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
How window‑mounted heat pumps can give tenants efficient heating and cooling
Moncef Krarti The Conversation (No paywall)People who rent their homes, or don’t have enough money to make major upgrades to their homes, have for many years been left out of a major shift in heating and cooling technology that can improve efficiency, save money and be better for the global climate: heat pumps. Heating and cooling buildings consumes 35% of all the energy used in the United States each year. Many homes and businesses are converting their fossil fuel-powered heating and cooling systems to electric-powered heat pumps, which use electricity not to generate hot or cold air but to move heat into spaces needing warmth and out of spaces needing cooling.
https://theconversation.com/how-window-mounted-heat-pumps-can-gi…
# International, Utilities water energy internet.Senate passes landmark housing affordability bill after bipartisan breakthrough
Kaia Hubbard CBS News (No paywall)Washington — The Senate passed a bill aimed at lowering housing costs on Monday after a major breakthrough and rare bipartisan consensus that comes as affordability remains top of mind for voters heading into the midterm elections. In an 85-5 vote, the Senate approved the legislation along wide bipartisan margins. It now heads to the House for approval. The bill, known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, 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/senate-passes-landmark-housing-affo…
# International, .Fraudster who scammed renters out of £77k jailed
Sophie BottandStephen Menon BBC (No paywall)A fraudster who admitted stealing more than £77,000 from would-be tenants has been jailed. Freddie Priestley, 34, of Leathermarket Court in Southwark, south London, was previously found guilty of fraud by false representation. He offered his victims a room to rent in his property and then made up excuses for why people could not move in, while retaining their deposits. Appearing at Inner London Crown Court, he was sentenced to 35 months in prison.
# International, .‘Extremely overwhelmed’: apartment renters face rising tide of fees
Tracie McMillan The Guardian (No paywall)Tenants at apartment complexes operated by Greystar, the largest owner and manager of apartments in the US, don’t just pay rent. They pay a mass of fees that many renters have never heard of before. These add-ons include “boiler management fees”, “variable refrigerant flow fees”, “solar rebill” fees, even “lifestyle fees”. Tenants and lawsuits in multiple states call many of these fees inflated, illegal, predatory or overwhelming. “A fee for this, a fee for that was just crazy to me,” Nichole Collins, a former tenant at a Greystar-managed building in Colorado, said. “I had never experienced that before.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jun/24/a…
# International, Strata.‘The soul’s been ripped out of it’: Birmingham community housing scheme on brink over costs dispute
Neha Gohil The Guardian (No paywall)A housing development in Birmingham, touted as a model for community-owned housing in the UK, is at “serious risk of collapse” due to a dispute over construction costs. The Stirchley Cooperative Development (SCD), which was founded by local residents and businesses in Birmingham in 2016, was meant to provide 39 affordable and landlord-free homes owned and run by the people who live and work there by 2024. Prospective residents described it as a “landmark community housing project” that was “intended to be a national model for community-owned, democratically managed housing”.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/24/the-souls-been-r…
# NSW, .The 30% rent rule was a warning. Now it's policy.
Mina Martin MPA Mag (No paywall)New Zealand's longstanding 30% rule for housing affordability is back in the spotlight ahead of the 2026 budget — and for many renters, it is no longer a ceiling but an uncomfortable reality. Stats NZ data from the 2023 Census shows that 26.5% of renting households were already spending at least 30% of their income on rent, up from 26% in 2018 and 24.2% in 2013. Of those, 18.3% were spending 40% or more, and 12.8% were committing half their income or more to rent — proportions that have held steady since 2018.
https://www.mpamag.com/nz/news/general/the-30-rent-rule-was-a-wa…
# International, .Waterloo South Residents Reject Minister’s Claims As Save Waterloo Rally Goes Ahead
Chloe Sargeant City Hub (No paywall)Public housing tenants and housing advocates are pushing back against comments made by NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson as a rally against the demolition of Waterloo South public housing gets underway today. The Save Waterloo rally began at midday at Redfern Community Centre before marching to the Save Waterloo Encampment at the corner of Cope and McEvoy Streets, where organisers will host a Drag Show Against Demolition from 2pm. The protest comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding the Waterloo South renewal project, which will see hundreds of existing public housing dwellings demolished as part of a major redevelopment.
https://cityhub.com.au/waterloo-south-residents-reject-ministers…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.‘I don’t earn enough to rent anything’: How Sydney’s grand housing vision was whittled away
Max Maddison The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Seven months after taking power, Chris Minns used an address for the annual Sydney Institute lecture to outline his solution to the state’s worsening housing crisis. Sydney would be denser, and homes would be built faster in well-located areas close to public transport. Crucially, many would be formally classified as affordable housing, meaning key workers and those on low and middle incomes would not be locked out. “We can show the people of Sydney that in solving this housing crisis we can create a better Sydney in the process,” Minns told guests during the black-tie dinner in Pyrmont in October 2023.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/i-don-t-earn-enough-to-rent-…
# NSW, .