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
Airbnb hosts revert to long-term rentals as rising costs of living hits bookings
Dominic Cansdale and Gemma Sapwell ABC (No paywall)Property owners are leaving the short-term accommodation market like Airbnb in favour of long-term renting as the rising cost of living dampens appetites for holidays on the Gold Coast, according to a property management firm.
Australian Bureau of Statistics census data suggests one-in-10 properties on the Gold Coast are empty, while about 10 per cent of the city's population are either homeless or living in unaffordable housing.
There are more than 11,000 registered Airbnb properties on the Gold Coast according to council data.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-19/airbnb-hosts-revert-back-…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing market, Local Government, Short-term holiday letting.Hobart City Council doubles rates for short-stay properties in 8-3 vote
Clancy Balen ABC (No paywall)In short: The Hobart City Council has voted to double rates for owners of short-stay accommodation such as Airbnb in a bid to "open up" the city's housing market.
What's next?: Airbnb says the decision is 'disappointing' and risks putting a handbrake on tourism.
Hobart City Council has voted to adopt a new rates system that doubles the amount charged for short-stay accommodation properties, in a bid to address the city's housing shortage.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-20/tas-hobart-council-double…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing affordability, Local Government, Short-term holiday letting.Penguin caravan park residents fear for future as conversion to beach retreat wins council support
Bec Pridham ABC (No paywall)In short: Caravan park residents in Tasmania's north-west are worried about their future as a council progresses an application to convert it into a beachside retreat.
What's next?: The Tenants' Union of Tasmania says vulnerable residents in the midst of a rental crisis need better protections.
Dakoda French has been living in a bus at a caravan park with her partner and two dogs for the past year.
She has searched high and low for other accommodation across Tasmania's north-west, but it has been fruitless.
"It's the only place I have to go," Ms French said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-20/penguin-caravan-park-conv…
# Hot topic Australia, Land lease communities, Local Government, Planning and development.Advocates and housing organisations say they have 'no other option' but to refer people with intellectual disabilities to boarding houses
Scout Wallen ABC (No paywall)Hundreds of Queenslanders with an intellectual disability are living in boarding houses and hostels, referred there by organisations that say they have "no other option" but to put people in risky situations.
Advocates say such accommodation has no security of tenure, discourages independence, lacks privacy, and should not be over-relied on for people with disability.
Additionally, this form of accommodation costs around 85 per cent of the disability support pension.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-18/intellectual-disability-s…
# Hot topic Australia, Boarders and lodgers, Disability, Housing affordability.Rent: 'We've got £1,750 a month and can't find anywhere'
Kevin Peachey BBC (No paywall)The average UK tenant now spends more than 28% of their pay before tax on rent, figures shared with the BBC show.
It means people are spending more of their wages on rent than at any other time in the last 10 years, according to property portal Zoopla.
Average rents for new lets have also risen, jumping 10.4% in a year making it harder for people to afford places.
Chris Ward and his girlfriend said they were struggling to find a rental in London despite a £1,750 a month budget.
Squeeze on UK tenants tightens as rents outpace incomes, survey shows
Suban Abdulla Reuters (No paywall)Britain's housing market strains are spreading to the rental sector with the proportion of household income spent on rent hitting the highest in a decade in May, data showed on Tuesday, adding to wider cost-of-living pressures.
Asking and agreed rents continued to outpace incomes with tenants spending 28.3% of their pre-tax earnings on rent last month, above the 10-year average of 27%, Zoopla said.
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/squeeze-uk-tenants-tightens-ren…
# Hot topic, Research alert International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.New Yorkers in rent-stabilized apartments brace for 7% increase
Nolan Hicks The New York Post (USA) (No paywall)The Big Apple’s rent board is set to approve hikes on Wednesday that could see the cost of an annual lease increase by as much as 5 to 7% percent, offering a conclusion to weeks of contentious public hearings that’s sure to leave both landlords and tenants unsatisfied.
The coming vote by the Rent Guidelines Board will hit the pocketbooks of the estimated 3 million New Yorkers who live in the roughly 1 million rent-stabilized units — accounting for one-third of the housing stock — across the five boroughs.
https://nypost.com/2023/06/20/new-yorkers-in-rent-stabilized-apa…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, International.Newark will fine landlords for ‘unconscionable’ rent increases over 5%
Karen Yi Gothamist (No paywall)Newark, New Jersey officials will limit yearly rent increases on newer construction and owner-occupied units to 5% – testing the limits of a state law that bans “unconscionable” rent spikes but doesn’t define how much is too much.
The new ordinance comes amid a boom in new city development and an affordability crisis fueled by inflation and rising rents.
“The affordability crisis in Newark is getting worse and likely to get much worse over time,” David Troutt, founding director of the Rutgers Center on Law in Metropolitan Equity, said during a City Council hearing on the ordinance this month.
https://gothamist.com/news/newark-will-fine-landlords-for-uncons…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, International.