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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Woman dying of lung disease ‘caused by mould’ urges action on rogue landlords
Robert Booth The Guardian (No paywall)Tenant, who is suing landlord in test case, calls on UK government to back renters in claiming damages.
A woman with potentially terminal lung disease who claims it was due to being exposed to mould in her rented home has demanded the government empowers victims to take rogue landlords to court and “hit them in the wallet”.
The woman, who is in her 50s, said she may have as little as 18 months to live. A medical expert she engaged in a legal action against her landlord believes her illness was likely triggered by moulds within her home caused by disrepair. She now requires constant oxygen via mask or nasal catheter and is on the waiting list for a lung transplant.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/28/woman-dying-of-l…
# International, Repairs, Health, Mould.One of World’s Priciest Cities Turbocharges Affordable Housing
Feargus O'Sullivan Bloomberg (No paywall)Paris may convert offices, parking garages and defunct hotels to meet a new target to make 40% of homes accessible to people on lower incomes.
Paris, ranked among the world’s most expensive cities to reside in various surveys, might not make the most obvious of role models for housing affordability policies.
But after succeeding in making 25% of its accommodation accessible to people on lower incomes by the end of last year, the French capital has set a target of lifting that to 40% by 2035. That means a major expansion of public housing so that homes for low-income tenants make up 30% of all units with an additional 10% comprising below-market rate abodes for middle-income tenants, Paris Housing Commissioner Ian Brossat told French media on Sunday.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-09/paris-targets…
# International, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Housing affordability.Tenants still ill from conditions in Rochdale estate where mould caused two year old’s death
Clare Fallon Channel 4 (No paywall)They say they’re sorry, they’ve sacked their Chief Executive and after accusations of racism, they’ve acknowledged they made assumptions about the lifestyle of two-year-old Awaab Ishak’s parents that were wrong.
But despite the claims from Rochdale Boroughwide Housing that lessons have been learned, tonight this programme reveals residents on the estate where Awaab died are still being housed in conditions so bad they say it is making them ill.
https://www.channel4.com/news/tenants-still-ill-from-conditions-…
# Video International, Discrimination, Public and community housing, Repairs, Mould.A new study says the housing market is largely to blame for Portland’s homeless crisis
Blair Best KGW8 (No paywall)ORTLAND, Ore. — A new study by a pair of researchers tried to find the root cause of homelessness in cities across the U.S. It revealed how Portland's housing market plays a much bigger part in the crisis than many might think.
The urban study called “Homelessness is a Housing Problem” found that the biggest factors in the homeless crisis are not necessarily addiction or mental health but rather a combination of high rent prices and a lack of affordable housing.
More info about the study https://homelessnesshousingproblem.com/
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/homeless/new-study-housin…
# Research alert, Video International, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market.‘I’ve been on the waiting list for over 20 years’: why social housing suitable for people with disabilities is desperately needed
Alan Morris and Jan Idle The Conversation (No paywall)One of the most common reasons people apply for social housing is because they or their immediate family members have a disability and they are unable to work. They need an affordable alternative to private rental housing that’s suitable for their disability-related needs.
https://theconversation.com/ive-been-on-the-waiting-list-for-ove…
# Research alert NSW, Public and community housing, Disability, Personal stories.How legendary chef’s widow ended up in affordable housing
Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)When Amanda Bilson was raising her children in Bellevue Hill together with her late husband, the famed Sydney chef and restaurateur Tony Bilson, she never thought she would face homelessness.
But that’s what happened when the Bilson restaurant empire collapsed in 2011 and then her beloved Tony became sick with bladder cancer in 2015.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-legendary-chef-s-widow-e…
# NSW, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, Older people.Coffs Harbour public housing tenant says walls leak, Mission Australia denies 'major' water damage
Nick Parmeter ABC (No paywall)Anne sits amid her possessions, crammed into the small lounge room of her social housing home in Coffs Harbour.
Anne, who did not want to use her real name, said she was embarrassed by her living conditions but felt she had no choice.
She said she is crammed everything into that room because the walls in the rest of the house became wet every time it rained, which lately had been a lot.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-20/mission-australia-social-…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Public and community housing, Repairs.Regional rental boom peters out as rents slump
Nila Sweeney Financial Review (Paywall)Asking rents have fallen sharply in some of the country’s most popular hot spots during the pandemic, in an early sign that the regional rental boom could be coming to an end, data from SQM Research shows.
The decline in rents comes as an increasing number of townships and regions post a rise in vacancies after their pandemic lows, according to SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher.
But asking rents in the capital cities continued to soar as vacancies fall to multi-year lows.
https://www.afr.com/property/residential/regional-rental-boom-pe…
# NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.