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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See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
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Archive
Blackstone CEO Celebrates “Huge Increases in Rents” as Millions Face Eviction
David Sirota and Andrew Perez (No paywall)From the United States, billionaire Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman bragged that his firm “was a huge winner coming out of the global financial crisis” in 2008. Today, he’s boasting about his firm’s big earnings off high rents, even as millions of tenants face eviction. Read more ... (Jacobin)
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/12/blackstone-rent-stephen-schwa…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents.Green buildings can bring fresh air to design, but they can also bring pests
Norman Day The Conversation (No paywall)Throughout the world architects are designing green buildings, whether it’s in their sustainable construction, environmentally friendly operation or actually green by style. It’s broadly titled biophilia, connecting people with nature, and it can lead to some creative and innovative designs. But now we are finding that literally greening the world — by covering building walls and roofs with vegetation — can also come with some unexpected problems.
https://theconversation.com/green-buildings-can-bring-fresh-air-…
# Australia, Planning and development.The ultimate guide to ...
Daniel Butkovich Domain (Paywall)Real Estate Tips & Advice 3
# Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.The five capital cities set for double-digit house price growth in 2021. Melbourne not so much
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Five of Australia’s eight capital cities are on course to experience double-digit house price growth in 2021, according to Propertyology. The national buyer’s agency and property research firm believes record-low interest rates and limited supply will outweigh the negative effects of weak population growth and cause another housing boom.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/01/01/house-pri…
# Australia, Housing market.Jacinda Ardern is at her best in a crisis. Now she must tackle housing affordability
Clint Smith The Guardian (No paywall)New Zealand united as a team of 5 million to beat Covid – so how come it seems only the 1% are getting rich off it, while more and more Kiwis are finding homeownership out of reach? The combination of lower interest rates, relaxed lending rules to investors, and our successful response to the Covid crisis has seen house prices boom. If you own luxury property or a slew of rentals, you’re sitting pretty as the market buoys your property values. ... The housing crisis is destroying the Kiwi dream. Jacinda Ardern’s government will be punished by the new generation of voters if she doesn’t act to address it. The good news is, it is possible. 2
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2020/dec/28/jacinda-ardern-is…
# International, Affordable housing, Home ownership.Fire safety in your rented home
Olivia Nielsen-Gurung and Eloise Parrab Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)As we are heading back into the bushfire season in NSW we thought it would be a good time to remind us all on how to ensure our homes are bushfire prepared and general fire safety in the home. Olivia Nielsen-Gurung and Eloise Parrab at the Tenants' Union NSW set out how to reduce fire risks, and the responsibility landlords have to ensure working smoke alarms in rented homes. Check their blog (This Renting Life)
https://www.tenants.org.au/blog/fire-safety-your-rented-home
# Must read NSW, Rent.Eviction crisis in the United States
(No paywall)From the United States … ‘For years there has been an evictions crisis in the United States. The pandemic has made it more acute. On today’s episode, our conversations with a single mother of two from Georgia over several months during the pandemic. After she lost her job in March, the bottom fell out of her finances and eviction papers started coming. The federal safety net only stretched so far. And we ask, with Congress seeking to pass another stimulus bill, what do the next few months hold for renters in the United States? Guest: Matthew Desmond, a Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and contributing writer for The Times Magazine.’ (The Daily)
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL3R…
# Hot topic, Audio International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.840,000 private tenants in England and Wales could be behind on rent
Hilary Osborne The Guardian (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... More than 800,000 private tenants in England and Wales could be behind on their rent, with young people and the self-employed most likely to have missed payments, research for a landlords group has found. The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) warned of a “rent debt crisis” and called for government action to help struggling tenants.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/dec/22/840000-private-ten…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Young people.