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
Landlords Are Enforcing No-Sex Tenancy Clauses Now
Beth Ashley Vice (No paywall)London: Picture this: You’ve just moved to London and finally got your own place. It’s the first time you’re living without your parents, you’ve found a cute room in a central location and your flatmates don’t even seem like freaks. There’s just one problem: Your landlord won’t let you have sex. Yes, really.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7ema8/no-sex-tenancy-clauses-la…
# Hot topic International, .What Does Banning Short-Term Rentals Really Accomplish?
Sophie Calder-Wang, Chiara Farronato and Andrey Fradkin Harvard Business Review (No paywall)Cities around the world have seen rising house prices and rents and an influx of tourists over the past decade. Over the same period, an increasing number of travelers have been using short-term rentals, enabled by digital platforms like Airbnb and VRBO. These coinciding trends have led residents to blame rent increases on Airbnb and politicians to pass laws restricting the availability of short-term rentals. Short-term rental laws vary, with the most stringent resulting in almost complete bans. That’s the case in New York City, where Local Law 18 now requires hosts to register with the city, be present in the residence while hosting, and host at most two travelers.
https://hbr.org/2024/02/what-does-banning-short-term-rentals-rea…
# Hot topic International, .New Zealand's biggest build-to-rent complex nears completion in Auckland
Diana Vezich Newshub (No paywall)Build-to-rent (BTR) is a concept being labelled as a 'Gen Z' solution to New Zealand's housing crisis. The model, which is popular overseas, aims to provide housing security for long-term renters, and it's good news for Kiwis, as the country's biggest BTR isn't far from opening its doors. Located across from Auckland's Sylvia Park, the brand-new complex will offer tenants the flexibility of renting, paired with the stability of home ownership.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2024/02/new-zealand-s-bigge…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Almost 10m UK households living in ‘cold, damp, poorly insulated homes’
Tobi Thomas The Guardian (No paywall)Almost 10m households across the UK are living in cold, damp and poorly insulated homes while not earning enough to be able to make improvements to them, according to analysis. A total of 34% of UK households or 9.6m are living in cold, poorly insulated homes, according to analysis of the English Housing Survey by the Institute of Health Equity and Friends of the Earth. These 9.6m households also have an income below the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s minimum standard for a decent living, meaning it is unlikely they would be able to afford the costs of adding insulation to their homes.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/22/almost-10m-uk-ho…
# Hot topic International, Repairs.NYC landlords keep fewer stabilized apartments vacant than you think, officials say
David Brand Gothamist (No paywall)New York City’s housing agency says the number of low-cost, rent-stabilized apartments being held vacant plummeted last year amid an increasingly dire shortage of affordable units. The comparatively low number of housing units being held off the market — or “warehoused” — belies estimates by both landlord groups and housing advocates who are locked in a dispute over how to get owners to bring empty rent-stabilized apartments on the market. Landlords have argued that state rent regulations make the units so unprofitable that they’re better off leaving them vacant. Tenant groups have argued that money-hungry owners are starving the city’s affordable housing supply while they wait for changes to those regulations.
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-landlords-are-keeping-fewer-stabi…
# Hot topic International, .Ministry takes landlord to task for 'retaliatory' eviction attempt
Susan Edmunds Stuff (No paywall)A landlord has been told to pay a tenant $2186 for a termination notice that was found by the Tenancy Tribunal to have been issued in retaliation for a tenant’s complaint. A complaint was made to MBIE in April 2022 about water coming into the property. After a site visit in June, concerns were raised with the landlord, Wei Zhang, about that water as well as a smoke alarm and electrical fault. An extension cord was plugged into the bathroom to supply power to the lounge. The tenant’s son complained again in November about continuing electrical problems.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/350192976/ministry-takes-landlord-…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Repairs.Six Years Into Rent Strike, Tenants Union Will Battle Landlord in LA Court
Lynn Ta & Jacob Woocher Truthout (No paywall)Los Angeles: This year marks the sixth year that the Hillside Villa Tenants Association (HSVTA) has been engaged in a ceaseless struggle to protect their homes in Los Angeles’s Chinatown. When the tenants first came together on a cold winter night in November 2018 — a meeting called by the late leader Luisa Ramirez, in response to notices from the landlord stating their rents would massively increase — surely none of them thought the fight would go on this long. Their struggle has become one of the longest lasting rent strikes in the history of the city, if not the nation, as dozens of tenants have not paid a dollar of rent in over three years.
https://truthout.org/articles/six-years-into-rent-strike-la-tena…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Now Fully Funded, Portland's Affordability Mandate Should Be A Model
Michael Andersen Sightline Institute (No paywall)Hey, here’s some cash. While you’re at the store, would you grab me some eggs? That’s the simple, efficient premise behind the housing policy just approved by Oregon’s most populous city and county. Here’s some cash. While you’re building those apartments, set aside some of them to be rented at less than the market rate. In a 3-2 vote Thursday, the Board of Multnomah County Commissioners followed up on a unanimous Jan. 31 vote by the Portland City Council to fully fund this concept in the form of Portland’s inclusionary housing program for rental projects.
https://www.sightline.org/2024/02/23/now-fully-funded-portlands-…
# Hot topic International, .