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
‘It’s legal, there’s just no precedent’: the first US town to demand a rent decrease
Wilfred Chan The Guardian (No paywall)’s 2pm after an overnight shift, and Amanda Treasure is lying in bed unable to sleep. She can’t stop thinking about how most of what she brings home from her full-time job as a caretaker – two $900 checks a month – goes to rent for the two-bedroom apartment with a mold problem she shares with her disabled husband, teenage son and five pets.
Treasure has lived her whole life in Kingston, New York, a quiet city about 90 miles north of Manhattan. She got her first job at 14 delivering papers, and by 16 she was paying for her first car and insurance. The skating rink and bowling alley Treasure frequented as a teen disappeared soon after the IBM factory that once employed thousands of residents closed in the early 1990s, devastating the town. “Now there’s nothing to do here, and the prices are through the roof,” Treasure says. “And I’m working my butt off, but there’s nothing to show. This world is just not what I expected being 52 years old.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/07/new-york-housing…
# Legal significance International, Rent, Housing affordability, Local Government, Strong communities.City mayors call for rent freeze and eviction ban for England’s tenants
Kevin Rawlinson The Guardian (No paywall)An immediate rent freeze and a ban on evictions should be introduced in England to help renters deal with the cost of living crisis, the mayors of three of the biggest cities have said.
It would bring the country into line with Scotland, where tenants have been protected under emergency measures designed to curb a “humanitarian emergency” announced by Nicola Sturgeon last September.
“Rising costs of food and energy mean millions are struggling to make ends meet,” the campaigners wrote in an open letter to the levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, on Wednesday, saying renters were “among the worst affected by the cost of living crisis”.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/feb/23/city-mayors-call…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Housing affordability.EU Parliament agrees position on buildings law despite pushback
Kira Taylor Euractiv (No paywall)The European Parliament approved its stance on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) on Tuesday (14 March), setting out a more ambitious position ahead of negotiations with EU countries.
“The EPBD deal is adopted! Huge step forward for lower energy bills, reducing energy poverty, and tackling 36% of EU emissions,” said Ciaran Cuffe, the Green Irish lawmaker in charge of the Parliament’s negotiations on the buildings directive.
Europe’s buildings are responsible for 36% of its greenhouse gas emissions and 40% of its energy consumption, but renovation rates are well below where they need to reach Europe’s climate goals.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/europea…
# International, Utilities electricity water gas, Climate change.Bob has no idea where he will be living in six weeks as Sydney's rental crisis hits hard
Paige Cockburn and Kamin Gock ABC (No paywall)Bob Davis has no idea where he will be living in six weeks.
He's being evicted from his Sydney rental home of 30 years and doesn't like his chances of finding something else in the city's white-hot market.
Bob, 79, is one of three pensioners in the Waverley building who have been served no-grounds eviction notices.
"I'm nervous, anxious and frustrated," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-27/sydney-rental-crisis-hits…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, No-grounds evictions, Older people, State Government.Bondi real estate agent's advice for capitalising on rental crisis reignites calls to ban no-fault evictions
Rosemary Bolger ABC (No paywall)A Sydney real estate agent has advised landlords wanting to capitalise on the "once-in-a-decade" rental crisis they can kick out long-term tenants to raise rent quickly.
The email sent from Ray White Bondi to its clients says it's reasonable that most landlords would want to "maximise this opportunity" and lays out three options.
The first is the "aggressive" option to evict a long-term tenant, tidy up the property and re-let it at a higher rate.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-16/bondi-real-estate-rental-…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions, State Government.Why renters hold the power at the polling booth
James O'Doherty Daily Telegraph (Paywall)Crucial marginal seats around the state could be won or lost based on what the major parties are promising to do to help renters.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/renters-could-decide-…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Utilities electricity water gas, Campaigns and law reform, Climate change, State Government.Share houses make comeback as rental crisis continues and people lease out spare rooms
Emilia Terzon ABC (No paywall)The demand for share houses is back to pre-pandemic levels as vacancy rates sit at historic lows, according to data from a flatmates listing service owned by property website REA Group.
But the data also shows that in many key suburbs, moving in with a flatmate is not a cheap alternative to living alone. And there are concerns rent will keep rising this year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-20/share-house-costs-rents-p…
# NSW, Share houses, Housing affordability, Housing market, Sub-letting.Battle for Byron’s soul: the debate over holiday rentals in the NSW coastal town is an existential one
Mostafa Rachwani The Guardian (No paywall)Is Byron Bay a tourist town or a town tourists want to visit?
That question was the subtext of two days of public hearings this week by the NSW Independent Planning Commission over a proposal to change the regulations around short-term rental accommodation.
Byron Shire Council has proposed to reduce the number of days short-term accommodation can be made available for rental in large parts of the shire from 180 to 90 days a year.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/25/battle-fo…
# NSW, Housing affordability, Local Government, Planning and development, Short-term holiday letting, Strong communities.