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
Tanay slept on a couch for months. Some of his peers faced even worse
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)International students in Australia have been forced to skip meals and go without other necessities to afford rent, while others have had passports confiscated by unscrupulous landlords and faced threats of visa cancellations. One in four international students were in a highly or extremely precarious financial situation even before the pandemic and current rental crisis, a recent study shows, and it is feared the situation could worsen as international students flock back to Australia this year.
https://www.watoday.com.au/property/news/tanay-slept-on-a-couch-…
# Hot topic NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Rent, Share houses, Coronavirus COVID-19, Granny flats, studios, International, Personal stories, Students, Young people.Can rent-to-own schemes help in the housing crisis?
Radio National ABC (No paywall)Rent-to-own, or rent-to-buy schemes have a shady history, but a new wave of schemes are promising access and stability for people struggling to save for a home. So has anything changed? We look at when to be wary. Guests: Dr Chris Martin, Senior Research Fellow, UNSW City Futures Research Centre, Leo Patterson Ross, Chief Executive Officer, Tenants Union NSW, Kris Daff, Managing Director, Assemble Futures
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/can-re…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio NSW, Home ownership, Rent to buy.Inner West launches new drive to improve renters’ rights
Inner West Council Inner West Council (No paywall)Inner West Council has today launched a campaign for broad improvements to NSW tenancy laws in advance of the NSW election in March. The Council has partnered with advocacy organisations The Tenants' Union of NSW and the NSW Council of Social Service to propose a fairer system for renters who make up roughly half of the Inner West community.
https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/2023-…
# TUNSW in the media, New policy announcement NSW, Rent, Local Government, Strong communities, Sydney.58 Years After Martin Luther King Jr.’s Campaign to End Slums, a Look at Affordable Housing in Chicago
Erica Gunderson wttw (No paywall)[United States] When Martin Luther King Jr. came to Chicago in 1965, his mission was to end the slum housing conditions that many Black residents were forced to live in. For 17 months, he fought with boycotts, rallies and marches — a campaign that ultimately contributed to the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, not long after his assassination. More than five decades later, however, housing advocates say Chicago still is struggling to provide adequate and affordable housing to all of its residents.
https://news.wttw.com/2023/01/14/58-years-after-martin-luther-ki…
# International, Housing affordability, Housing market.New Yorkers Never Came ‘Flooding Back.’ Why Did Rents Go Up So Much?
Lane Brown Curbed (No paywall)[United States] For a minute there, things looked grim for New York City landlords. The pandemic caused an exodus of such proportions that building owners were forced to cut rents to their lowest levels since the bad old days of 2011. But then a miracle happened. (Or at least one seemed to!) Not only did New York’s expats return; they came — in the eerily identical words of the real-estate industry and the credulous reporters who cover it — “flooding back.”
https://www.curbed.com/2023/01/nyc-real-estate-covid-more-apartm…
# Must read International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.No landlords, more community — why these residents say Calgary needs more housing co-ops
Karina Zapata CBC (No paywall)[Canada] In Calgary's tight and unpredictable rental market, living at Sunnyhill Housing Co-operative has been a saving grace for Philip Cox.
He first moved into the 66-unit townhouse in Calgary's neighbourhood of Sunnyside in 1987. At the time, he was looking for a sense of community; the affordable housing fees and security of tenure were a plus.
Now, 36 years and three children later, Cox says there's a "huge need" for more housing co-ops to be developed in Calgary — especially as waitlists continue to grow for the city's 13 existing ones.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/housing-co-ops-comeback-c…
# International, Co-operatives and resident-led housing, Planning and development, Strong communities.Towards a just transformation: climate crisis and the right to housing
Balakrishnan Rajagopal Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (No paywall)[United Nations] The report highlights that the climate crisis is severely threatening the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing around the world and that housing itself makes a significant contribution to climate change. It calls for a just transition towards rights-compliant, climate-resilient and carbon-neutral housing. The report argues that the costs of such a transition in the housing sector must be shared fairly among and within countries, and among public authorities, taxpayers, homeowners and renters or other affected groups, to ensure that nobody is left behind.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5228-tow…
# New policy announcement, Research alert International, Campaigns and law reform, Climate change, Human rights.FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Protect Renters and Promote Rental Affordability
White House Staff The White House (US) (No paywall)[United States] Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions to increase fairness in the rental market and further principles of fair housing. These actions align with a new Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights that the Administration is also releasing today. The Blueprint lays out a set of principles to drive action by the federal government, state and local partners, and the private sector to strengthen tenant protections and encourage rental affordability.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/202…
# New policy announcement International, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, Housing market, Human rights, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.