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
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.Landlords find eviction loophole with boarding house agreements
Ke-Xin Li Waikato Times (No paywall)Landlords are shortening eviction timelines by getting people on boarding house agreements. In a tight rental market, those desperate for homes “won’t look twice before signing”, Community Law Waikato says. The organisation’s already seen cases where landlords were using boarding house rules when the property wasn’t classed as one. And, at a recent viewing in Hamilton, a Waikato Times reporter was told by the landlord that the shorter eviction notice period was an advantage.
https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/nz-news/350265222/landlords-find-…
# Must read International, Eviction.‘Everything’s just … on hold’: the Netherlands’ next-level housing crisis
Jon Henley The Guardian (No paywall)It started maybe 10 years ago, says Tamara Kuschel. Since the 1970s, the charity she works for in Amsterdam, De Regenboog, has run day shelters for homeless people – typically, people with serious addiction and mental health issues. Then, in about 2015, a new kind of client began to appear. “They didn’t have the usual problems of homeless people,” Kuschel says. “They had jobs, friends. In every respect, their lives were very much together. But they couldn’t afford a home.” Some are not young, she says. The oldest, last year, was 72. They have, typically, recently been involved in a relationship break-up, had a small business fail or been unable to afford a rent rise.. “We can help some,” she says. “But we’re just a sticking plaster, really.”
https://www.theguardian.com/news/article/2024/may/06/netherlands…
# Hot topic International, Rent.The federal government can do more about home costs than you think
Kathryn Watson CBS News (No paywall)The cost to buy a home has reached historic highs in the U.S. — the median price of a home is $420,800, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — and housing and mortgage costs are increasingly turning into a November election issue. Home shoppers today need to an annual income of $114,000 in order to comfortably afford a typical home in the U.S., according to Redfin, nearly double what was needed to afford a typical home in 2020. That figure is far above the 2022 median household income of $74,580, according to the Census Bureau.
# Hot topic International, .Calgarian petitioning for rule change around pets in rental housing
Adam MacVicar Global News (No paywall)Calgary dog owner is looking to spark change to rules around pets in rental properties as many across the city face challenges finding a place to live. Pierre Noiseux has been looking for a new place to live for six months, but finds his applications are turned down when landlords find out about his two-year-old dog Stark. “He’s a pitbull mix, so trying to find a rental is impossible,” Noiseux told Global News. “You send a picture of your pet and they take one look and are like, ‘No thank you.'”
https://globalnews.ca/news/10465916/calgarian-petition-pets-rent…
# Must read International, Discrimination, Rent.B.C.’s new short-term rental restrictions now in effect
Simon Little Global News (No paywall)British Columbia’s new restrictions on short-term rentals are now in effect. The regulations, which took effect on Wednesday, May 1, are aimed at moving thousands of units listed through services like Airbnb and VRBO from the short-term market to the traditional rental pool. The rules apply to cities of 10,000 or more and to municipalities that voluntarily opt in. Under the regulations, hosts can only rent out their primary residence or one secondary suite or laneway home. Local governments can apply their bylaws if they are equally or more restrictive than those of the province.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10462780/bc-short-term-rental-restric…
# Hot topic International, .