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
‘Granny flats’ play surprising role in easing California’s housing woes
Erica Werner The Washington Post (No paywall)State and local policies have made accessory dwelling units easier to build in recent years, and homeowners are signing up in droves.
LOS ANGELES — When Heather Millstone moved from Baltimore to Los Angeles and started house-hunting, she had one major goal: A home with a yard big enough to build another, smaller house so she could rent out one of the properties to supplement her income.
A few blocks away, Lali Grewal and his wife, Anne Marie, made a similar calculation when they moved to the city last summer. They’re now living in a tiny but cozy home behind a bigger house they’re fixing up to rent out.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/21/adu-granny-fl…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing market, International.The Germans curing loneliness with homes for young and old
Volker Witting Deutsche Welle (No paywall)Multigenerational housing projects — with young and old living under one roof — are becoming increasingly popular in Germany. Having a diversity of ages in one home can improve lives, especially as the population ages.
Breakfast together is part of the daily ritual. Those who can, come down to the bright common room on the first floor at 9 o'clock. Not all eleven members of the communal living group on Mendelstrasse, Berlin are always there. But most are. "Here I always have someone to talk to," says Heidemarie Mehlau. "We live together despite all our differences." And that's a good feeling, says the 80-year-old. Especially when you need help or are sick, she says, it's a good feeling to have a community behind you.
https://www.dw.com/en/the-germans-curing-loneliness-with-homes-f…
# Must read, Hot topic International, International, Older people, Personal stories.To Pay Rent in Medieval England, Catch Some Eels
Leah Hamilton Atlas Obscura (No paywall)JOHN WYATT GREENLEE, A MEDIEVAL historian focusing on cartography, never intended to become the “Surprised Eel Historian,” as he dubs himself on Twitter. When he first proposed his Ph.D. project on eels, it was declined. Greenlee went ahead and studied eels anyway, and his passion for these wormlike, elongated fish has now managed to capture the fascination of others. Greenlee specifically looks at the role eels played in medieval English economy and culture—a role far more important than many would think. In medieval England, eels essentially became currency.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-eel-rent-map-engl…
# Research alert International, History, International, Personal stories.French authorities destroy shanty town on Indian Ocean island of Mayotte
Mark Armstrong Euro News (No paywall)France deploys hundreds of police officers to oversee the destruction of a slum on the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean in an operation authorities say is aimed at curbing sub-standard housing and illegal migration.
Operation Wuambushu started in the early hours of Monday morning when diggers moved in to start knocking down sheet metal homes in the Talus 2 slum on Mayotte.
Gendarmes wielding crowbars entered the homes to check no one was inside before the destruction began, AFP journalists reported, while the electricity and water supply was cut.
https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/22/french-authorities-destroy-s…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, International, Planning and development.Sydney needs to reach for the sky to fix housing shortage, says Minns
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)NSW Premier Chris Minns has warned that urban sprawl will stop Sydney from being a leading global city and insists that building up – not out – will be key to creating a vibrant, young metropolis.
“We have to go up,” Minns said. “Sydney can’t grow by adding another street to the western fringe of Sydney every other week … [because] you have to stretch social infrastructure over a bigger and bigger plane.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/sydney-needs-to-reach-for-th…
# Must read, Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, State Government.The Great Australian Dream is now being able to afford the rent
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)For too long, the measure of success in Australia was owning a house with a backyard and a Hills Hoist. The quarter-acre block, with space so plentiful beyond the three or four bedrooms that there was ample room for a barbecue, a makeshift cricket pitch and perhaps even a pool. But the Great Australian Dream is no longer about owning a house, it’s being able to afford the rent.
The first Resolve Political Monitor survey for the Herald since the March election leaves little doubt about that. A growing number of NSW voters are anxious about skyrocketing rents. Unsurprisingly, almost two-thirds of voters list rising grocery prices and energy bills as the biggest squeeze on their household budget.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-great-australian-dream-i…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.NSW Housing Minister looking for ways to unlock land
Gillian Bennett ABC (No paywall)In the next five years it's estimated there will be a shortfall of more than 100,000 homes across the country.
To help ease the crisis, the New South Wales government wants state government agencies to hand over any land they're not using.
Guest: Rose Jackson, NSW Housing Minister
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/nsw-hous…
# Hot topic, Audio NSW, Housing affordability, Planning and development, State Government.Which suburbs could renters afford on increased welfare payments?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Low-income households could not afford to rent the typical unit in any suburb of any major city despite increases in welfare payments and rent assistance.
The federal government announced a $40 fortnightly increase to income support payments, such as JobSeeker and Youth Allowance, in Tuesday’s budget, as well as a 15 per cent increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance – the first real rise in more than three decades.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/which-suburbs-could-renters…
# Hot topic NSW, Housing affordability, State Government, Welfare.