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
Affordable rent costs double the equivalent social rent in parts of England
Chaminda Jayanetti Inside Housing (Paywall)Affordable rent in England is double the equivalent social rent in some areas, with one-bed properties costing more than £10,000 a year in parts of London, analysis by Inside Housing reveals.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/affordable-rent-costs-doubl…
# Hot topic International, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, International.Thousands of children sharing beds due to overcrowding
Michael Buchanan BBC (No paywall)More than two million children in England are living in overcrowded accommodation with little or no personal space, while some 300,000 share beds with family members, new analysis suggests. The BBC has spoken to two families struggling to cope because they do not have enough space.
On the third floor of a large block of flats, Deni Reid squeezes into a small corner to practise her keyboard.
Sitting about a foot away, her mother listens intently, proud not just of her daughter's musical talents, but also of her ability to overcome adversity.
"She's nearly 10 and she's never had her own bedroom," says Joanna Szablewska. "She's always been sharing a bed with me."
Renters’ unions are successfully resisting evictions around the UK
Tom Anderson The Canary (No paywall)As evictions skyrocket, residents are getting together to stand up to their landlords. Tenants’ unions are becoming an increasingly important element of our community self-defence toolbox. And the ACORN and Living Rent unions, in particular, have been doing some impressive work.
In Bristol, ACORN has been mobilising to stop the eviction of their member George Francis. Easton resident George is being held responsible for a deceased family member’s debts after he inherited his uncle’s’ house, along with his brothers. Loan provider Together Money is refusing to set up a payment plan and is threatening George with eviction instead.
https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2023/04/17/renters-unions-are-…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Cities Keep Building Luxury Apartments Almost No One Can Afford
Prashant Gopal and Patrick Clark Bloomberg (Paywall)Emily Young throws open the shades of the three-bedroom penthouse. “This is amazing,” she says, walking past the wine fridge and wet-dry bar. “Look at that fireplace.” Young, a real estate agent with a Marc Jacobs handbag on her hip, is giving a tour of one of the most luxurious apartment buildings in Austin.
At the Hanover Republic Square, there’s a “vinyl parlor” with a DJ-quality turntable; a movie theater; a dog-grooming spa; and a rooftop pool on the 44th floor. There, you can gaze at sunsets—and a neighboring skyscraper. Nearly complete, it rises 66 stories and will have a pool to rival the Hanover’s.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-04-21/luxury-apartm…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, International.California Isn't Special
Jerusalem Demsas The Atlantic (No paywall)California is used to living rent free in all of our heads, and to ignoring anti-left barbs from right-wing politicians. Lately, though, pro-housing reformers have used California as an epithet to reference its utterly failed housing policy—and that’s much harder to shrug off. The typical California home is valued at more than $728,000; the average apartment rents for $3,313 in San Francisco, and $2,781 in Los Angeles.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/california-sin…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, International.Michael Gove’s housing reforms are the only ray of light in this doomed government
Simon Jenkins The Guardian (No paywall)As the present Tory administration staggers on, one minister at least is showing some terminal creativity. The levelling up, housing and communities secretary, Michael Gove, is galvanising housing policy, sort of. This year, he has at last abandoned the absurdity that there is a national housing need of a fixed number of houses a year.
Councils in England have been told they no longer need to deliver a precise target of new buildings laid down in Whitehall irrespective of sound planning or local opinion. He has also vetoed an ugly suburban development in Kent, has introduced plans that would allow local councils to limit Airbnb and holiday homes, and is trying to make manufacturing companies pay for recladding tower blocks post-Grenfell.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/21/michael-go…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, International.‘We just want our homes not to hurt us’: Disabled people trapped in temporary accommodation
Isabella McRae The Big Issue (UK) (No paywall)teph has lived in a room for 12 years, a decade longer than she was ever meant to be there. She sits on the toilet to shower in a bathroom no bigger than you would find on an aeroplane. She perches on her bed to eat meals because there is no space for a table or chair.
The situation began when Steph was put on a pilot project for young disabled people, designed to help them live more independently for two years before moving on to their own homes. But because there are not enough accessible council properties, the 34-year-old is trapped.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/disabled-people-hom…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Disability, Personal stories.Greens vow to sink federal government's $10b housing fund, threatening first major defeat for Albanese
Jake Evans ABC (No paywall)Greens leader Adam Bandt says his party will sink the federal government's $10 billion housing fund unless it is significantly improved, in what would become the first major legislative defeat of the government.
The government is yet to win enough support for its housing bill to pass the Senate, which would fund 30,000 social and affordable homes over the next decade through returns on the fund.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-26/greens-vow-to-sink-housin…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing affordability.