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
Two-thirds of Canadian and American renters are in unaffordable housing situations
Grant Alexander Wilson and Tyler Case The Conversation (No paywall)Even as housing markets cool in some areas, housing affordability in Canada is the worst in over four decades due, in part, to sustained post-pandemic inflation and comparatively higher interest rates. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation — the federal Crown corporation responsible for administering Canada’s National Housing Act — affordability is defined as mortgage or rent payments that do not exceed more than 30 per cent of a household’s gross monthly income.
If a family makes $50,000 per year before taxes, for instance, anything more than $15,000 per year (or $1,250 per month) spent on rent would put them in an unaffordable situation.
https://theconversation.com/two-thirds-of-canadian-and-american-…
# Hot topic International, Rent.England’s largest council considers closing housing waiting list
James Riding Inside Housing (Soft Paywall)Leaders of Birmingham City Council are discussing the dramatic move as they struggle to process a backlog of tens of thousands of applications for social homes. Confirming the plan was on the table, the local authority told Inside Housing it currently has more than 23,000 households on its housing register, as well as 11,000 applications to the housing register that are yet to be assessed. The register receives more than 400 new applications a week, while Birmingham Council is only able to allocate 2,000 to 3,000 social homes to applicants in a typical year.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/englands-largest-council-co…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing.A Labour MP has accused a London landlord of “sitting on their hands” after he repeatedly raised concerns about the building’s safety defects months before a fire engulfed the block in flames yesterday.
Stephen Delahunty Inside Housing (Soft Paywall)Correspondence between Octavia Housing and Barry Gardiner, seen by Inside Housing, shows the MP for Brent North highlighting fire safety concerns as far back as April 2023.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/mp-accuses-london-landlord-…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Security and safety.Sydney rental stock at record low
Taylor Troeth news.com.au (No paywall)Sydney’s rent crisis has moved up another gear after further erosion in the city’s supply of available rental housing. New data from PropTrack released Tuesday revealed the total number of properties listed for rent plummeted by about 22 per cent over the last year to hit a new low. This occurred while high population growth continued to drive stronger demand, creating tough conditions for renters. The limited supply meant already cash strapped Sydney tenants now have to fork out an average of 16.7 per cent more for rent compared to a year ago. Median rent for all city dwellings was $700 a week.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/sydney-renta…
# Research alert NSW, Rent.I love Sydney and it’s a great city to live in – but not if you’re a renter
Emily Wind The Guardian (No paywall)Sydney might be considered one of the world’s most livable cities but a shortage of rental accommodation is making it gruelling for renters… When I first arrived in Sydney in July 2022, bright-eyed and optimistic, I had no idea I would move three more times in a year. I’ve seen it all – the natural breakdown of a sharehouse, a $400 a week rent raise, and most recently an eviction notice – because the landlord wanted to sell and remodel their other home.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/29/sydney-ren…
# Hot topic NSW, .Being a Sydney renter is a moving tale, but all my evictions have all been honourable
Jayce Carrano The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)If a change is as good as a holiday – and moving houses is definitely a change – then I have had four holidays in a year. My forced tour de force took me from Stanmore to Erskineville to Darlington to Stanmore (closer to Macca’s this time) to Stanmore (closer to Macca’s than ever before). I averaged a new home every 89 days, absolutely rinsing adult hermit crabs who get a new pad every 500. And like a hermit crab, I was happy with humble homes that others might describe as discarded debris.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/being-a-sydney-renter-is-a-movin…
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Rent.Ayaki got two rent hikes in two years. Now he dreads a third
Kate Burke and Jim Malo The Age (No paywall)Sydney house rents have soared to new heights, jumping by $100 per week in some pockets in just three months. But the pace of rental hikes has slowed for the second straight quarter as cost of living pressures bite. Sydney’s median house rent has reached a record of $730 per week, rising 1.4 per cent over the December quarter and 12.3 per cent over the year, the latest Domain Rent Report, released on Thursday shows. Rents are now 40 per cent higher than in December 2019.
https://www.theage.com.au/property/news/ayaki-got-two-rent-hikes…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent.The battle for Victoria Street, Kings Cross – fifty years on
Wendy Bacon Michael West Media (No paywall)Why is there more homeless today, per capita, but fewer squatters?
Fifty years ago this week, hundreds of people gathered in Victoria Street, Kings Cross, to support a group of squatters who had been evicted by truckloads of Kings Cross bouncers hired by a property developer Frank Theeman.
https://michaelwest.com.au/homeless-squatters-protestors-propert…
# History NSW, Eviction, Rent.