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
Review finds serious hazards in rental homes
Owen Sennitt BBC (No paywall)An investigation into a city's privately rented homes has concluded there are high rates of people living in accommodation with "serious hazards". Norwich City Council officials estimated there were 2,286 homes with significant safety risks, representing 11% of the city's 20,300 rental properties. Problems are particularly prevalent in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), they say, with a fifth of these properties having one or more serious hazards. People living in poor housing have complained to the council more than 670 times since 2020, prompting officers to suggest bringing in tougher rules for landlords.
# Hot topic International, Rent.Americans' paychecks are getting swallowed by rent. See how much people pay in major U.S. cities.
Mary Cunningham CBS News (No paywall)Sky-high rental costs across the U.S. are swallowing up a large share of Americans' paychecks in cities, as a stubborn supply shortage keeps prices elevated. According to Zillow, the median rent for a two-bedroom home in New York City, the country's priciest metro area, runs $4,750 a month — or $57,000 a year. That's more than two-thirds of the median household income, according to 2023 Census Bureau data. Meanwhile, the high cost of keeping a roof over your head is weighing on Americans across the country, with the median annual rent now at $21,480, Zillow's data shows.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-rental-market-housing-shortage/
# International, .More adults are moving in with their parents as the U.S. affordability crisis deepens
CBS News (No paywall)With inflation and rising costs, the affordability crisis is prompting some adults to consider rooming with their parents. CBS News' Jericka Duncan spoke with a 34-year-old woman about her decision to move back home.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/more-adults-are-moving-in-with-the…
# Video International, .Number of young people with no close friends has soared since 2014 in England
Denis Campbell The Guardian (No paywall)The number of young people with no close friends has risen fivefold since 2014 as a result of growing up in a “bleak world” dominated by austerity, the pandemic and social media. New research paints a sobering picture of how 11- to 24-year-olds in England are increasingly lonely, isolated and “disconnected” from themselves, peers and wider society. “Young people in England are becoming dramatically more isolated from one another, with one in 20 now reporting that they have no close friends at all, up from one in 100 in 2014,” according to a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank called “the loneliest generation”.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/01/thinktank-report…
# Hot topic International, .New portable bond scheme for NSW renters starts today
Nick Dole ABC (No paywall)From today, renters moving into selected New South Wales suburbs can transfer their existing bonds to their new rental properties, potentially saving thousands of dollars. The government's Smart Rental Bonds scheme is now live, but currently it is only available in the Parramatta, Penrith and Central Coast local government areas. The system is being introduced a year later than expected and it won't be free to use, but the government thinks it will be popular with renters.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-10/nsw-portable-rental-bond-…
# Hot topic NSW, Bond, Rent, Starting a tenancy.NSW renters to save thousands as new scheme scraps ‘double bond’ payments
Unity Jackson-Muir news.com.au (No paywall)NSW renters will keep more cash in their pockets under the new smart rental bonds program that aims to also keep landlords “fully protected”. The current bond system often leaves tenants scraping together up to $4,000 for a second bond before they can move into a new property and receive their old rental bond. The new scheme leaves the current bonds process unchanged for agents but is expected to stop ‘double bonds’ by streamlining the process for the 330,000 bonds transferred each year. Premier Chris Minns said the optional program aims to stop NSW’s two million renters from paying a double bond while moving house.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/landlord/nsw-renters…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Bond, Rent, Starting a tenancy.David Chandler wants to build housing that people can afford. And says he’s the man to do it
Max Maddison The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Former NSW building commissioner David Chandler says he would be willing to return to public life to address “absolute market failure” in the missing middle apartment sector, laying down his solution to address the state’s housing crisis by building thousands of cheaper dwellings for those who have been priced out. Two years after resigning as the inaugural building commissioner, Chandler said he would apply to head the delivery of his “intentionally disruptive” project – named MM3 – if the Minns government adopted it, saying the housing initiative required someone with a reputation for “getting stuff done”.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/david-chandler-wants-to-buil…
# NSW, .Renders of new Town Hall Square released, community feedback sought by City of Sydney Council
ABC (No paywall)New renders of what Sydney's new Town Hall Square will look like have been released, promising "the grandeur of a European square". The new public square will be opposite Town Hall in the heart of Sydney's CBD and the design shows a plaza surrounded by a curved grove of 30 native Australian trees. Fixed and movable chairs and tables are set to be included in the more than 4,500 square metres of accessible open space.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-11/designs-released-for-sydn…
# NSW, .