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
US renters call for action to combat surge of ‘take it or leave it’ apartment fees
Tracie McMillan The Guardian (No paywall)Across the US, many renters are calling for national action to stem add-on charges that increase their housing costs and increase their risk of eviction. “The rental housing market is one where consumers have little power,” Farah Momin, a renter in Seattle, told the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in April. “Landlords can impose fees through take-it-or-leave-it lease terms, and the cost/disruption of moving means that tenants may absorb unfair charges rather than leave. Federal baseline protections are needed to level this playing field.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/25/renters-apartmen…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Strata.Petition urges rethink of family's no-fault eviction
Olivia Richwald & Fiona Callow BBC (No paywall)A petition calling for the reversal of a no-fault eviction served on a family two days before a government ban on the practice has gathered more than 33,000 signatures. Mother-of-four Linsey Reeves and her husband were told to leave their flat in Ripon by 1 July but said they currently had "nowhere to go". The family were served a Section 21 eviction by the Holy Trinity Properties Trust - a type of notice that does not require a landlord to give a reason - but such evictions were outlawed under the new Renters' Rights Act from 1 May. The trust previously said it acted on advice from its letting agent Linley and Simpson, while the agency said it acted under instruction from its clients.
# International, Eviction.Blind veterans' lives being damaged by evictions, says former charity boss
Chris Clements BBC (No paywall)Plans to evict blind veterans from a charity estate is harming their lives, according to the charity's former director. Tenants at the Linburn estate in West Lothian were told by landlord Sight Scotland Veterans – formerly Scottish War Blinded – last June that they had a year to vacate their homes. Rebecca Barr, who led the charity for four years, said she was "horrified" by moves to sell the site to housing developers and is supporting residents. Sight Scotland Veterans told BBC News that the sale was "necessary to support visually impaired veterans into the future".
# International, Eviction.UK housebuilders face class action suit over alleged collusion to inflate prices
Julia Kollewe The Guardian (No paywall)Britain’s biggest housebuilders, including Barratt Redrow and Taylor Wimpey, face a multibillion-pound class action lawsuit over claims that they colluded over higher prices for homebuyers. The lawsuit is being led by Mark McLaren, a former legal affairs manager at the consumer group Which?, on behalf of more than 700,000 consumers who bought a new-build between 2015 and 2026, against Barratt, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Vistry Group, Countryside Partnerships (party of Vistry) and Bloor Homes.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/30/uk-housebuilder…
# International, .Trump cancels bipartisan housing bill signing, reiterates demand for SAVE America Act
Kaia Hubbard, Kathryn Watson, Caitlin Yilek and Mary Cunningham CBS News (No paywall)Trump canceled a planned signing ceremony on Wednesday for a landmark housing affordability bill that passed Congress by wide bipartisan margins, saying he will not sign the legislation into law until lawmakers pass an elections bill known as the SAVE America Act. Mr. Trump was set to sign the bill, known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, during an event at the Capitol. The measure, the most comprehensive housing legislation in decades, aims to increase housing supply and bring down costs, including by limiting institutional investors from purchasing certain single-family homes.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-signs-housing-bill-capitol/
# International, .Google founder Sergey Brin exits New York real estate after mayor Zohran Mamdani's rent freeze
Times of India (No paywall)Google co-founder Sergey Brin has quietly walked away from a sizable bet on New York City apartments, selling his stake in a struggling real estate fund for just six cents on the dollar—a steep loss that lands right as Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rent freeze tightens the screws on the city's landlords. The world's third-richest man offloaded his holding back to the fund's manager, A&E Real Estate, according to documents filed in December and first reported by Bloomberg.
https://timesofindia-indiatimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/times…
# International, .The homeless Australians turning to derelict boats to avoid sleeping on the streets
Myles Houlbrook-Walk ABC (No paywall)On the boat that has become his home, James Bryan has a clear message for the authorities that want to evict him: "They'll have to get me off with a gun". Mr Bryan is among the many Australians struggling with housing affordability. When he lost his job, rather than joining the throngs of homeless in NSW, he turned to living on the Lindy Lou at Brisbane Water on the NSW Central Coast. "Lost my job, lost my apartment, ended up on the water," Mr Bryan said. There's just one problem with that. It is illegal to live on a boat in NSW and, as a result, authorities want to seize the vessel.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-02/homeless-australians-livi…
# Must read Australia, Eviction.Revealing the human side of why some people need social housing
Alan Morris The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Although federal and state governments have recognised the desperate need for more social housing, and homes are being constructed (and demolished), the waiting list continues to grow. To have any chance of accessing social housing within a reasonable time frame, applicants (waitees) invariably need to be on the priority list. For example, if a waitee chooses Mount Druitt as their “allocation zone”, the waiting period for waitees on the general waiting list is 5 to 10 years for a studio or 1-bedroom property.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/revealing-the-hum…
# Australia, Public and community housing.