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
State reaches settlement over pandemic rent relief: What tenants and landlords need to know
Charlotte Kramon Los Angeles Times (No paywall)Tenants’ rights advocates and the California Department of Housing and Community Development reached a settlement this week to address processing delays and denials in rent relief applications for eligible tenants, meaning more renters could soon get financial aid.
During the pandemic, California tasked the department with administering more than $5 billion in state and federal funds to assist vulnerable tenants with rent relief through California’s COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The agency closed the application portal at the end of March 2022.
https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2023-06-09/state-…
# Hot topic International, Rent, International, State Government.Landlord has over 100 Airbnb listings despite city-wide ban
Barry O'Kelly RTE (Ireland) (No paywall)Controversial landlord Marc Godart has emerged as one of the most active hosts on Airbnb in Dublin, despite a ban on short-term letting by the city council. That is according to an analysis of postings of short-term lettings on the site by RTÉ Investigates.
A property managed by the Luxembourg national previously featured in a 2020 RTÉ broadcast. Undercover researchers captured footage showing up to 12 people living in a flat with only one toilet.
In recent weeks, RTÉ Investigates has been examining his role in short-term lettings in the city.
https://www.rte.ie/news/investigations-unit/2023/0608/1388105-la…
# Hot topic International, International, Landlords and agents, Short-term holiday letting.Inside the co-living boom: is this the future of renting, or just a cash in on London’s housing crisis?
Ella Jessel Evening Standard (No paywall)With London’s rental market in increasingly dire straits, more and more tenants are seeking an escape from the horrors of flat-sharing.
One increasingly popular alternative to the private rental market, according to new analysis, is co-living. The renting model first emerged in 2018 but is now expanding rapidly in the capital and elsewhere.
According to Savills, the co-living sector has trebled since 2019 and in London, which accounts for 82 per cent of the market, there are currently 2,820 operational beds. A further 9,000 are in the pipeline.
https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/property-news/colivi…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.New York Has a Housing Crisis. So Why Won't Albany Act?
Errol Louis Intelligencer (USA) (No paywall)The rent is already too damn high and will soar even higher if political leaders can’t resolve a stalemate in the state capital that has slowed the creation of affordable housing in New York to a crawl.
Governor Hochul has laid out an ambitious plan to build 800,000 units of housing statewide over the next decade; Mayor Adams has a similar “moon-shot” goal of building 500,000 units in the city during those same years. But both proposals face imminent danger of failure.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/new-york-has-a-housing-c…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, International.Renting? Learn to be your own best housing advocate
Andee Tagle NPR (USA) (No paywall)Does your landlord have to fix that? Should you be worried about that clause in your lease? If you're one of the 35% of Americans renting your home, there's a lot you should know to protect yourself best. We'll discuss rental red flags, learn how to speak the language of landlords and how to decode a lease.
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/02/1179885681/renting-learn-to-be-yo…
# Audio International, Rent, Housing market, International.The economic case for affordable housing
Gerald Koessl Social Europe (No paywall)Providing affordable housing is not only doing the right thing. There is an economic spinoff for everyone.
Much applied economic analysis and policy-making in recent decades has been based on the belief that under (perfect) market conditions unregulated markets lead to the best economic outcomes, in terms of the allocation of products and services to society at large. Developments in the housing market—and in particular the crisis of affordability—have however placed a big question-mark against this assumption.
The impacts of the housing crisis are no longer felt only by those households struggling with its cost but also by the economy as a whole. As a recent report from the European Commission explains, inflated house prices and rents can lead to a misallocation of resources, away from productive (job-creating) investments towards unproductive assets.
https://www.socialeurope.eu/the-economic-case-for-affordable-hou…
# Hot topic International, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, International.‘The market never lies’: real estate industry calls for NSW to drop proposed ban on secret rent bidding
Tamsin Rose The Guardian (No paywall)A New South Wales government plan to make renting fairer and more transparent has been panned by real estate agents, who told a parliamentary inquiry that the reforms would cause conflict between applicants and property managers while driving up rents.
The industry professionals appeared before a parliamentary committee set up to examine the government’s plan to ban “secret” rent bidding, echoing concerns of rental advocates that the scheme would create rental auctions.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/02/real-esta…
# Must read, Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, State Government.'Fair' Rental Market Leaves NSW Tenents Out Of Pocket
10 News Channel 10 (No paywall)The NSW government has been warned its efforts to create a fairer rental market could leave tenants paying more.
# Hot topic, Video NSW, Rent, Housing affordability, State Government.