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
S.F. spends more than $60K per tent at homeless sites. Now it's being asked for another $15 million for the program
(Paywall)If the Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed approve the funding proposal ... [Read on] (San Francisco Chronicle)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/S-F-officials-want-…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.How America’s treeless streets are fueling inequality
Erum Salam and Aliya Uteuova The Guardian (No paywall)Every weekday at 6am, 68-year-old Ana Adelea-Lopez walks through her Houston neighborhood to the bus stop. On the way, she passes a series of apartment complexes, telephone poles and metal fences on a long stretch of sidewalk. For the entirety of her walk, there’s not a single tree in sight. “You can’t even be on the street because of the heat,” said Adelea-Lopez who takes the bus to her seamstress job. “There aren’t a lot of trees. There are a lot of apartments. A lot of cement.” Houston is a city of extreme heat: the hottest daily temperature last August peaked at 100F (38C). But like many other US metropolitan areas, how much heat you endure depends largely on where you live. That’s because Houston is a tale of two cities: one is sprawling with greenery, public parks and hundred-year-old oak trees, all of which can help mitigate the heat. The other is a bevy of strip malls stacked on top of concrete – which produces and absorbs more heat throughout the day. ... “South-west [Houston] is one of the poorest parts. That’s why people don’t care,” Adelea-Lopez said. “Just because we’re a Hispanic community and lower-income, we still deserve trees.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/28/houston-trees-sh…
# International, Health, Planning and development.Renters' Guide to COVID-19
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)If you live in Greater Sydney (including the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour) and you have health and safety concerns about allowing access to your home for an open house or auction, click 'Can the landlord continue with inspections, including open homes?' Read the full 'Renters' Guide to COVID-19' at: [https://www.tenants.org.au/covid19/guide]. For information about what is happening in other jurisdictions across the world, check out: [https://bit.ly/3qwHS2Q]
# Hot topic NSW, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, International, State Government.Revealed: Wellington’s mouldiest rental homes
Josie Adams (No paywall)From New Zealand ... Wellington’s most mouldy flat is finally getting the recognition it deserves. A City for People shares the grand prize winner of Wellington’s Next Top Mould-el, plus spot prizes. ... Mushrooms, perma-soggy floors, and mummified rats: the biodiversity of our capital city’s “character”-filled rental homes has been flooding the inbox of A City for People. The organisation, which is a coalition of Generation Zero, Renters United and other concerned citizens, had a tough time picking the worst of a bad bunch – but they’ve done it. ... The pestilent conditions many renters are living in could be funny, but A City for People says the widespread dilapidation in Wellington rentals is symptomatic of the housing crisis. ... [The winner!] A huge congratulations to this Mt Cook flat! They’ve won $610, the median weekly rent for a Wellington home. However, this four-bedroom flat actually costs a massive $920 per week. Some of this value may arise from the “stunning array of heritage moulds” the judges observed in the pre-1930s build. However, the prize money would cover a dehumidifier, which could suck noxious spores out of the air before they complete their daily journey from wall to lung, and a large supply of Exit Mould.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/23-06-2021/who-is-wellingtons-n…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing market, Mould.The Pandemic Caused the Biggest Decline in U.S. Life Expectancy since World War 2. Black and Hispanic Americans Have Suffered the Most
Liz Szabo (No paywall)Although James Toussaint has never had COVID-19, the pandemic is taking a profound toll on his health. First, the 57-year-old lost his job delivering parts for a New Orleans auto dealership in spring 2020, when the local economy shut down. Then, he fell behind on his rent. Last month, Toussaint was forced out of his apartment when his landlord—who refused to accept federally funded rental assistance—found a loophole in the federal ban on evictions.
https://time.com/6075295/covid-19-life-expectancy-decline/?amp=t…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health, Landlords and agents, Race and ethnicity.Scottish Government announces £10m grant fund for tenants in arrears due to COVID-19
(No paywall)From Scotland ... The Scottish Government has announced a £10 million grant fund to support tenants who have fallen into rent arrears as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic. ... The announcement has been welcomed by Citizens Advice Scotland. The charity has been working with the Private Rented Sector Resilience Group to share evidence with government since the pandemic began, and developed recommendations to ensure that renters were not left behind in the recovery, focused on grant support to help renters in arrears. (Scottish Housing News)
https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/article/scottish-government-…
# International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Australia’s high house prices damage economic productivity, financial stability and equity
Duncan Maclennan, Hal Pawson and Bill Randolph Pearls and Irritations (No paywall)Recent discussion has highlighted how rising house prices are rationing growing numbers of younger Australians into rental housing and lifestyle choices falling short of aspirations. Now there are warnings that future falling homeownership rates across most age cohorts could hit the NSW Government’s budget balance.
https://johnmenadue.com/australias-high-house-prices-damage-econ…
# Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Young people.“Solidarity with member organisation: the Sindicat de Llogateres Barcelona- tenant’s rights activist threatened by prison
(No paywall)The IUT has sent an urgent note of protest to the Prime Minister of Spain and the President of the Catalan government in view of the imminent imprisonment of the spokesperson of the Barcelona Tenants’ Association and 2 tenants. The right to organise in tenants’ associations is inviolable. The right to demonstrate for one’s legitimate tenant rights is sacrosanct. Peaceful protest and resistance against no-fault evictions and rent-seeking must not lead to criminal prosecution. (International Union of Tenants News)
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/solidarity-with-member-organisati…
# Must read International, Rent, Human rights, No-grounds evictions.