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
Cap rent rises in England and Wales, Labour-commissioned report says
Aletha Adu The Guardian (No paywall)Rent rises should be capped for millions of people struggling to afford soaring rates, according to a landmark report commissioned by Labour. The leaked proposals recommend a swathe of measures that give breathing room to renters buckling under the cost of living. The report will put pressure on Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, to do more for renters after he promised to tackle England’s housing crisis if elected as prime minister, in part with a massive programme of housebuilding for social rent. The stabilisation model proposed by the report’s author, Stephen Cowan, suggests a “double lock” for those renewing their tenancies. This would guarantee that any rise is capped at either consumer price inflation or local wage growth – whichever is lower – across England and Wales.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/13/cap-rent…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Aged Kiwis ‘only just surviving’ as they go ‘flatting’ again to make ends meet
Annemarie Quill Stuff (No paywall)Ageing New Zealanders are heading into “the eye of the storm” which the Government “cannot afford to ignore”, say experts, as spiralling costs swallow up Super, with calls for it to be increased at 80.
86-year-old Palmerston North man Rusty Harris says he wouldn’t call it “living” on Super.
“Surviving. Only just, with big sacrifices. Not talking luxuries, but basics - eating and having somewhere to live.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350266078/aged-kiwis-only-just-s…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing.Metropolis Apartments: Auckland tenant awarded $2000 after attempt to evict him ruled unlawful
NZ Herald NZ Herald (No paywall)A tenant accused of drug use says he felt forced from a swanky Auckland apartment building, despite methamphetamine testing revealing no presence of the drug. Now the property manager who, according to a Tenancy Tribunal decision, felt pressured by the Metropolis apartments’ body corporate to evict the tenant, has been ordered to pay $2000 in damages. But Metropolis has fired back in a statement saying the body corporate wasn’t aware of the tribunal case and denied pressuring the landlord or tenant.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tenant-unlawfully-evicted-from-met…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent.Here's how much more Canadian landlords are asking for now, according to a just-released report
The Canadian Press CTV News (No paywall)A new report says the average asking rent for a home in Canada in April was up 9.3 per cent compared with a year ago, while a slight month-over-month increase was also recorded for the first time since January.
The report by Urbanation and Rentals.ca, which analyzes monthly listings from the latter's network, says the average asking rent for all home types was $2,188 last month. The annual growth rate accelerated from an 8.8 per cent increase recorded the previous month. Asking rents were up 0.3 per cent month-over-month.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/here-s-how-much-more-canadian-land…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Rents are rising faster than wages across the country, especially in these cities
Khristopher J. Brooks CBS News (No paywall)Wages for the typical U.S. worker have surged since the pandemic, but for many Americans those gains are being gobbled up by rising rent. Rents jumped 30.4% nationwide between 2019 and 2023, while wages during that same period rose 20.2%, according to a recent analysis from online real estate brokers Zillow and StreetEasy. The gap between wage growth and rent increases was widest in large cities, including Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Miami, Phoenix and Tampa. Other cities where renters are feeling the pinch include Baltimore, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, New York and San Diego.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rent-cost-us-2024-housing-national/
# Hot topic International, Rent.How bad do Australians have it? Our rental laws versus the world's
David Aidone SBS (No paywall)Renters' rights are back in the spotlight ahead of a National Cabinet meeting next week. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state and territory leaders will convene to discuss housing affordability and planning reforms amid the federal government's struggle to pass its signature housing bill. “Our key priority for this meeting is increasing housing supply and affordability across Australia," Albanese said in a statement on Tuesday. As leaders prepare to meet, here's a look at how Australia's rental laws compare to some other parts of the world.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/how-bad-do-australians-have-…
# Must read, Hot topic International, .Fix Europe’s housing crisis or risk fuelling the far-right, UN expert warns
Jon Henley The Guardian (No paywall)Spiralling rents and sky-high property prices risk becoming a key battleground of European politics as far-right and populist parties start to exploit growing public anger over the continent’s housing crisis, experts have said. Weeks before European parliament elections in which far-right parties are forecast to finish first in nine EU member states and second or third in another nine, housing has the potential to become as potent a driver of far-right support as immigration. “Far-right parties prosper when they can exploit the social gaps that emerge out of underinvestment and inadequate government planning … and when they can blame outsiders,” said the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/article/2024/may/06/fix-europe-…
# Hot topic International, .Awaab's Law: Private renters 'baffled' at their exclusion
Tim Dodd BBC (No paywall)By the time Linn Johansson's landlord finally came to inspect a leak in her flat, the resulting water damage and black mould was making her ill. Evidence of the leak had first appeared on the bathroom ceiling and walls of the home in south London about two months after she and her husband Matthew Johnson moved in. The couple developed allergic reactions, such as sneezing and heavy breathing, but their landlord told them to just wipe the mould off. Promises to inspect the fault came and went over a year, Linn says, and the landlord eventually agreed to come and make repairs when the water started showing up again.
# Must read International, Public and community housing, Repairs, Security and safety.