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
Can rent controls help tackle Scotland’s housing crisis?
Laurie Macfarlane Future Economy Scotland (No paywall)Last week’s Programme for Government reaffirmed the Scottish Government’s commitment to introducing long-term rent controls. The pledge follows the publication of the Housing (Scotland) Bill in March 2024 which, if passed, would grant Scottish Ministers to designate ‘rent control areas’ based on recommendations from local authorities. Within these areas, increases on private tenancies could then be restricted for a fixed period. The inclusion of rent controls in the Bill marked a significant victory for activists and Living Rent, Scotland’s tenants’ union, who have long demanded that the Scottish Government take bolder action to control soaring rents.
https://www.futureeconomy.scot/posts/57-can-rent-controls-help-t…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Ban on rental bidding wars is on the way - but will it work?
Becky Morton BBC (No paywall)With renters in popular areas facing intense competition for homes, many are increasingly finding themselves pitted against each other in bidding wars. Housing campaigners have welcomed plans for new laws to ban the practice in England - but are warning more action will be needed to tackle unaffordable rents. Jason Phillips had been living in his flat in Crouch End, north London, for 10 years when his landlady decided to sell up.
https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/arti…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Ex-Manus Island detainees stranded in PNG threatened with eviction over unpaid rent
Paul Karp and Ben Doherty The Guardian (No paywall)Asylum seekers stranded in Papua New Guinea have been threatened with eviction if an alleged $110,000 rental arrears debt is not paid, leading to urgent calls for the Australian government to intervene to prevent them becoming “homeless”. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) wrote to the home affairs department revealing that refugee families with 10 children at Latitude apartments in Port Moresby face eviction on Friday unless the bill is paid by Thursday.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/sep/11/e…
# Must read International, Eviction.For Tenants, AI-Powered Screening Can Be a New Barrier to Housing
Patrick Sisson Bloomberg (No paywall)The promise behind tenant screening technology is simple: By automating the process of sifting through apartment applications and performing background checks, landlords can quickly weed out prospective tenants they consider too risky to rent to — people with shaky finances, cloudy rental history or concerning criminal records. By streamlining a lot of paperwork-intensive detective work, these computerized services — part of a flourishing field of real estate industry tools known as proptech — are billed as a means of cutting down on evictions, fending off fraud and reducing costs for owners and tenants alike.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-09-11/ai-powered-te…
# International, Eviction, Rent.Aim for no-fault eviction ban to be in place by summer
Becky Morton and Jennifer McKiernan BBC (No paywall)The government hopes a ban on evicting tenants in England without a reason will be in place by next summer, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has said. The plans are part of a Renters’ Rights Bill, which was published and introduced to Parliament on Wednesday. A ban on "no-fault" evictions was first proposed under the Conservatives but it was delayed amid concern about the impact on landlords from some Tory MPs, and time ran out to pass the law before July’s election was called. The bill would also ban "bidding wars" and prevent landlords from blocking tenants on benefits or with children.
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent.Government social housing fund green-lights first grants but Help To Buy scheme set to fail
Tom Crowley ABC (No paywall)The federal government has approved grants for the construction of thousands of social and rent-capped homes, the first to be supported by its $10 billion housing fund established one year ago. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil said 185 housing projects had been green-lit in the first round of grants distributed through the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), a move which would deliver a combined 13,700 homes. That puts the government ahead of its target to build 40,000 homes in the fund's first five years of operation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-15/social-housing-fund-issue…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.Government unaware of size of social housing spend, with some projects set to take years
Tom Crowley ABC (No paywall)The federal government does not know how much it is spending on the thousands of social and affordable homes green-lit by its housing agency, with most funding likely to be years away. A Monday announcement that 13,700 new homes would be supported through the government's flagship Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) was made before grants were finalised and, in some cases, before successful applicants were told. While a government spokesperson and industry sources said that was standard practice, it has left some uncertainty about the timeline for construction.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-17/government-unsure-of-size…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.Revealed: criminals and unlicensed agents operating across Australia’s real estate sector
Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed The Guardian (No paywall)Convicted criminals and unlicensed agents are operating in the real estate sector across multiple states, a Guardian Australia investigation has found. In New South Wales, the Guardian has established that two individuals convicted of dishonesty offences have been allowed back into the industry well within the usual 10-year prohibition, and that gaps in the law mean convicted money launderers are able to find their way back into the industry.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/17/australia…
# Hot topic Australia, .