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
The Renters’ Rights Act: one law is about to change how we live
Madeleine Spence The Times (Paywall)When the 38-year-old psychologist Renata Solózarno moved into her flat last September after seven years of hopping between rentals, she was ready for some stability. She bought furniture, got to know her new flatmate and fell in love with the place. Then, after a wet winter, she noticed the mould. “I am incredibly allergic,” Solózarno says. When she investigated the sash windows she found they had rotted through. She got in touch with her landlords, a married couple who live in southwest England, and asked them to resolve the problems at the Victorian attic flat, which she and her flatmate rented for £1,950 a month in Streatham, south London.
https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/renter…
# International, .Dining across the divide: ‘I think property is a right, not a business – he thinks differently because he’s a landlord’
Zoe Williams The Guardian (No paywall)They disagree on the private rented sector. Can they find common ground over a united Ireland? Diarmuid: "I think property is a right, not a business, which is obviously very different to what Richard thinks, because he’s a landlord. I did see his point that some landlords are great, and he seems to be in that category, but I still don’t think it should be a career path. He described the difficulties of renting out property, but I thought it was a moot point. There’s a human on either side of the equation and one is making money off the other. I’d much rather be the human who has to spend very little to make profit than the human paying half their wages in rent. If it’s so hard, pick a different career."
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/apr/19/dining-acro…
# International, .Rabbi who boasts of bulldozing Palestinian homes will light torch for Israel’s national day
Emma Graham-Harrison The Guardian (No paywall)An extremist rabbi known for razing civilian homes in Gaza will light a torch at Israel’s independence day celebration on Tuesday, a role human rights campaigners said marked the embrace of genocide as the official “spirit of the nation”. Avraham Zarbiv is one of 14 people chosen for their “extraordinary contribution to society and the state”, alongside a scientist, a Michelin-starred chef, a leading doctor, members of the security forces and entrepreneurs. A reservist who drives an armoured bulldozer, Zarbiv rose to prominence through videos documenting his personal campaign of destruction in Gaza, often accompanied by inflammatory rhetoric.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/21/rabbi-who-boasts-b…
# Must read International, Discrimination.A moment that changed me: I thought landlords were unchallengeable – until I met one of mine at a party
Ruby Lott-Lavigna The Guardian (No paywall)After 12 years of renting, I’ve known my fair share of landlords – although “known” is probably the wrong term. I don’t usually meet them in person and rarely speak to them directly, only communicating through a managing estate agent or, if I’m lucky, email. They often exist in my mind as frightening spectres of exploitation: mere initials on a contract, but with the unsettling power to displace me at short notice. But that all changed one freezing night in March 2023, at a friend’s house party in Dalston, east London.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/apr/22/a-moment-th…
# Must read International, Rent.Landlords evicting tenants before law to prevent practice comes into force in England
Isaaq Tomkins The Guardian (No paywall)Increasing numbers of landlords are evicting tenants at the last minute before the law changes to outlaw the practice in next month, charities have said. The renters’ union Acorn told the Guardian that no-fault evictions made up one in five of the reports they received from members in October, rising to nearly one in three by January. The Renters’ Rights Act, which was in development last year and will come into effect on 1 May 2026, will abolish section 21 of the existing Housing Act, which allows landlord to evict without providing a justification to the court. “This isn’t a coincidence. Landlords are clearly rushing to force through last-minute evictions before the ban comes into force.,” said a spokesperson from Acorn.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/08/landlords-no-fau…
# Hot topic International, Eviction.Study shows housing costs are unsustainable
Nikos Roussanoglou Ekathimerini (No paywall)A new study by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFiM), analyzing Eurostat data for 2024, finds that rental housing costs in Greece, particularly in Greater Athens, have reached levels deemed unsustainable for the average household. According to the study, the rent-to-income ratio in the Athens metropolitan area stands at 70.2% for a typical one-bedroom apartment of up to 60 square meters, and 93.6% for a two-bedroom unit, compared with European Union averages of 31%-34% and 46%, respectively.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1300878/study-shows-housing…
# International, .Temporary accommodation linked to deaths of 104 children in England in six years
Jessica Murray The Guardian (No paywall)Living in temporary accommodation has contributed to the deaths of 104 children in England in the past six years, 76 of whom were under the age of one, according to data. Statistics also show there were 64 stillbirths and 27 neonatal deaths involving mothers living in temporary accommodation (TA) in the UK in 2024. Experts say the housing crisis is pushing families into conditions that endanger their lives.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/22/temporary-accomm…
# International, .European-level Rents and Paltry Greek Wages Causing Affordability Crisis, Housing Shortage
Dimitris Polymenopoulos Pappas Post (No paywall)Greece is facing a profound housing crisis, as surging rental prices in the capital and severely depressed average wages have made housing unaffordable for the vast majority. According to an analysis by the Centre for Liberal Studies (KEFiM) published April 15, Greece has recorded yet another annual increase in rental prices for 2025, to the tune of 10.1%. This marks the second-highest rent increase in the European Union, trailing only behind Croatia, and vastly outpacing the European Union’s 3.2% increase for 2025.
https://pappaspost.com/european-level-rents-and-paltry-greek-wag…
# International, .