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
Mapping Tenant Vulnerability: New Data Tool Compares NY’s Legislative Districts
Emma Whitford City Limits (No paywall)A new data tool by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University breaks down a trove of housing-related data for each of the state’s Senate and Assembly districts. It comes just over a week before the state budget deadline, in a year dominated by debates over how elected officials should address New York’s affordable housing shortage.
How many renters are your state lawmakers accountable to, and how many faced eviction last year? How many homeowners live in your district? How old is the housing stock there?
These are the sort of questions New Yorkers can answer using a new data tool published Thursday by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.
https://citylimits.org/2023/03/23/mapping-tenant-vulnerability-n…
# Research alert International, Rent, Affordable housing, International.Want to Curb City Crime? Evict Fewer Tenants, Study Says
Roshan Abraham Vice (No paywall)Rising eviction rates aren’t just a problem for renters: a new study adds to evidence that housing instability is a public safety issue that affects everyone.
A growing body of evidence over the past few years shows that evictions have a direct impact on crime rates, including studies out of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Boston. Now, a report published by Cornell University draws some of the same conclusions about New York state.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7ew8x/want-to-curb-city-crime-e…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, International.We Must Recognize That the Eviction Crisis Is Also a Public Health Crisis
Nitakuwa Barrett Orsak Truthout (No paywall)The mental health impacts of eviction and the threat of eviction are severe for tenants.
For the past several years I’ve worked with a tenants’ rights organization in Austin, Texas, focusing on the intersection of housing and health. Mold and pests are among the most common reasons tenants organize to improve their housing conditions. These both have the potential to cause illnesses, including asthma, allergies and rashes. Tenants also organize for fair housing practices, which include preventing evictions.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/25-03-2023/inside-the-radical-p…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Health, International.Inside the radical plan to build ‘the new state house’ and change renting forever
Duncan Greive The Spinoff (No paywall)Not content with transforming KiwiSaver, Simplicity is now planning to out-build Kāinga Ora. Duncan Greive meets a pair of of unlikely revolutionaries trying to fix housing – a task which seems impossible, even for the state itself.
In September of 2020, a builder named Shane Brealey sat down and typed out a manifesto. It set out “initial thoughts on how we might combine to disrupt the New Zealand housing sector.” He set out an immodest target. “We have the potential to become the second largest home provider after the Crown,” he wrote. Brealey believed he had discovered what he described as the “holy grail” of housing: the ability to build “fast, cheap and high quality”, the three crucial attributes of which only two are usually believed to be possible.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/25-03-2023/inside-the-radical-p…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Affordable housing, International.Through the roof? Housing and the cost of living
James Goddard House of Lords Library (No paywall)This article explores the impact of cost of living pressures on housing costs. Higher inflation, interest rates and rents, coupled with a decline in average real-terms earnings, have increased housing costs for many people. Evidence suggests that the impact is being felt across all housing tenure types, but that tenants in the private and social rented sectors have been most adversely affected.
Statistics from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ ‘English housing survey 2021–22’ showed that 4.6 million households (19%) rented privately. Private renters spent a third of their household income on rent, the highest percentage spent on housing of any tenure type.
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/through-the-roof-housing-and-…
# Research alert International, Rent, Housing market, International.What’s affordable housing? Depends who you ask. Crossbench MPs want a legal definition
Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Defining what makes housing affordable will be key to legislating the government’s $10 billion housing fund after Greens and crossbench senators made their support for the bill contingent on a list of demands.
The government needs the Greens and two other crossbench senators to pass the legislation after the Coalition announced it would oppose the bill. On Tuesday, the Greens and Jacqui Lambie Network senator Tammy Tyrrell refused to rule out blocking the bill unless their demands were met.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-s-affordable-housin…
# Hot topic, Legal significance Australia, Affordable housing, Federal Government, Housing affordability.Rent caps on the table as Queensland confronts housing crisis
Nick Gibbs The New Daily (No paywall)Limits on rent increases could be on the agenda for Queensland as a new report shows the extent of the housing crisis.
Of 150,000 households under housing stress, about 100,000 would typically be eligible for social housing, a report commissioned by the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) says.
This figure is almost four times the social housing wait list of about 27,000.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/qld/2023/03/20/rent-caps-o…
# Must read, Hot topic, New policy announcement Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Insight: Season 2023 Episode 4 Housing Stress
SBS SBS (No paywall)Is keeping a roof over our heads killing Aussie dreams, and can we fix it?
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/news-series/insight/insight-2023…
# Hot topic, Video Australia, Affordable housing, Housing affordability, Housing market.