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
‘Ruined my life’: Renters like April are flood disaster’s forgotten victims
Sophie Aubrey The Age (No paywall)Single mother April Bedeau is in tears as she comes off another heartbreaking call from her 10-year-old son at school: “I just want to go home, Mum,” he pleads.
Ever since the Maribyrnong River’s flooded waters invaded her rented two-bedroom unit of 14 years on October 14 and destroyed their belongings, Bedeau and son Sebastian ricocheted around emergency accommodation.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/ruined-my-life-rente…
# Hot topic Australia, Climate change.Court rules landlord was not allowed to convert one-bedroom Adelaide apartment into five
Eugene Boisvert ABC (No paywall)A court has found a landlord broke the law by converting a one-bedroom apartment into a five-bedroom one in Adelaide.
The District Court found Si Ren, of Seaford in Melbourne, converted the 82-square-metre apartment in the Mansions on Pulteney building in the Adelaide CBD into a five-bedroom apartment without getting permission from the strata corporation that runs the building.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-17/landlord-not-allowed-to-c…
# Australia, Security and safety, Share houses, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Planning and development.This draft prospect grew up in public housing. Now it’s being knocked down, he’s not happy
Carla Jaeger The Age (No paywall)Community is a big part of AFL draft prospect Charlie Clarke’s life.
He grew up in Port Melbourne community housing, is the son of the local footy team’s “cult figure” and at his matches, as many as 40 locals come along just to cheer him on.
“Whether it’s down the street or in passing, they’re always asking about Charlie,” his dad Jason said. “The whole community is behind him, from the local footy club to the older generation at the local bowls club. That’s pretty special.”
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/they-re-always-asking-about-…
# Australia, Public and community housing.Many private landlords in the UK lack the knowledge, skills and support needed to provide decent homes for renters
University of Glasgow Phys.org (No paywall)Many private landlords lack the knowledge, skills and support needed to provide decent homes for renters, a new study has found.
The U.K. Collaborative Center for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) study, by Dr. Jennifer Harris and Professor Alex Marsh at the University of Bristol, is based on a survey carried out with more than 1,000 landlords and on 68 in-depth interviews with landlords, letting agents and experts. The study covered the whole of the U.K. It adds to the limited body of research that has been carried out from the perspective of landlords.
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-private-landlords-uk-lack-knowledg…
# Research alert International, Eviction, Landlords and agents.A Los Angeles billionaire spent $100m on an election bid. Could it have helped the city’s housing crisis?
Lois Beckett The Guardian (No paywall)Throughout billionaire Rick Caruso’s unsuccessful campaign to become mayor of Los Angeles, critics had one question: why was the real estate developer spending $100m on a race focused on homelessness, rather than simply using his wealth to build desperately needed affordable housing?
Experts say the amount spent on the failed campaign would not have been enough to build adequate affordable homes
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/17/los-angeles-bill…
# International, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Housing affordability.UPDATE: It’s Obvious. Americans Need More Affordable Housing!
Patrick Range McDonald Housing is a human right (No paywall)In 2016, Zillow, the real estate site, released a key study that found, unequivocally, that we needed to build more affordable housing to address the housing affordability crisis. You’d think that would be a no-brainer, but YIMBYs and Big Real Estate don’t think so. Same goes for many politicians and even reporters. They all want luxury housing. So while we can’t believe we have to point out the obvious, let’s revisit Zillow’s report. Americans need more affordable housing!
Update, November 21, 2022: A new Associated Press article explains that Americans want more affordable housing by passing rent control and affordable-housing ballot measures across the country. More details at the end of the article.
https://www.housingisahumanright.org/its-obvious-americans-need-…
# International, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, Human rights.I spent £59,000 decorating my rented home...now I'm being evicted:
Daily Mail (UK) (No paywall)Liz Jones opens up about being given two months' notice to leave her cottage
The writer, 64, says renters can be 'thrown to the sharks' and swiftly dismissed
She says that those renting in their 60s are even worse off than Generation Rent
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11423261/LIZ-JONES-te…
# International, Eviction.Living Rent backs Edinburgh’s holiday rentals plan as ‘step in right direction’
Scottish Housing News Scottish Housing News (No paywall)Tenants’ union Living Rent has launched a petition in response to the City of Edinburgh Council’s consultation on holiday lets in Edinburgh calling on the council’s Planning Committee to massively reduce the number of homes converted into short-term lets.
The tenants union said that the guidance provided by the council in its Proposed Planning Guidance for Short Term Lets is a step in the right direction for tenants and urged the public to endorse their response to the consultation.
https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/living-rent-backs-e…
# International, Short-term holiday letting.