ambition for Social Housing reform. Fingers and toes crossed, just for good measure.

We can expect some of the 2016 Census data to start coming through towards the middle of Autumn, which will tell us just how much our renter population has grown over the last five years. And we're expecting a report from a national survey of tenants that was conducted late last year by Choice, National Shelter and the National Association of Tenancy Organisations, so watch this space. In the meantime the next issue of Rent Tracker is just around the corner, and we'll have more to say about the impact of Airbnb on the Sydney rental market in the coming weeks.

2017 is set to be another big year, full of opportunities to join the push for a better deal for tenants. Keep an eye out for us, and jump in where you can.