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
UK rental market: I’ll give you 24 months’ rent, a present and a CV. Please can I be your tenant?
Megan Agnew The Times (No paywall)As landlords cash in on an acute shortage of homes by asking for record sums, those competing for the keys will try anything
Whenever a listing goes online, the phone at the letting agency Martyn Gerrard rings off the hook.
For some rentals on its website, 40 prospective tenants are fighting for the right to move in — in 2018 the ratio was five to one. Some make offers before seeing the property, others write personal statements explaining why they are the perfect fit.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/490848e8-78b6-11ed-8f77-a37cd…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Veterans Sue VA, City of LA for Failure to Provide Adequate Housing
Sarah Hall Invisible People (No paywall)Earlier this month, officials announced that veteran homelessness dropped 11 percent between 2020 and 2022. But Los Angeles, once called the homeless capital of the US, seems to have missed the memo.
In a lawsuit filed on behalf of 14 veterans experiencing homelessness against the Department of Veterans Affairs, attorneys for the plaintiffs say that the VA’s Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System’s (VAGLAHS) plans for the West Los Angeles Medical Center (WLA) and Community Living Center Campus are woefully inadequate.
https://invisiblepeople.tv/veterans-sue-va-city-of-la-for-failur…
# International, Homelessness, Strong communities.Untaxed – how governments lure capital into real estate and feed the housing crisis
various Investigate Europe (No paywall)European governments give huge tax benefits to real estate investors and owners - a policy that is common in many member states despite all political differences. Over the past months, Investigate Europe’s team analysed the taxation and loopholes for real estate investments in several European countries. This lures billions of euros to the overheated real estate market.
...
Investigate Europe spoke to people behind the figures, victims of the housing crisis in many European countries. The reporters also confronted national governments with the tax privileges and their social costs. Read those findings, human stories and political answers in our newest investigation, #Untaxed.
https://www.investigate-europe.eu/en/2022/untaxed-real-estate/
# Must read International, Housing affordability, Housing market, Human rights, Landlords and agents, Tax.Six month delay to Scottish short-term lets licensing scheme
BBC BBC (No paywall)The deadline by which hosts of short-term lets in Scotland need to get a licence has been delayed by six months.
The scheme, which could see fines of up to £2,500 imposed on people who rent out property without permission, was set up by the government in October.
It is aimed at reducing the impact of Airbnb-style lets on local communities and the availability of housing.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63916032?…
# International, Housing affordability, Short-term holiday letting.NSW to investigate ways to end bidding wars over rental properties
Tamsin Rose The Guardian (No paywall)Bidding wars for New South Wales rental properties could be outlawed after the state’s customer service minister, Victor Dominello, ordered an urgent review of interstate efforts to curb the widespread practice.
Peak housing bodies have long been calling for a ban on rental bidding to bring the state into line with Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, where advertised rents are set and cannot be bid up by prospective tenants, or listed as a range.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/05/nsw-to-in…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents, State Government.Dodgy detail in $850 Sydney rental apartment highlights major issue
Carly Bass Yahoo News (No paywall)Aussies have certainly felt the pinch with rising rental costs, and with higher prices and higher demand, it's getting harder to find something suitable.
But one listing in Sydney's inner-west highlights the dire state the rental market's in, with a commercial office space being flogged as a four-bedroom apartment for $850 a week. Doing this is "likely unlawful," NSW Teneants' Union CEO Leo Patterson Ross told Yahoo News Australia.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/dodgy-detail-in-850-sydney-rental-apar…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Security and safety, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Sydney.Rental bidding under investigation in NSW as Sydney’s property crisis grows
Jessica Wang news.com.au (No paywall)Despite being illegal in other states, NSW’s rental crisis has sparked a trend which is making it almost impossible for applicants to find a home.
Both Labor and Liberal politicians have backed calls to reform NSW rental practices, as the property crisis deepens amid rising rents and dwindling stock.
Rental bidding in particular has been highlighted as a major issue, despite the practice being banned in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland.
However, in NSW, agents and landlords can advertise properties without a fixed rate, or list a range. The practice can create a situation in which applicants can opt to pay a higher rent, pricing out those who aren’t able to.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/rental-biddi…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Landlords and agents.NSW landlords forced to pay tenants thousands of dollars over mould issue
Ally Foster news.com.au (No paywall)Two landlords have been forced to pay a couple thousands of dollars after failing to address a growing mould issue in the home they were renting.
The couple moved into the three-bedroom home in Narara, in NSW’s Central Coast region, in September 2021.
They had entered into a 12-month residential tenancy agreement for the property at the rate of $550 a week.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/nsw-landlord…
# Legal significance NSW, Repairs, Mould.