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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. 

Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.

See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.

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Archive

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Key topics

English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023: security of tenure - fact sheet


UK Government (No paywall)

The English Housing Survey collects data on household moves, including whether households have moved in the last 3 years, their previous tenure, their reasons for moving (such as eviction) and how evictions were carried out. New to the 2022-23 EHS, the survey also collects data on private renters’ security of tenure and their outlook on their current housing situation, such as whether they feel safe from eviction, feel confident making long-term decisions, feel secure enough to be invested in the community and whether their current accommodation feels like a home.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-…

# Must read, Research alert International, Eviction, Rent.
 

Rent regulation didn't trigger mass sell-off, decreased rent a bit, large landlords say


NL Times (No paywall)

Large landlords, who together own many tens of thousands of rental properties in the Netherlands, said that the Affordable Rent Act only impacted their rents to a very limited extent. The law, therefore, also did not trigger a mass sell-off of rental homes as it did among smaller, private investors, NOS reports. Since July 1, the Netherlands has been regulating mid-priced rentals that used to fall in the private sector. They now fall under the same points system that applies to social housing. A maximum rent of 1,158 euros applies to new contracts based on what the home has to offer. Many private landlords are selling their rentals as soon as the tenant leaves, saying that the rental income is too low after rent regulation took effect.

https://nltimes.nl/2024/07/19/rent-regulation-didnt-trigger-mass…

# Hot topic International, Rent.
 

Edinburgh urged to copy Barcelona’s ban on Airbnb-style rentals

Adam Forrest
inews.co.uk (No paywall)

Edinburgh should bring in a Barcelona-style ban on short-term holiday rentals listed on platforms such as Airbnb, housing campaigners have said. The Spanish city’s mayor announced last month that it would phase out all holiday rentals by 2028 in a bid to boost residents’ access to housing. With Edinburgh facing a housing crisis, the Living Rent tenants’ union told i that it wanted Edinburgh City Council to introduce a similar crackdown to bring thousands of holiday homes in the Scottish capital back into residential use.

https://inews.co.uk/news/scotland/edinburgh-urged-copy-barcelona…

# Hot topic International, Rent.
 

New Zealand on track to soon have more renters than homeowners


Radio NZ (No paywall)

Fewer than half the population are likely to own a home in the next 25 years, according to new research. A Deloitte report, commissioned by Westpac, found less than 60 percent of New Zealanders currently owned their home - and this number would continue to decline, based on current trends. The report found shared home ownership options like shared equity, rent-to-own and leasehold could help tens of thousands of people into home ownership. It said 152,000 low- and middle-income New Zealanders could be eligible for shared home ownership pathways, but only roughly 53,000 were aware of these options.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522913/new-zealand-on-track-…

# Hot topic International, Rent.
 

Renters are struggling more than homeowners in America’s tough housing market, report says

Bryan Mena
CNN News (No paywall)

Washington - Homeowners in America aren’t the only ones struggling with an unaffordable housing market. Renters are also bearing the brunt. A report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies released last week showed that both homeowners and renters in recent years have become increasingly burdened by climbing housing costs. The report, based on an analysis of existing data, said that nearly one in four households that own a home “are now stretched worryingly thin.” The cost burdens are even worse for renters.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/23/business/stocks-week-ahead-am…

# Hot topic International, Rent.
 

Buying vs. renting in Canada's home market: housing panel


Bloomberg (No paywall)

Ron Butler, mortgage broker at Butler Mortgage, Bob Dugan, chief economist at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Lauren Haw, broker of record and industry relations officer at Zoocasa, join BNN Bloomberg to discuss real estate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2WqTkkPjQ

# Video International, Rent.
 

Biden housing plan seeks to curb rent increases by penalizing landlords

Rachel Leingang
The Guardian (No paywall)

President Joe Biden wants to curb rent increases by penalizing landlords who hike rents beyond 5% each year, but he needs the help of Congress to put the plan into action. The Biden administration will announce the idea in Nevada on Tuesday along with a host of other housing-related policies, including an influx of funds to add more housing in Nevada and elsewhere and a plan to use public federal lands for affordable housing near Las Vegas.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/biden-re…

# Hot topic International, Rent.
 

The secret social housing scandal: when your parent dies – and you are evicted in days

Kwajo Tweneboa
The Guardian (No paywall)

In 2022 I was contacted by a friend of a friend – let’s call her Tiana – who was distraught. Her mum had become sick a few months earlier, so Tiana, who was her mum’s only child, had moved out of her own house and into her mum’s flat in south London, to care for her. Then, in March 2022, her mum died suddenly. Before Tiana even had the chance to arrange her funeral, she received an eviction notice from the council, giving her only a few days to move out. Her mum had lived there for 20 years. Tiana asked them for a two-week extension on compassionate grounds, to give her time to sort through her mum’s stuff and figure out where she was going to live. They wouldn’t give it to her.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/16/th…

# Must read International, Discrimination, Eviction, Rent.
 

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