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
Another Housing Setback for New York: Its Housing Chief Is Resigning
Mihir Zaveri and Jeffery C. MaysThe New York Times (No paywall)
Since Eric Adams became mayor, his response to New York City’s housing crisis has been characterized by enormous challenges, along with some stumbles.
The city subsidized fewer affordable homes last year than during any year since 2015. The mayor failed to convince Albany legislators to support crucial measures that would have helped. An influx of migrants stretched the shelter system to a breaking point.
Now, the architect of the mayor’s housing plan has announced that she is leaving the administration, dealing City Hall another setback at a time when rents are rising and the homeless shelter population has reached record levels.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/nyregion/eric-adams-homeless-…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, International.NYC’s Record-Breaking Rents Squeeze Tenants Across Boroughs
Jennifer EpsteinBloomberg (No paywall)
New York apartment hunters are facing higher rents than ever before and having a hard time finding bargains anywhere.
The median rents on new leases in Manhattan, Brooklyn and northwest Queens reached records in April as confident landlords pushed up prices and cut down on incentives, according to a report by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-18/nyc-s-record-…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, International.Why Gov. Hochuls’ New York Housing Compact failed
Eric KoberThe New York Post (USA) (No paywall)
Voters in New York are disappointed in their leader, according to a new poll that shows Gov. Hochul’s favorability rating recently falling to its lowest numbers ever.
With affordable housing among New Yorkers’ most pressing concerns, could Hochul’s failure to advance her proposed “New York Housing Compact” in the Legislature be partly to blame?
The failed negotiations reveal some hard truths for pro-housing advocates who had hoped to mitigate the state’s current affordability crisis.
https://nypost.com/2023/05/27/why-hochuls-new-york-housing-compa…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, International.Barcelona Is Fighting for the Right to Housing
Eoghan GilmartinTribune (UK) (No paywall)
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has taken housing out of the hands of profiteers. In tomorrow's election, she aims to prove that socialists can reject the market-led development of our cities – and win.
"Tackling certain privileges was always going to anger the economic powers. We have implemented a different model for this city — a fairer, more democratic and feminist one… [Within Spain] we are leaders in social spending and public housing. We have increased green spaces and bike lanes, improved public transport and shut thousands of illegal holiday apartments."
https://tribunemag.co.uk/2023/05/barcelona-is-fighting-for-the-r…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, International.New Zealand’s house-price declines slow as rate hikes set to end
StaffThe Business Times (No paywall)
The annual pace of New Zealand house-price declines slowed further in May, coinciding with the central bank signalling it may have concluded its 18-month policy tightening cycle.
Values fell 10.2 per cent from a year earlier, down from 10.3 per cent in April and 10.5 per cent in March, CoreLogic New Zealand said on Wednesday (May 31) in Wellington. From a month earlier, prices dropped 0.7 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/property/new-zealands-house-pri…
# Hot topic International, Home ownership, Housing affordability, International.East London councillor blasts UK's largest housing association for 'letting down tenants every day'
Ruby GregoryMyLondon (No paywall)
The UK's largest housing association is letting down tenants "every day", an East London councillor has claimed. During an overview and scrutiny committee meeting at Tower Hamlets Council on Monday evening (May 22), Cllr Marc Francis of Bow East Ward said Clarion Housing Group was letting down dozens of its tenants.
Cllr Francis said: "Every day dozens of tenants of Clarion are let down by the organisation's repairs service, its housing management, or they are ripped off by its service charge hikes." He went on to say that he had written to the Tower Hamlets mayor, Lutfur Rahman about the issues Clarion tenants faced and said he was particularly concerned with residents who were evacuated from Clare House in September 2021.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/east-london-coun…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Why private renting is a feminist issue
Melissa YorkThe Times (Paywall)
I can’t believe the number of times I have been told I can’t view a home because landlords don’t want a family,” said Charlotte Dale, who was trying to find a home near her daughter’s school in southwest London.
Dale was part of an investigation, published in The Sunday Times last month, into the discrimination that private renters with children face when they are looking for somewhere to live.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-private-renting-is-a-femi…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Families, International.Homeownership declines across EU as young adults find themselves locked out of the market
StaffHelsinki Times (No paywall)
During the period from 2012 to 2020, several EU countries witnessed a decline in homeownership rates. Denmark, Cyprus, Spain, Lithuania, Finland, and Bulgaria experienced decreases of over 3 percentage points. This downward trend was particularly evident among young adults and low-income groups. Young adults between the ages of 20 and 29 increasingly turned to private rentals as a result. Unfortunately, the private rental market in Europe has been plagued by housing insecurity and adequacy problems, including low energy efficiency.
https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/world-int/23665-homeownership-decli…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, International, Young people.