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
Minimum-wage workers' struggle to afford rent getting worse in Canada: report
Naimul Karim Financial Post (No paywall)It’s getting more difficult for minimum-wage workers to afford a one-bedroom rental in most parts of Canada, according to a new report, which urges governments to introduce stricter rent control policies across the country instead of just focusing on building more houses.
The report by Ottawa-based think tank Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says minimum-wage workers can afford one-bedroom rentals in only three out of the 37 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) it looked at. Compared to 2018, things have gotten even less affordable for many.
https://financialpost.com/news/economy/minimum-wage-workers-stru…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Couch surfing and sleeping in vans: New Zealand’s housing crisis grips Queenstown
Serena Solomon The Guardian (No paywall)When Merlin Traçable finishes work at a ski rental shop in Queenstown, New Zealand, he looks for a place to park his van.
Traçable, a 26-year-old from France on a working holiday, won’t be pulling up near his home. He doesn’t have a house, just a van, a winter sleeping bag and a blanket – currently Traçable’s only antidotes to temperatures that dipped to -4C a few nights ago.
“It is like a little joke between us,” he says of the dozens of other people he says sleep in their cars and vans in the high-end resort town that graces most of New Zealand’s tourism brochures. “We are the homeless people of Queenstown.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/08/new-zealand-housin…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.These tenants fought one of America's largest corporate landlords — and scored some wins
Gretchen Morgenson NBC News (USA) (No paywall)MINNEAPOLIS — A group of North Minneapolis tenants has won rent freezes, refunds and other concessions from their private-equity-backed landlord, showing that protests, pickets and organizing can gain results even against a powerful corporate giant.
The group, United Renters for Justice, is battling Progress Residential, the largest provider of single-family homes for rent in the U.S. The private-equity-backed Progress and its affiliated companies have purchased almost 90,000 properties across the country in recent years, focusing on fast-growing metropolitan areas, including Austin, Texas; Denver; Salt Lake City; and Tampa, Florida, its website shows. Progress, which also acts as a property manager, is backed by Pretium Partners, a private-equity firm overseen by Don Mullen, a former Goldman Sachs executive.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tenants-fought-one-americas…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Another Year, Another Rent Hike: It’s Time to Reform the NYC Rent Guidelines Board
Staff The Good Men Project (USA) (No paywall)Last week, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board raised rents by 3% for one-year leases and roughly 4.5% for two-year leases for 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Meanwhile, the Nassau County, Westchester County, Rockland County, and Kingston Rent Guidelines Boards approved either rent freezes or much smaller increases. What gives?
Part of the answer is that there are unique features to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board structure that need to be rethought.
Every April through June, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) spends three months deciding if, and by how much, rents will go up for 2 million New Yorkers. This decision-making process is punctuated by the publication of eight (dry, data-driven) reports and at least four (boisterous) public hearings.
https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/another-year-another…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Rent in this California city exceeded San Francisco’s for the first time. Here’s how much it costs per month
Summer Lin Los Angeles Times (No paywall)For the first time, San Diego has surpassed San Francisco for average rental rates, making the All-American City the nation’s third most expensive rental market, according to a Zillow report.
San Diego’s typical monthly rental rate in June was $3,175, exceeding San Francisco’s rent of $3,168. The rates represent a significant jump since February when San Francisco’s rents were 29% higher than San Diego’s, according to the online real estate site Zillow.
Still, San Diego and San Francisco rents were not the highest.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-11/rent-in-this…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.One of P.E.I.’s biggest landlords has abandoned efforts to hike rents for hundreds. So why aren’t tenants celebrating?
Stu Neatby Saltwire (CA) (No paywall)CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Vincent Brazil took his landlord, one of the biggest property-owning companies in the country, before the province’s rental office and won.
His landlord, the Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT), recently dropped its application before the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) to raise his rent, along with 55 other tenants at his apartment building on River Ridge Drive in Charlottetown, by 12 per cent.
Brazil, who works in IT support for a federal department, says his financial situation is likely more secure than many of his neighbours, many of whom are retirees. But he said CAPREIT’s increases would have hurt.
https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/one-of-peis-bigges…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.National Rent Report July 2023: Average Rent in Calgary Crosses $2000; Alberta Leads Rent Growth
Staff To Do Canada (CA) (No paywall)Average rents in Canada have reached a record high, with the average monthly rent hitting $2,042 in June, surpassing the previous record set in November by 0.9 percent, according to the Rentals.ca and Urbanation National Rent Report.
Over the past two years, average rents for all property types in Canada have increased by 20 percent or $341 per month.
The report says average rents saw a 1.4 percent increase from May to June, the largest month-over-month rise this year, and annual average rents increased by 7.5 percent.
https://www.todocanada.ca/national-rent-report-july-2023-average…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Just two London postcodes remain with average room rents below £750 per month
Greg Pitcher Evening Standard (No paywall)The average cost of renting a room has risen above £750 per month in all but two London postcodes, data has revealed.
Figures shared exclusively with Homes & Property by houseshare portal SpareRoom showed that the price of being a tenant has risen disproportionately in many of the capital's traditionally more affordable neighbourhoods.
While there were six postcode districts with average rents below £750pcm in the first three months of this year — plus another three areas under £752pcm — just two met either criteria in the second quarter.
https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/property-news/two-lo…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.