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
Plans to tackle low quality private rentals
Danielle Andrews & Lucy Ashton BBC (No paywall)A council has set out plans to improve standards in the private rental sector to ensure the health and safety of tenants.
Barnsley Council said cold homes, overcrowding and poor maintenance were all factors putting renters at risk. A council survey in 2020 had found an estimated 19% of private rented housing in the town were not up to standard. The council said measures being taken to improve standards included prioritising enforcement action against landlords who fail to maintain properties or break the law through overcrowding or improper evictions.
Rising rents and tourist lets: How can Spain's housing crisis be solved?
Roberto Macedonio Vega Euro News (No paywall)Europe's housing crisis is worsening, and young people in Spain are struggling to get on the ladder as prices soar, experts tell Euronews. A lack of affordable housing has become one of the main concerns for citizens in the EU, especially in Spain where residents of cities like Barcelona and Madrid say they are being priced out of the property market. In the bloc's biggest cities, one in 10 households spend more than 40% of their income on rent, according to the latest data from Eurostat. In rural areas, this figure drops to 7%. In this context, soaring prices, a lack of supply and the rise of tourist rentals are hindering access to decent housing in the bloc, especially for young people.
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/03/18/rising-rents-and-t…
# Hot topic International, .Seized, settled, let: how Airbnb and Booking.com help Israelis make money from stolen Palestinian land
Zeke Hunter-Green, Carmen Aguilar García, Anna Leach, Mark Townsend, Pamela Duncan and Prina Shah The Guardian (No paywall)The villa is stunning. The private swimming pool; the lush, landscaped terrace with firepit; the long dining table with its expansive balcony view; the pingpong table; the piano. But the jewel in the crown, according to the Airbnb listing, is the experience of watching the sun rise over the nearby mountains from the luxury of the generous master bedroom. The villa with views of the Judean mountains is in a settlement located on land seized from Palestinians and considered illegal under international humanitarian law.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/feb/27/sei…
# Must read International, Discrimination.Which renters do landlords discriminate against most in Canada? What a national study found
Nicholas Keung The Star (No paywall)Landlords across Canada are more likely to ask personal questions and reject prospective renters who identify as racial minorities, newcomers and people with children, says a new report. Based on a landlord discrimination audit and renter survey in 57 communities, including eight in Ontario, researchers found landlords and property managers were about 14 per cent less likely to respond to these groups compared to a white man with no kids when they inquired about a rental unit.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/which-renters-do-landlords-d…
# Must read International, Discrimination.Plans to tackle low quality private rentals
Danielle Andrews & Lucy Ashton BBC (No paywall)A council has set out plans to improve standards in the private rental sector to ensure the health and safety of tenants.
Barnsley Council said cold homes, overcrowding and poor maintenance were all factors putting renters at risk. A council survey in 2020 had found an estimated 19% of private rented housing in the town were not up to standard. The council said measures being taken to improve standards included prioritising enforcement action against landlords who fail to maintain properties or break the law through overcrowding or improper evictions.
English and Welsh councils to have greater powers to seize land for affordable housing
Eleni Courea The Guardian (No paywall)Councils and mayors will be granted greater powers to seize land to build affordable housing under the Labour government’s shake-up of planning rules this week. Local authorities in England and Wales will no longer need permission from central government to make compulsory purchase orders (CPOs), in a change that ministers hope will unlock vacant and derelict land. The change will be made as part of the planning and infrastructure bill, which is expected to be introduced to parliament on Tuesday. It follows the closure last month of a public consultation on the mooted changes to the planning system.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/10/english-welsh-c…
# Hot topic International, .London ebike fire: landlords of ‘grossly overcrowded’ flat fined almost £100,000
Diane Taylor The Guardian (No paywall)The landlords of a “grossly overcrowded” east London flat where a man died after an ebike battery started a fire have been fined almost £100,000 after pleading guilty to nine housing law breaches. The judge, the recorder Emma Smith, said the landlords showed “blatant disregard for the law and for the occupants” of the property, when she sentenced them at Snaresbrook crown court on Thursday. The two-bedroomed flat was licensed as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) for three people but up to 23 were living there.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/06/london-ebike-fir…
# Must read International, Disasters.London councils buy £140m of property to move homeless people out of city
Sammy Gecsoyler The Guardian (No paywall)London councils and housing companies they own have spent more than £140m buying up homes to relocate homeless people out of the city. More than a dozen councils in the capital have collectively spent millions buying up more than 850 properties in towns and cities across England since 2017, Guardian analysis of property ownership data found. The homes are either owned directly by councils or by companies they partly or wholly own. They are used to house homeless individuals and families, either temporarily in emergency accommodation or permanently in privately rented homes.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/08/london-councils-…
# Hot topic International, Rent.