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
Is ‘Walk Score’ Really Just a ‘White Score’?
Kea Wilson StreetsBlog USA (No paywall)Neighborhoods that score highly on the "Walk Score" metric are more likely to be disproportionately white, a new study finds — and it may be creating a troubling feedback loop that drives investment away from neighborhoods of color, and towards the communities that need it least. In a provocative new paper, researchers Kate Lowe of the University of Illinois Chicago and Anna Brand of the University of California, Berkeley found that Windy City census tracts that were rated most highly by the popular real estate algorithm mapped almost exactly onto the census tracts with the highest share of white residents — and a literature review suggested that the same thing is likely true in other dense urban areas.
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2025/04/07/is-walk-score-really-just…
# Must read International, .Suburbs surge, cities slide: Which EU countries saw rents and house prices rise?
Inês Trindade Pereira Euro News (No paywall)According to the latest Eurostat figures, the EU is facing a continued upward trend in housing costs. In the last three months of 2024, house prices across the EU rose by 4.9%, while rents increased by 3.2% compared with the same period in 2023. And in 2024, while house prices increased less than inflation in seven EU countries (Germany, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Romania, Finland and Sweden), they outpaced inflation in all other member states. Between 2010 and 2024, house prices increased more than rents nationwide in 21 EU countries. Over the same period, house prices more than tripled in Hungary (+234%) and Estonia (+228%).
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/04/15/suburbs-surge-citi…
# Hot topic International, Rent.The 25 U.S. cities where a $100,000 salary still isn't enough to get by
Mary Cunningham CBS News (No paywall)Reaching the six-figure salary threshold may be considered a financial victory for many Americans, but in a many big U.S. cities the once aspirational milestone just doesn't cut it anymore. In one out of four large metro areas in the United States, a family of three with a household income of $100,000 will still struggle to get by, a LendingTree analysis reveals. That's a stark realization for many Americans, who continue to face rising household expenses on everything from a dozen eggs to a bag of coffee. The average median household income in then U.S. was $80,610 in 2023, according to the most recent estimate from the Census Bureau.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/six-figures-and-broke-cities-lendin…
# Must read International, .The squabbling, the vomiting, the freeloading and the noisy sex: my 10 worst house-share moments
Alice Wilkinson The Guardian (No paywall)The only people I know who speak glowingly about house shares are the ones no longer living in them. When I hear someone describe their house-sharing era as the “best time of my life”, I know they have had at least two years to forget their trauma. That is not a luxury afforded to me – I am living in my eighth house share with my 18th housemate, still holding on to past horrors like they happened yesterday and facing the anxiety they may happen again. So here they are: the 10 worst moments from my many house shares.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/09/the-squabbl…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Share houses.Rent burden causing housing stress, deputy says
Gemma Daubeney BBC (No paywall)Jersey ministers are being urged to come up with a different way of setting rent for social housing. Social housing rents are currently set at 80% of what they would be in the private market. Deputy Raluca Kovacs said this made social rent too expensive and it was causing rental stress. She proposed a new policy with lower, more predictable rents to help reduce tenants' reliance on benefit payments. Housing Minister Sam Mézec said: "Reviewing the social housing rents system was in our manifestos and it is an important thing to consider."
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing.UK tenants issued key advice on what to do if your rent is going up
Phoebe Jobling Manchester Evening News (No paywall)Tenants in the UK have been issued key advice on what to do if your landlord is putting your rent up. The average monthly private rent in the UK has increased by 7.7 percent over the last year, new data from from the Office for National Statistics has revealed. The average cost to rent a home in the UK was £1,332 per month in March 2025, which is £96 higher than 12 months previously.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/property/uk-tenants…
# Hot topic International, Rent.City of Moreton Bay throws homeless people's tents into garbage trucks
Kenji Sato ABC (No paywall)The City of Moreton Bay council has begun throwing away rough sleepers' tents and other possessions as it cracks down on "illegal" homeless campers. On Wednesday morning council rangers and police officers began dismantling tents at Eddie Hyland Park, north of Brisbane. Homeless woman Carol Ross said rangers gave her one hour to remove her personal belongings from her tent before they loaded it onto the back of a garbage truck.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-10/city-of-moreton-bay-throw…
# Must read Australia, .Poor living conditions for renters to influence millions of votes
ABC (No paywall)Poor living conditions for renters will be influencing the vote of millions this election... with many renters angry about costs increasing, while standards slip. With record-low vacancy rates, many renters say they're reluctant to complain about maintenance issues or poor conditions in fear of losing their lease. They're calling for a policy overhaul to take some of the pressure off.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/am/rental-rights/105172956
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, Rent.