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
Response to Reforming the Private Rented Sector Report
ACORN Acorn (UK) (No paywall)The Housing Committee of the house of commons today published its inquiry into the government’s white paper ‘A fairer Private Rented Sector’ which in June last year laid out the government's intentions for the upcoming Renters Reform Bill.
You can read ACORN’s initial response to the White Paper here, and our submission to this Inquiry here.
Although we are pleased that the committee has made some sensible recommendations on the future regulation of private renting, and hope these are taken on board in the drafting of the bill, we are surprised by some of their conclusions, and are disappointed that in the midst of the worst cost of living and housing crisis for a generation, the housing committee have not been bolder in suggesting the real solutions we need to ensure the Private Rented Sector is fit and fair for tenants.
https://www.acorntheunion.org.uk/response_to_reforming_the_priva…
# International, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.Rent shock ahead as warnings grow of bust in new home market
Shane Wright and Rachel clun The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)The housing industry fears new home construction will tumble to its lowest levels in a decade as the Reserve Bank drives up interest rates, while tenants have been warned national rents could soar more than 11 per cent over the coming 12 months.
As minutes of the Reserve’s latest board meeting showed it considered hitting borrowers with a 0.5 percentage point lift in rates this month, analysis by St George suggests renters may have to pay an extra $10 billion to their landlords this year in a move that would slow the overall economy.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/rent-shock-ahead-as-warn…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.North Norfolk: The place where one in 10 homes is largely unused
Laurence Cawley BBC (No paywall)"I will never be able to buy my own home here," says Polly Robins, a third-generation resident of Wells-next-the-Sea, a North Norfolk town sitting in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
She is philosophical rather than bitter about her property prospects.
"I would want to own my place, but only because it would give me some security," the 50-year-old says.
And yet Ms Robins, who works 50 hours a week, counts herself lucky.
Portugal ends Golden Visas, curtails Airbnb rentals to address housing crisis
By Patricia Vicente Rua and Catarina Demony Reuters (No paywall)LISBON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Portugal announced on Thursday a hefty package of measures to tackle a housing crisis, including the end of its controversial "Golden Visa" scheme and a ban on new licenses for Airbnbs and other short-term holiday rentals.
Rents and house prices have skyrocketed in Portugal, which is among the poorest countries in Western Europe. Last year, more than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 euros per month while in Lisbon alone, rents jumped 37% in 2022.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/portugal-ends-golden-visa…
# New policy announcement International, Campaigns and law reform, Homelessness.What to know about L.A.'s new tenant protection laws
Julia Wick Los Angeles Times (No paywall)The Los Angeles City Council finalized the last of its new tenant protections Tuesday, with only minor changes from the package unanimously approved in late January.
Several elements of the package — such as “just cause” eviction protections and a timeline for paying back rent — have already gone into effect, while two other provisions are expected to go into effect in mid-March.
The two newer provisions will establish a minimum threshold for eviction for tenants who fall behind on rent and require landlords to pay relocation fees in some situations involving large rent increases.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-07/what-to-know…
# International, Campaigns and law reform, Homelessness, Landlords and agents.NYC real estate firms accused of housing discrimination face sweeping lawsuit
David Brand Gothamist (No paywall)Dozens of New York City real estate firms accused of discriminating against people with rental assistance vouchers will soon be forced to explain their practices in court.
A federal judge on Tuesday greenlighted a sweeping lawsuit from a housing rights watchdog against 77 real estate brokerages and property owners for systematically denying apartments to applicants with Section 8 vouchers — an illegal but pervasive practice known as source of income discrimination.
The Housing Rights Initiative and its attorneys say the case could unlock thousands of apartments for low-income New Yorkers.
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-real-estate-firms-accused-of-hous…
# Must read International, Discrimination, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, Landlords and agents, Welfare.Cross-party MPs urge UK Government to act as homelessness amongst Ukrainian refugees increases sixfold in a year
Crisis UK Crisis (UK) (No paywall)• Recent data reveals that over 4,000 Ukrainian households have received homelessness support from their local authority last year since arriving in the UK.
• Since June 2022, the number of Ukrainian households receiving homelessness assistance from their local authority has increased more than six times as the cost-of-living crisis continues across the country.
A cross-party coalition of over 70 MPs, including the former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and Peers have signed an open letter urging the UK Government to act immediately to support Ukrainian refugees in Britain as new Government data shows over 4,000 Ukrainian households have received homelessness support from their local authority in the last year.1
https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/cross-party-mps-…
# International, Homelessness.More Building Won’t Make Housing Affordable
Michael Friedrich The New Republic (No paywall)The housing crisis is insane. None of its dysfunctions are exclusive to the United States, but the country has a talent for making them hideously manifest. In Oakland, Moms 4 Housing, a group of formerly homeless mothers of color, staged a protest over rising prices. For several months in 2019, they occupied a house owned by Wedgewood Properties, a local house-flipper that was holding it vacant to upgrade and sell. The company decided that the women had stolen the home. Sheriff’s deputies got involved, entering the property and arresting the women. The media descended, activists protested, and City Council members hurried to support the women. The injustice of mothers going homeless while blank-eyed speculators let perfectly good homes sit empty was hard to ignore.
https://newrepublic.com/article/170480/building-wont-make-housin…
# International, Housing affordability, Planning and development.